Have You Been Asked Any of These Awful Job Interview Questions?

A post I wrote recently on LinkedIn about How to Respond to Illegal Interview Questions generated quite a bit of interest and inquiries from clients, colleagues, and potential clients. In my further research on this topic, I ran across a post by Alison Doyle on TheBalance.com, and was a bit surprised and in some cases alarmed or amused at the kinds of questions that misguided employers seem to think it is acceptable to ask job candidates.

Here is a sampling of just a few of the verboten questions or inappropriate statements interviewees have run into:

•     Are you dating someone?

•     How old are you?    You are young enough to be my daughter.

•     Do you have any problems going out drinking with the office on Fridays?

•     How would your husband feel about you relocating for work?

•     Are you very religious?

•     Do you have childcare arrangements lined up?

•     How is your marriage working?  The stress of the long hours required might not be good for your marriage.

•     We’d love to hire you, but we want someone who will be here for the long term.

•     If you have kids how will you do this job when your husband is gone (person asked had a Military spouse)?

I found these to be particularly amusing (but still grossly inappropriate!):

• I want a receptionist who looks like a Playboy bunny.

• Would you mind picking up my kids from school?

• I need someone who will deal with everyone when they start crying.

• I need someone who will stay to shut off the lights every night.

For a full listing see the article at TheBalance.com. You can also follow the internal links to articles about Things You Shouldn’t Do When Interviewing, Things You Should Never Say in a Job Interview, Most Asked Interview Questions, etc.