Irrespective of what post you hold at a big company it is mandatory always to be mindful of what you say and how you conduct yourself. Any wrong move on your part can easily get you into trouble.
In the professional world those who work well get rewards, yet those who step out of line are immediately slams with a lawsuit. If you are someone who gave the responsibility of taking an interview and asking questions to a potential employee you must ensure that you do the job well and are mindful of every word which you say. Given here are some interview questions that can get you sued.
Interview Questions Which Will Get You and Your Company Sued:
1. What is your age?
The kind of questions that you ask someone who is appearing for an interview will reveal the kind of person you are. As an interviewer or recruiter, you should try your level best to be as professional as possible.
To do justice to your position you must have the interest of the company at heart at all times. Age is just a number, yet for many people especially women, it is a very sensitive subject which should not be touched upon.
If the candidate is qualified but you are asking the question simply because you think the person is a little older, then you could easily get sued for this.
2. Are you married?
Whether an individual is married or not, has no bearing upon whether the person will be able to do the job well or not. If you ask someone this question you can easily get sued.
Nowadays filing cases are certainly not tough at all so that is why people do not hesitate before sue someone else. All individuals are free to get marriage above the age of 18 and that is why asking such personal questions is both unnecessary and uncalled for.
As a recruiter in a company, you should be hiring people based on how capable and qualified they are and not based on whether they are married or not.
3. What is your caste?
How you conduct the interview will either add to the companies merit or it will tarnish the image of the organization which you represent. Companies which have a proper hiring procedure, usually end up employing the best of the best employees.
Asking someone about their caste is a big no-no simply because it is a very sensitive issue to many. Asking any question which is unnecessary during the interview could easily get you sued.
So strictly avoid asking an individual about their background or caste, lest you might come across as being racist. Once you are accused of being racist you could easily end up being fired.
4. Are you a homosexual?
A person’s sexuality is something which is a very personal thing indeed. Most people are uncomfortable talking about their sexual preferences simply because they do not think that someone’s sexuality should be a topic of discussion.
Irrespective of how badly you’re dying to ask a person such a question, you should shy away from doing so. Whether a person is homosexual, bisexual or heterosexual, that should not matter in the least bit and should not be brought up at all.
The moment you ask such a question, surely, you will be immediately sued. Irrespective of what your personal opinions are, you ought not to bring it up during the interview.
5. What are your political affiliations?
Politics is always a controversial topic. In most countries, people have a secret ballot form of voting and need not voice their political affiliations if they do not wish to do so. No one should force a person to mention which party they support.
In the corporate world, someone’s political affiliations really should not matter much, since the corporate world is pretty much a world which excludes from politics. Asking a person such a question is bound to put you in a fair bit of trouble. So unless you like getting yourself in trouble, do think about everything you say.
6. How far are you willing to go to get this job?
Nowadays being able to bag a job in a good company is very difficult indeed. Even though there are more and more companies coming up every day, the unemployment rate is so much because employers only wish to hire the best of the best.
As a recruiter, you are likely to know about how badly people want good jobs, but that certainly does not mean that you try and take advantage of a person in such a situation. If you have the wrong tone when asking such a question, then you will certainly have a case filed against you. You can rest assured that if you do this, the company will surely not stand by you in your time of need.
7. How many children do you have?
Irrespective of what your thoughts towards children may be, at no point in time should you be asking questions like this to someone who walks in for an interview.
If the candidate gets the feeling that you are someone who is discriminating based on how many kids a person has then you will surely have to pay for asking such a question soon enough.
Sometimes being a parent is something which makes you even more committed to your work as you have a more mature outlook in general. Just because someone has a child that does not mean that they will not be able to work properly and satisfactorily.
8. Are you pregnant at the moment?
At some point in time or the other, we all might have looked at a woman and thought is she pregnant or is she just overweight? Regardless of whether you are thinking the same about a woman who has walked in for an interview, you should not ask this question.
If the woman is pregnant at the moment she will probably tell you this herself. If the woman is not pregnant and you go ahead and ask the question then that is something which is surely going to land you in plenty of legal trouble.
Just because a woman has a rounded stomach that does not mean you should ask such a question and either way as a recruiter you should not be checking the individual’s body out like that.
9. Are you a social drinker?
In this day and age, you might assume that people will very broad minded and will give answers to any questions which you ask. But that is certainly not true.
Nowadays people are very sensitive and they are not willing to stay quiet when someone crosses a particular line. Asking someone questions about whether they drink regularly or whether they are social drinkers is something which is most unacceptable.
If a person wants to drink he or she has the freedom too, as long as it is within the necessary limits and it does not harm someone else.
10. Are you someone who does drugs?
Drug abuse is a serious problem in our society and it should handle properly. Just because someone looks thin or sleepy that certainly does not mean that you can go ahead and ask a question like this.
If you accuse someone of being a ‘druggie’ simply because of how he dresses or looks then you can be sure to be sued. Saying stupid things and asking questions not suited on the given occasion will land you into a fair share of trouble.
It’s for this reason that only people who experience and have good sense choose to conduct interviews.
11. Do you think women are as capable as men?
Most often than not, it is men who are sexist and cannot bear the idea of watching women surpass them at any point in time. The moment women start doing well some men feel threatened.
As a result, some companies never give women high posts simply because they believe that the other men in the company would not pay heed to what she says. However if the questions which you ask come across as sexist, then you can rest assured that the woman in question is not going to take whatever you say lying down. She will surely sue you and that, in turn, will surely affect your career.
12. Do you always dress like this for work?
As long as a person dresses neatly and nicely when they come for an interview, you should never remark on their clothing or ask them questions which likely to make them uncomfortable and angry.
As a recruiter, you should constantly monitor your own words so that you can be accused of nothing. If you are a man you should most certainly not comment on a woman’s clothing as she will most definitely make a big deal about it. Irrespective of what a person wears you should respect him or her.
13. Have you ever been arrested?
In our youth, all of us have done things that we are ashamed of. So as long as a person looks qualified and can speak effectively, there is no need for you to feed your curiosity by asking a question of this kind.
Interviewers are meant to ask questions, that is their job but they are to ask a particular kind of question. The moment you begin to go off track that is sure to get you to sue.
Everyone encourages to act professionally in the workplace and a person’s past should not be brought up at any point in time.
14. What religion do you follow?
In most countries across the world, people have the freedom to practice any religion which they want to. There can be no discrimination based on caste creed or even sex.
No one religion can consider superior to another so that is why there is simply no need to ask such a question when someone walks into your office to interview. People who come for interviews are always nervous but the moment you ask a distasteful question, their nervousness is bound to immediately change to a feeling of anger.
15. Are you currently in debt?
Money is important today, but that does not mean that you pry into someone else’s finances when they walk in for an interview. No one likes to ask personal questions and some people’s minds more than others.
16. Would you consider going out with me?
No matter how much you like the person who has walked in for an interview, you simply cannot ask a question like this. First and foremost the individual is surely going to take back and secondly, a complaint is sure to follow.
If you ask such a question during the interview the person is bound to feel like getting the job or not is going to depend on whether she goes out with you.
News in the business world travels at the speed of light. Once your image and name have been tarnished then trying to clear it is going to be a very challenging task indeed.
So rather than getting into trouble at a later point in time for the questions which you ask, right at the very onset try and prepare a set of questions that you will be asking the candidate.
Avoid asking personal questions that you know could be offensive to the person concerned. Getting yourself out of legal trouble is difficult, time consuming as well as expensive.
