Questions you should never be asked when going for employment interview

A job interview going on. There was a time when job ads would always contain details of the salary the company was willing to offer. FILE PHOTO

What you need to know:

  • Peter Reilly of the Institute for Employment Studies said these kinds of questions have no place in a job interview.
  • What worries most employers is rejecting someone who then goes off and does a brilliant job for the company’s competitor.

The question that Kevin Helton was asked at a job interview was not exactly what he expected: “You used to be in the army, how many people have you killed?”

His answer: “Depending on the outcome of this interview, the number might change.”

Francine was asked, “Are you Jewish?” Marc was asked, “Are you gay?”

Katherine, aged 37, was asked, “Do you think you are too old for this job?” Julie was asked, “Do you expect to get pregnant and leave?”

DISCRIMINATION
According to the BBC’s LinkedIn page, interviews that seem to have nothing to do with the job have been endured by more than 1,500 people, who said they were asked questions ranging from the inappropriate to the outrageous.

Peter Reilly of the Institute for Employment Studies said these kinds of questions have no place in a job interview because there are laws against discrimination.

That includes racial issues. One person told the BBC: “The interviewer said he was surprised I was white because he thought my name sounded black.”

Mr Reilly said: “In a legal sense, the interviewer has to be careful. He has to ask, is that relevant to the task? And if it’s not, he shouldn’t be asking it.”

SALARY
One issue that can cause difficulties in job interviews is the so-called bottom line.

There was a time when job ads would always contain details of the salary the company was willing to offer.

Nowadays applicants can have problems pinning down a figure as the interviewer wants to know what he or she is currently receiving.

What worries most employers is rejecting someone who then goes off and does a brilliant job for the company’s competitor.

Other interviewees make the decision an easy one. See some real-life remarks at the foot of this column.
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Contracting a serious illness may be the result of a genetic factor or it could be just bad luck, but there are increasing signs that lifestyles can seriously affect one’s health.

The link between smoking and lung cancer is well established, but new figures show that being overweight is linked to 13 types of cancer, including kidney.

Cancer Research UK says obesity has helped fuel an increase in kidney cancer of almost 30 per cent in 10 years.

There is a smoking link here, too. Cigarettes are involved in some 24 per cent of cases.

Dr Julie Sharp of Cancer Research UK said: “Damage from carrying excess weight builds up over a person’s lifetime. Making small changes in eating, drinking and being physically active that you can stick with in the long term is a good way to get to a healthy weight and stay there.”
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There is supposed to be a special relationship between Britain and the United States. Right now, it’s under serious strain.

Firstly, London’s intelligence community was outraged when images of the terrorist attack near the Palace of Westminster in March were leaked by the Americans and published by the New York Times.

Six people died and some 50 others were injured in the attack.

LONDON ATTACK
Then when a second attack occurred in Borough Market, London, President Trump got into the act, tweeting two messages aimed at the Mayor of London.

The first criticised his statement that Britons should remain calm and the second attacked the mayor’s “pathetic excuse”.

What most British people believe is that Trump’s attack was motivated by his dislike of Muslims.

London’s mayor was born in London but he is named Sadiq Khan and his family is originally from Pakistan.

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Has the British love for animals gone a bit too far?

On May 29, a tiger at Hamerton Zoo Park in Cambridgeshire attacked and killed its long-time keeper, Rosa King.

Normally, animals which attack humans, most often dogs, are routinely put down.

However, the zoo owners announced that the killer tiger would not be killed.

It said this decision had the support of Rosa King’s family.

A police investigation is currently going on and the zoo has been closed since the incident.

The owners said their decision could be changed depending on the conclusions of the police investigation and a scheduled inquest.

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Heard at job interviews:

When you do background checks on candidates, do things like public drunkenness arrests come up?

If I get an offer, how long do I have before I have to take the drug test?

Can we wrap this up fairly quickly, I have somewhere to go.

May I have a cup of coffee? I think I may still be a little drunk from last night.

(During a telephone call to arrange an interview): Can we meet next month? I’m currently incarcerated.