Job Interview Fielding Discriminatory Questions

Video Transcript

"Okay, discriminatory questions, how are you going to respond. Well the first thing we have to do is we have to look at a couple of things. First, how badly do you want the job. That's really going to ultimately make the, one of the big deciding factors, on how you're going to respond. Second, how do you feel about revealing this information that you've been asked about. About your children or disabilities or your husband's salary or your age, whatever it is. What do you think that the interviewer is going to do with this decision, with this information and how do you feel about that, if you decide to give them personal information that's discriminatory. And last, do you want to work for a company that's going to ask questions like that. Well, it goes like this. If you don't want the job, you've got several choices. You can tell the interviewer that these questions are unethical and that you refuse to answer them. Now, you don't have to like throw your chair and storm out but you can refuse to answer them. But if you do, you probably will not get the job. Anything that you say at this point, if you don't answer the questions, is going to probably be unfavorable. Now, if you want the job, you can present it in such a way where you're asking the interviewer, why is this pertinent to the position that I'm applying for. How does X, Y, Z, a disability or a child or childcare affect me having this position. So it's just a little bit more tactful way of refusing to answer the question without blatantly stating you're breaking the law or this is unethical. Now what will happen at this point, if you present it to the interviewer as I don't understand how this, why you need to have this information for me to have this position. If push comes to shove and they continue to push for this information, like how old you are, again you're going to be left with making the decision, do I answer it, or do I not answer the question and that's when you're going to refer back to these four points. If you are so offended by this interview process and these discriminatory questions there are several outlets for you to fill a complaint. One is for Equal Opportunity Employment Services and another is the Department of Labor."