Thank goodness I don’t have to go to a job interview for a while! I had rather too many of them while searching for this job and they can be an exhausting and dispiriting experience, although on a more positive note they can also be great ways to learn about yourself and your skills. I expect the next time I am involved in interviewing it will be on the other side of the fence, as an interrogator not victim. But as interviews and interviewing is in the news at the moment I thought I’d have a think about the experience.
There was a report on the BBC news this morning explaining that some employers were still flouting the law by asking discriminatory questions during interviews and that most candidates, obviously eager to please, do not challenge the interviewers or report the situation later. The most common faux pas are asking whether a candidate is a member of a trade union and asking whether a usually female candidate of a particular age is hoping to start a family. These questions are discriminatory because the answers can have no impact whatsoever in determining whether that person can do the job.
Luckily I have never been put in the position of having to answer those or any other awkward questions. If I had, I would like to think I would have refused to comment, but realistically in a high pressure interview situation I just want to please the interviewer and I would probably have answered as honestly as I could. In many ways, it is a daft way of trying to find the best candidate. Even worse is the American system of doing first round interviews in hotel rooms, restaurants and broom cupboards as part of the big professional conferences such as the American Historical Association. These are so awful they strike fear into any young scholar’s hearts, bringing on a shudder even if they have no intention of ever seeking a job in the U.S. They certainly make our U.K. interviewing system seem much more civilized!
Very interesting…….
I recently went to an interview which finished with the interviewer saying ‘oh I just have a few personal questions if you don’t mind answering them’
they then proceeded to ask the following:
are you married?
do you have any dependents?
do you have any other activities that might interfere/have to borne in mind with regard to work i.e. we have had people before who have done things such as helping out with the Salvation Army?
I stupidly answered, however, either way was taken aback by the phrasing in particular. Is there a good time to say no or ask the relevance of the questions?
By ‘reporting’ when is it just feeling slightly taken aback or actually potentially discriminatory and what exactly are the lines considering it was the phrasing itself and the fact I felt they were rather aimed at my being female and my age that made me suspicious…………
Hi Kate,
Yes, it’s tough isn’t it? When is the right time to challenge these sorts of unfair questions…in the interview itself? Afterwards, and if so, in writing. by phone or by email? Perhaps some other readers have experience of doing this and could advise us?
Catherine