Let’s face it, in these tough times many of us are just happy to make it into an interview at this point. But let’s not forget that there are still Federal and State laws that protect your rights as employees- even throughout the interview process. This means that interviewers are not allowed to just ask anything they feel like in an interview- in fact they are prohibited by law from asking certain questions. Generally these illegal interview questions include questions about “protected categories”. A protected category or protected class means that federal law prohibits discrimination on the basis of any of the following:
- Race or ethnicity
- Color
- Religion
- National Origin
- Disability
- Gender or sex
- Age (40 years and older)
Different States have additional protected categories. For example in California discrimination on the basis of Sexual Orientation or Pregnancy is considered illegal. When you see that a company is an Equal Opportunity Employer (EOE), that means that they are complying with federal and state laws regarding hiring and employment. So as far as an interview is concerned, these laws mean that an interviewer is not allowed to ask you what religion you are or where you were born. The idea is that the information they would gather from questions should have no bearing on your ability to do a job. Of course you must be qualified for the position, and a potential employer can not hire you because they simply did not like you as a candidate. But they cannot refuse to hire you solely on the basis of your gender, ethnicity, age (if over 40), etc.
So what should you do if you are asked an illegal or inappropriate question in an interview? The first thing to do is to remain calm, cool and collected. Freaking out and yelling “That’s illegal! You can’t ask me that!” is a sure way to alienate yourself from your interviewer. The truth is that most interviewers are not trying to ask illegal questions- many simply are not familiar enough with the federal and state hiring and employment laws to know that they are actually violating the law. So you should assume innocent until proven guilty. If an interviewer asks you a question like “So where were you born?” you can:
- Answer the question if you feel comfortable and think it was just being asked in the course of conversation with no discriminatory intention
- Try to answer the question in a roundabout way such as “I was born in a great place- there was such a tight knit community of people” or something equally vague
- Gently let the interviewer know that technically they shouldn’t be asking that question in an interview, but that you are legal to work in the U.S. (of course, you must be in order to answer that you are)
Just keep in mind that this is one of those times to tread lightly. Even if you are right and the interviewer has asked an illegal question, use your intuition to determine if it was a calculated effort to discriminate or if it was an innocent question asked in the course of conversation. You don’t want to lose the job because you have reacted badly. But if you find yourself in a situation where you do believe that you are being discriminated against because of a protected category, then you should definitely find a lawyer in your state and seek legal advice, or call the EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission).
