10 Questions Employers Should Never Ask in an Interview

10 Questions Employers Should Never Ask in an Interview 10 Questions Employers Should Never Ask in an Interview Conducting job interviews is a hard task. Most people dont conduct interviews all that often and so they dont get a lot of practice. Of course, if youre a recruiter, you should have refined skills, but for the hiring managers,  most dont hire more than once or twice a year. So their skills are rusty- at best. While many articles focus on the interview questions you should ask, there are also questions that you should never ask. You dont ask some questions because of legal reasons and others because they arent helpful in selecting an employee. Here are ten questions that you should never ask. Some of them might surprise you. Oh! I Went to South High School, Too. What Year Did You Graduate?: High school graduation is a sticky question because it indicates your candidates age- give or take a year. Age discrimination for people over 40 is illegal, and the only age that you need to know is if they are over 18 or 21, depending on the job.Most interviewers would never ask a candidate how old he or she is, but questions like this slip out, especially when the topic comes up in a normal conversation. When you find out that your candidate has something in common with you, its natural to try to build connections.Hold off on this connection, though, until after you have made a job offer. If you hire the person, you will have plenty of time to laugh about running laps in Mrs. Jones PE class. I Love Your Accent. Where Are You From?: First of all, have you looked at the persons resume? That will give you an idea of where your candidate  has lived, but otherwise,  national origin is a protected class. Lots of people love cool accents. You mean nothing discriminatory by the question. But, if you dont hire the person, they could look back on that question as national origin discrimination.Likewise, the same goes for an individual who looks like they arent from the United States. If their resume says their address is Pittsburgh, then as far as youre concerned, they come from Pittsburgh. How Many Kids Do You Have?: This question often comes up in the small talk portion of the job interview or if you take your candidate out to lunch. The children subject is often brought up by the interviewee. Shell see a picture of your kids on your desk and comment, and the polite thing to do is to ask her the same question back.Except, in a job interview, you want to let that question go. The proper questions are  related to the ability of your candidate to do the job. You can say, “This job doesnt have good flexibility. Were pretty rigid about our hours. Will that work for you?” You especially dont want to get into plans for future children,  as pregnancy discrimination violates the law. Are You a US Citizen?: The question you can ask regarding this issue is, “Are you authorized to work in the United States?” And the hiring manager shouldnt need to ask this question at all.  Your job application should ask this question, and the recruiter was responsible for weeding out candidates who cant legally work here.What Language Do You Speak at Home?: This question  also puts you into national origin discrimination territory. If youre hiring an employee for a position that requires multi-lingual capabilities, the question to ask is, “What languages do you speak?” And, for further clarification, “How well do you speak that language?” Ideally, you should have a current employee who speaks the language you are looking for to  interview the candidate and assess their language skills. Do You Have Any Disabilities?: Some disabilities are obvious. If the person is in a wheelchair, youll know it. But, many disabilities that are protected under the  Americans With Disabilities Act arent obvious during  a job interview. Dont ask. Again, even though you would never intentionally discriminate against someone with a disability, once you know, you have  set yourself up for the accusation that you did.You can ask the candidate if they are capable of doing the job. If a candidate does have a disability that needs accommodation, the candidate should bring it up to you after youve made a job offer. What Would You Do if a Penguin With a Sombrero Walked in the Front Door?:  Some hiring managers like to ask these fun and creative questions they found on the internet. Please dont. Unless youre in the business of zoo animal fiestas, there is no answer to this question that will help you evaluate the candidate.Keep your questions relevant to the job. Dont try to pry into personality. Unless youre a trained psychologist, you wont even know how to interpret the candidates answers. Ask about knowledge, skills, and abilities instead. Do You Need Health Insurance?: Yes, everyone needs health insurance. If youre asking because the job doesnt offer health insurance, and you want to make them aware, just say it flat out during the phone screen. “This job doesnt offer health insurance. Are you still interested in interviewing?”By waiting until the interview and asking your candidate if he needs health insurance, what youre doing is prying into their marital status, the employment status of their spouse, their health status, and their financial independence. Dont ask. What Did You Hate About Your Last Job?: It can seem like a good question, as you can use it as a set up a situation in which you are extolling the virtues of the position youre offering. But, the question opens up the opportunity for your candidate to become very negative.Candidates dislike something about their current job, or they wouldnt be job searching. But, they are generally trying hard to stay positive. Instead, ask questions about what they are looking for in their new job. “What are you looking for in your new  job?” is a better, more positive question. What Church Do You Attend?: Unless youre hiring for a faith-based organization, this question is a no-go. Again, it often comes up in small talk  and seems harmless, but  you cannot discriminate on the basis of religion unless its pertinent to the job. (So, yes, you can require that the minister for your Lutheran church is Lutheran, but you cant require that your grocery store cashier has the same beliefs as you.)The only time religion is relevant in a secular interview is if the person needs an accommodation, in which case it is their responsibility to bring it up after youve made an offer. Then, you can decide together if an accommodation is possible. When youre conducting job interviews, keep your focus on the actual job, and the skills you need the new employee to possess and you wont go wrong or off-track with your interview questions. These are ten examples of questions you dont want to ask and why you dont want to ask them. - - - - - - - - - - - - Suzanne Lucas is a freelance journalist specializing in Human Resources. Suzannes work has been featured on notes publications including Forbes, CBS, Business Insider and Yahoo.