How to Handle Illegal Interview Questions

Interviews are stressful enough without having to worry about whether your responses to seemingly innocuous questions may cost you the job. When you're qualified for a position and are well prepared for an interview, work-related queries are simple enough to answer. Unfortunately, sometimes at an interview you will be asked illegal questions--those which you know an employer isn't supposed to ask and you are uncomfortable answering. Knowing how to handle these questions with tact can help keep an interview from derailing.

Instructions

1. Know what types of things are illegal for an employer to ask you. Questions in regard to race, ethnicity, disabilities, marital status, family intentions and age are discriminatory. For example, a potential employer can't ask you whether you are planning on having children or what holidays you are likely to celebrate. Likewise, he can't ask whether you have any disabilities or ask about your medical history.

2. Evaluate the interviewer's motives in asking the question. Sometimes, with the intent to connect with you, interviewers ask personal questions without knowing they are illegal. Most of the time, you will be able to gauge whether this is the case or whether the interviewer is asking as part of a discriminatory hiring practice.

3. Keep your cool and tread carefully. Whether or not the question was intended innocently, how you react may determine your future employment status. Keep your facial expression and body language non-confrontational while you decide how to or whether to answer the question. Flying off the handle sends a message that you don't deal with stressful situations well.

4. Use humor to defuse the situation or distract the interviewer. Saying something to the effect of, "Wow, that's an unusual question. I don't think I've been asked that before," with a small chuckle gives you the opportunity to avoid the question. It also provides the interviewer the opportunity to realize she has asked an illegal question (if it was an honest mistake) and redirect the conversation.

5. Answer the question behind the question. An interviewer who asks about your plans to have a family may really be asking about your commitment to the position. Someone who asks about disabilities may be concerned about your ability to perform the job. Telling him that you're intent on building a career or that you feel confident that you can perform the job as described sidesteps the illegal component of the question but answers the hidden concern.

6. Refuse to answer. As tactfully as you can, inform the interviewer that the question she has asked is, by law, one she cannot ask and which you don't feel comfortable answering. Say it politely, with a friendly shrug, and let her know you're willing to move on to more relevant questions.

7. Decide how to handle it if the interview is peppered with illegal questions. You have the right to terminate an interview if, after all your other tactics have failed, you are continually being asked illegal questions. This is probably a sign that you wouldn't be comfortable with the company's hiring practices or work conditions anyway.

Tips & Warnings

• There's nothing wrong with answering an illegal question if you are comfortable doing so and don't feel it will hurt your chances for getting the job.

• Contact the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission if you feel strongly that illegal questions were used as a part of a discriminatory hiring practice (see Resources below).

Resources

• The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission for filing a claim