Let's start out by saying that you should not be too worried about being asked an illegal interview question for devious, underhanded purposes. In most cases the interviewer is making innocent conversation, or trying to find out if you are going to be able to perform the essential duties of the job.
Keeping that in mind, let's look at an example. Let's say that you see a job posting for a job that requires work on Sunday mornings. Let's also say that your resume states that you graduated from a prestigious Catholic University, and lists your hobby as President of your church's Young Professionals group. Assuming that your other experience on your resume makes you qualified for the job, would you consider it fair if the hiring manager overlooked your resume because he or she assumed that you'd be in church on Sunday mornings? Certainly not!
The law states that you cannot be discriminated against because of your age, race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, or household situation (i.e. having kids). This law is in place to ensure that all candidates get a fair shot at the job based solely on their ability to do the job. The interviewer cannot make unfair assumptions about how your lifestyle in any one of the above categories will affect your ability to do your job.
Following the example above, when you applied to the position, you knew that the job required Sunday morning hours, and don't have a problem with that. Unfortunately you won't know if the hiring manager is consciously or unconsciously deciding to not bring you in for an interview based on the religious references in your resume. Also, discrimination cases at the hiring stage are very, very difficult for a candidate to win because there isn't a lot of hard and fast evidence to win a case.
What you can do to protect yourself and head off their concerns is to address the issue prominently in the cover letter. State that you did see that the job included Sunday morning hours, and that you have no concerns with that work schedule.
Another common issue is the concept of kids. In some employers' minds, they have big concerns that your kids will become the reason why you are late every morning, and have to leave early when they get sick. Unfortunately, this is because a now former employee who abused the system with their childcare needs has probably put this concept in the interviewer's mind. It is unfair of an employer to discriminate against you because you have kids. However, you need to address their underlying concern, which is that your kids will cause you to be unreliable. Because you don't list them on your resume, the topic of your kids will probably not come up unless you or the interviewer specifically brings it up. Knowing that this could be an area of unconscious discrimination, you should NOT bring up the topic. If an interviewer does ask, you simply need to respond that you do have kids, but you are fortunate to have reliable daycare and a backup plan to take care of them when they are sick. That answer addresses the interviewer's concerns, shows that you have the situation under control and are capable of handling the responsibility of this job.
The name of the game here is to be aware of some prejudices an employer could have against your lifestyle and be prepared to show them that you are in no way a stereotypical "problem" employee. Where it is possible, you don't want to open the door to have to defend yourself on the basis of your age, race, sexual orientation, gender, religion or household situation. However, when you are preparing for the interview, have an answer in the back of your mind should the issue arise that shows that you are a skilled candidate for the position.
ฉ Red Inc. Melanie Szlucha. You can republish this information as long as the paragraph below is included exactly as it appears.
Melanie Szlucha has been a hiring manager for over 10 years. She founded Red Inc.(http://www.redinc.biz) two years ago to help people become more relaxed and prepared during the job interview process. Combining presentation and communication skills with her experience in conducting job interviews, she is able to coach job applicants through landing their perfect job. Ms Szlucha is also a job interview forum moderator on the site careercube.net. She is available for individual coaching, classes for employers and interviewees and can be contacted on her website or melanie at target="_new" href="http://www.redinc.biz">redinc.biz
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