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Career Q & A

By Michael Mayne
March 20, 2006

Recently, I was in an interview where an illegal question was asked. I was stunned that an interviewer wouldn't check the list of questions they are about to ask. The question was, and I quote, "Have you spent your whole life here?" To me that meant 'this country' and gears toward racial profiling, which is illegal under provincial and federal law. I was taken aback and after having to wait an extremely long time for this interview because of a double booking on the organization's part all I could say was "yes". How should I have handled this situation? Point out the problem immediately or report it to the proper authorities?
Illegal and inappropriate interview questions
The situation you describe is certainly a difficult one to face at the best of times, never mind during an employment interview.
As you state, human rights boards and commissions in Canada condemn discriminatory questions during the employment process, and specifically forbid any employer from discrimination in the hiring process based on place of origin, race, ancestry, skin colour, ethnic origin, sex, sexual orientation, age, record of offences, family status, citizenship, or handicap. The problem, of course, is that you cannot bring a human rights commissioner with you to every employment interview to determine if every question being asked is appropriate or even legal.
There is no easy answer in deciding how best to deal with inappropriate or illegal interview questions. While these types of questions are odious, it can help to put them into a general framework of interview questions as a whole when dealing with them.
An interview is just a series of questions
As an interviewee, the first question you need to ask yourself when faced with any interview question is "Why are they really asking that question?" For example, if you are applying for an accounting job, and they ask you what your career ambition was when you were in high school, in reality they may be trying to gauge your "true" self, and test your claim of a "love of numbers".
So, in our example, if you then state that you "disliked anything to do with numbers in high school, and really wanted to be an interior designer, but my mom was an accountant, and kind of forced me into it, so here I am," they may take a different view of your more recent claim to enjoy working with numbers.
Try to determine the real motivation behind the question - illegal or not
In the same vein, if they ask you an inappropriate or illegal question, for example, whether you have a boy/girl friend, you should ask yourself the same question - why are they asking me this? Since there is no valid reason that this particular question pertains in any way to your ability to perform well on the job, you naturally face a quandary. Again, as with all interview questions, you have a choice in how to answer, or even whether to answer at all. You should employ the same answering strategy defined above, and try to determine the real motivation behind the question.
Scenario/Motivation #1: The hiring manager has been leering at you since you shook hands, and it appears that he or she may have more on his/her mind than your ability to do the job in question. In this situation, the best reply to the boy/girlfriend question might be a question back, in your most professional tone. "I'm sorry, but could you tell me how that might impact on my ability to do the job?" Usually, this will be enough to cause the hiring manager to rethink his/her line of questioning. You may also want to question the wisdom of working for this individual at all.
Scenario/Motivation #2: The hiring manager has been dreamy-eyed and talking about how she just met the most amazing life partner, and that everyone should have as wonderful a partner, and then asks whether you have a boy/girlfriend. While the intention is somewhat less objectionable than Scenario #1, it is still just as inappropriate. In this situation, you could consider a more humorous tone, as in: "Gee, is free dating advice one of the perks here? I think I'm fine in that department, thanks," to try to diffuse the situation and still get your message across. Again, you may also want to question the wisdom of working for this individual at all.
Use your judgment
Many hiring managers are not trained in proper interview protocol, and may not even be aware that the question they just asked you is inappropriate, or worse, completely illegal. They are simply being human, and do not have any kind of hidden agenda to discriminate. They may think that they are simply initiating conversation with you to make you feel more at ease, and would never intentionally discriminate when hiring. If you then point out that their question was discriminatory, they may feel embarrassed, and quickly become defensive. This can hurt your chances of getting the job in an otherwise good interview.
The best strategy is to look for a combination of signals that discrimination is taking place. Know which questions are illegal and adapt your strategy according to the situation you are currently facing. Outside of any blatant or systemic discrimination, employers are usually free to choose the candidate that they feel is best suited for the job, based on a fair and relevant set of criteria. Fortunately, the type of situation you described is quite rare in Canada, and unlikely to be repeated. Nevertheless, you should still be prepared.
If you do feel that you have been discriminated against, I advise you to contact your provincial human rights commission immediately and consider launching a complaint.
[Editor's Note: For more information about Canadian human rights legislation, visit: www.charityvillage.com/cv/ires/hr_legislation.html.]

Michael Mayne, M.B.A., CMA, is Managing Partner and a Certified Professional Career Counsellor at Catalyst Careers, a Career Transition, Counselling, and Outplacement firm. Michael has been involved in the not-for-profit sector for many years, and is Past President and Treasurer of ALS Canada. To contact Michael, visit: www.catalystcareers.com.

To submit a question for a future column, please e-mail it to careercoach@charityvillage.com. No identifying information will appear in this column.

Disclaimer: Advice and recommendations are based on limited information provided and should be used as a guideline only. Neither the author nor CharityVillage.com make any warranty, express or implied, or assume any legal liability for accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information provided in whole or in part within this article.