I like to assume the best of people, and I’m absolutely sure you don’t wake up in the morning deciding who you’ll discriminate against today, right?
But it can seem a little like a mine field to make sure you say and do the right things when you’re interviewing for new employees.
DISCLAIMER ALERT!
REMEMBER: I am not a lawyer. I’m an experienced Recruiter and I love helping you with your hiring, but this video is not to be construed as legal advice! You definitely need to have a good lawyer who understands employment law who you can ask when you need to. Also, keep in mind that what I’m covering is generally applicable across the USA, but it’s vital to make sure you are aware of any State or Local laws affecting employment where you operate your business.
General Rules:
First, Keep your questions in the interview strictly tied to the job.
Evaluate on skills needed, discern personality/soft skill traits only as it relates to the job and team. Review a person’s goals and motivators, but don’t dig too deep into their personal life. Always tie it back to the job.
Do you need to know this information to decide if they can perform the job well?
Also: If they share personal information, just accept it and move on. Do not ask further questions or dig deeper into their personal life.
NEVER Ask These Questions
Let me go through a list of questions NOT to ask in a job interview. Keep in mind not all of this is patently illegal, but I want you to up your game in interviewing. Spend your time on questions that matter.
So Do NOT ask or do these things in an interview:
Do not ask directly about their family or whether they are married, single, divorced, or dating.
Do not ask their age, or other direct questions that could reveal their age like, What year did you graduate from high school?
Do not ask about their race, ethnicity, or country of origin.
Do not ask about their health, physical limitations, or any disability, even if it is actually obvious in the interview, like if they’re in a wheelchair.
Don’t talk about their outfit or appearance.
Don’t get into politics, religion, or even sports.
Don’t ask them what they did over the weekend, or what their hobbies are.
Don’t ask them their salary history, or ask them their current rate of pay.
This is a special one, because asking the salary history or current pay is not governed by US Federal Law but is in fact against the law in the state of California. I believe this is a precedent that we will see coming across the USA and in general NOT asking salary history is in line with my personal mindset and advice on talking salary in the interview. Of course you can guess I’ll soon be doing a video on that! Stay tuned! For now, I advise you to state the salary range and ask if they are ok with it OR, you could ask if they have a target salary range for their next position.
Conclusion
The best course of action overall, is to clearly define the job requirements, know what values or soft skills would fit best on your team, and also lay out your salary budget, your requirements for work schedule, location, and even dress code. Make sure you inform your applicants of the requirements ahead of or during the interview. Then you can ask if they meet the requirements, or if they can accept your guidelines and budget, and get details of their skills and performance history.