Question

Exercise 5: Inappropriate Interview Questions Exercise: An interview question is not in itself illegal, but how the interviewer uses the answer can be. The goal of an interview is typically to obtain important information about the candidate while reinforcing the organization's employer brand and maintaining a positive employer image. It can be helpful to practice recognizing inappropriate interview questions and identifying ways to more appropriately get the information that you are looking for from the candidate. Working with a group of 2-3 students, read this list of interview questions and explain why each is inappropriate. Try to identify the type of information being requested that may be important for the position, and identify a way to obtain the same desired information in a more appropriate way.

Interview Question	Why Inappropriate	Information Requested and Why It Is Important	Better Question
What religion do you practice?
What clubs or social groups do you belong to ?
How many kids do you have?
Have you ever been arrested?
How old are you?
How much longer do you plan to work before retiring?

Answer 1

Interview Question	Why Inappropriate	Information Requested and Why It Is Important	Better Question
What religion do you practice?	Irrelevant question	To know the diversity population in the organization	What about your spiritual believes?
What clubs or social groups do you belong to ?	Sounds very informal and irrelevant from the organization side	To know the networking capability for the candidate.	What do you think about networking and how would you network with social groups?
How many kids do you have?	Direct personal question	Need for employee database for insurance and other purposes.	What is your family background?
Have you ever been arrested?	It is an ethical question which may offend the candidate when asked directly	Important for criminal background check.	Is there any an indulgence or participation by you in any criminal activities?
How old are you?	Direct question and candidate may get offended	It is required for employee data base and to check the relevancy for the job role.	Please mention your date of birth.
How much longer do you plan to work before retiring?	It is a direct question and candidate may give irrelevant answers.	To find out how long the employee would stick to the organization.	What are your career goals?