Sometimes people end up asking questions at interviews that hurt the sentiment of whoever is taking the question. Moreover, such questions have nothing to do with what needs to be discussed to hire employees and to let them know their role at the company.
However, people do not take the moment to think much before asking anything which as a result strikes the wrong chord with the people sitting opposite them. The questions that make interviewers look rude are often unintentional rather than intentional.
Nonetheless, it would still help enough to differentiate rude questions from normal questions that can be asked, whether you are the interviewee or the interviewer.
Rude Questions Asked in an Interview:
The following mention is a few rude interview questions asked in a job interview.
1. Have I come on time?
It is really annoying for interviewers to be answering such stupid questions. When you apply for a job it is because you are aware of the responsibilities you need to take upon being old enough. And it seems very silly on your part to be asking if you have made it on time when you have been given a specific time for the interview.
Moreover, interviewees expected to wear watches to keep track of time so that they do not get late by any means. Also, it is extremely unbecoming of any potential employee to not be serious about an equal amount of time allotted to all those who have come for the interview.
All the same, it is undeniably rude to ask interviewers if you are late when you can tell for yourself. The last thing interviewers expect is for applicants to think that they’re there to consolidate for anything that goes wrong.
2. How many more candidates do you have yet to see?
Employers won’t feel it necessary to answer such rude questions no matter what your reasons are. You will instantly get off on the wrong foot if you ask questions like this. And moreover, it is none of your business to know if they have any applicants left to see after you.
If you are thinking that you may need some extra time to express yourself better then think again because neither they will give you any more time than what they think they should nor will they let you know how many more candidates they are meeting.
Moreover, even if you are the last person they are seeing and you know it but you still think it would be better to remind them that you are the last candidate of the day, then you have gone terribly wrong. That would make you seem like an opportunist trying to steal time from others.
3. Did you get time to go through my resume?
It is true that employers take an awfully little time to read each resume but that does not give you any right to ask questions that are essentially rude. It is not for you to see if they have read your resume and if they have not then you would not be sitting with them successfully ruining your chances of getting picked if there were any.
Moreover how employers choose to deal with a resume or on what basis they have selected the candidates remains strictly confidential. And if they feel that you deserve to let know about anything then they would tell you everything you need to on their own.
Asking questions that have nothing to do with you is like digging one’s own grave. Remember no one wants a noisy applicant so concentrate on preparing yourself better for the interview and leave the rest on them.
4. Why was I selected?
Although to some it may seem like a healthily curious question all interviewers may not take it so lightly. Although it is not too rude to ask why you have been selected because in excitement some people have a hard time controlling emotions.
But that is what ruins the deal for them because some employers are of the opinion that candidates who cannot make the difference between when to and when not to come out with their emotions are harmful to work culture.
These types of employees would be chaotic and it would be extremely hard to bring them under control and discipline. Ideal employees are those who have the right sense to be in control of their emotions no matter how intriguing the situation might get.
5. When will I get the chance to speak to a higher authority?
This question is an absolute non-starter. It will be enough to throw any chance you had of getting the job out of the window. And to be honest, one has to be helplessly indifferent regarding what will happen if the interviewers take offense to be asking something so condescending.
Unless you really want to bid goodbye to whatever chances you had of winning the favor of the interviewers you should not even remotely think about asking so rude as asking for a higher authority.
You have to please with the fact that whoever is taking your interview has been sent by the people running the company. So insulting them is the same as insulting the highest authority in the order. And if you really want to meet somebody you have been waiting to see for a long time then wait for the interview to get over.
6. When will I be called in?
It is better if you do not keep prior engagements on the day of the interview than trying to hurry up the interviewers by asking how much longer you will have to wait. It is not only rude to ask such a question but also unethical because it will seem extremely selfish of you to worry only about the time you put in waiting to call in.
Moreover, most likely a receptionist will be there to meet your queries but at interviews, the receptionists keep a note of the applicants who have been acting impatient throughout the day.
Chances are that the interviewers would come to know about such misdemeanor and all your efforts would go to waste since you would most likely send home for not able to behave how you expected to.
7. Is this rumor true?
No company would tolerate such nonsense. As an applicant, you are in no position to ask such a question in your interview. When you apply for a job you have to remain grateful to the company for giving you a chance to show them why you should be hired.
Asking a question where you are being faithless and condescending about the company’s reputation is the worst possible way to drown your chances of proving yourself. Plus if you have doubts regarding the motive of the company, if it seems shady to you then find out more about it before applying but do not embarrass the interviewers with such stupid questions.
Do not even think that you can get to the bottom of what you think the company is hiding with your questions or in any other way because that way you would not only hamper your best interest but humiliate an organization without a proper reason.
8. What is your company known for?
This is by far the dumbest and rudest question anybody can be capable of asking. It’s understood for a fact that when you have applied to a company you are most likely to aware of what the company stands for.
When people apply, the main source of their worry has to do with what role they would be given and not what the company does because that is simply bizarre and idiotic. How can you simply hope to ask what the company does in the interview and get away with it? It is not only embarrassing but also humiliating for any company to meet such careless and ignorant applicants.
Moreover asking these types of questions may end your tour of interviews because chances are that the company would inform all other neighboring companies it has ties with, not to hire you. That will make it perennially hard to find a proper placement where you can meet the eyes of the employers and colleagues.
9. Did you like my performance?
The question you need to ask yourself before asking this question is what business is it of you, to know how you did on the interview before the right time. It is clearly not your matter to look into, to know how you have done in the interview.
Most importantly you would know yourself how you did if you are capable of rightly assessing your performance. Asking this question can prove to be a terrible mistake since the employers would take it as a sign of insecurity and lack of faith in yourself.
So try and refrain from getting too excited about whether they have selected you. Whenever the thought of asking them comes, just think that eventually, you would come to know. Also, everybody remembers the first and last things you say so do not ask something so inappropriate that will discredit every good impression you have made on the interviewers earlier.
10. Have you tied the knot yet?
Sometimes even interviewers make mistakes but mostly without even knowing. Before there used to be complaints about how the interviewers are very unfriendly with applicants on interviews.
So in light of such negative reviews, some interviewers in trying to turn over a new leaf have offended a series of applicants without their knowledge. One such rude thing to ask is whether the interviewee is married.
Maybe you are just trying to break the ice but it may come off as highly inappropriate to the applicant. Moreover, if the applicant is a woman then your question may seem all the more confusing as being a woman she would most likely take it as a sign of misdirection.
11. Do you have children?
Even though such questions have nothing to do with the prospects of an interview, an interviewer may sometimes think it could be necessary to know if the potential employee has a family to look after since it would mean that he/she is familiar with taking responsibilities.
But applicants may take a lot of offense on being asked about their family since it is nothing related to what they have been preparing for. This question may even offend some women to the degree that they may be willing to leave the interview or stonewall the interviewer from asking any further personal questions.
12. Who are you voting for?
Employers expected to respect confidentiality on the part of the applicants and should refrain from wanting to know which political party the applicant’s loyalty lies. Since it is not related to work in any way, you should seem too interested in the applicant’s social life and political views.
Moreover, they might think that there is an ulterior motive to your question because there have been instances when employers have been partial to applicants supporting the same party. Maybe you were just asking to know what the applicant takes interest in but it may lead to a serious matter of discrimination on political grounds if the candidate misunderstands you.
13. How old are you?
As an employer, you have no right to know the age of your applicants since their presence in the interview means they have fulfilled the criteria of eligibility. Therefore your applicant may easily take offense to your question, more women than men because they tend to be more protective regarding their personal matters.
Plus if life has taught you anything then you should have the common sense to know that asking a woman her age will not be taken lightly and it is also a sign of disrespect.
Despite meaning no harm there are plenty of ways in which you can end up asking the wrong questions without even knowing. So it’s better to take more care before throwing caution to the winds and asking just about anything.
