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Ask Slashdot: How Have You Handled Illegal Interview Topics?
kodiaktau writes "Salary.com profiles 14 questions that interviewers may or may not ask during the interview process such as the standards of age, gender and sexual orientation. They also profile several lesser known illegal or border line questions like height/weight, military background, country of origin and family status. With the recent flap over companies asking potential employees for passwords during the interview process it is important to know and review your legal rights before entering the interview. Have you been confronted with borderline or illegal interview questions in the past? How have you responded to those questions?"
Even then, the link is to the last page. Here's a slightly better page.
Anyway, on-topic, do you really want to work for a company that requires you to know your legal status prior to a job interview? Discrimination is disgusting, and as much as it may hurt, you're better off being knocked back for the job than having it present 40 hours a week.
People need to feed their families, but degrading one's self respect by accepting work where it happens is only inviting more trouble.
This article is just the sort of government intrusion that makes me never want to hire anyone. Freedom of contract used to mean something in this country. No more. So I'll answer my own phones.
As Peter Schiff has said, hiring someone in the United States is one of the most expensive and riskiest things a business owner can do.
I'm sure you'll all mod this "-1, I disagree with you," but I am speaking very honestly. Keep throwing taxes and regulations at something, and you'll get less of it. Like jobs.
Slashdot "libertarians": Small government for me, big government for those I disagree with. -1, I disagree with you
Though apparently it is just fine to get hired as non-US citizen by the DoD.
On November 25, 2008, US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates signed a memorandum authorizing the Secretaries of the Army, Navy, and Air Force to implement a new non-citizen recruiting pilot program for the United States Armed Forces. Titled âoeMilitary Accessions Vital to the National Interestâ (MAVNI), the new pilot program allows certain non-citizens who are legally present in the United States to join the military and apply immediately for US citizenship without first obtaining lawful permanent residence.
http://www.visalawyerblog.com/2009/02/fast_citizenship_the_armys_new.html
"service guarantees citizenship!" (Starship Troopers)
"I'm sorry, that information is classified."
Operation Guillotine is in effect.
You're wrong because most of that should not even come up at the office.
If it is an issue then the owner needs to be informed on the realities of operating in a multi-cultural nation.
Try hiring someone in Germany. Or better yet, try firing them. No wonder the German economy is doing so poorly compared to the United States.
What? Germany's growth is at 2.9% Unemployment is at 5.9% Youth ( Now, we in the US have the following: 8.3% unemployment rate. As of July 2011, the youth unemployment rate was 18%. The debt % of its GPD is at 103.3%
Where the US leads Germany is in GDP per capita (Germany: $37,935. US: $48,147) and in America's post-HS education (in particular with grad-level education) and R&D. Where the US and Germany seem to meet is the rising level of incoming inequality.
But considering all other indicators (growth, unemployment debt/GDP ratios), your comment is completely off the mark. As an American, I wish we had those numbers.
So what, you'd refuse to hire a worker to increase output when the demand's there, just because the government's being mean to you by protecting the person's civil rights?
I don't want to work for anyone who doesn't want to work with me. That is a bad relationship which will end in nothing but misery.
I don't care why they don't want to work with me. Pounding square pegs into round holes is a stupid idea.
Futurist Traditionalism
Fail, dude. Just fail. Ever hire in Europe? There is a lot more red tape to go through. Europeans have mandatory vacation time, and they will take it.
It's not just that we will take their vacation it just because it's been _earned_. It's actually legally required. Something called a work life balance
Overtime pay goes up exponentially.
Want to cite some sources for this nonsense rhetoric?
And they actually enforce this as opposed to burying it in some court docket.
So you think that laws to protect citizens of a country and their rights should not actually be enforced?
Firing is worse.
So you think that citizens should have zero rights to actally know they have a job for longer than the 5 minutes you can be bothered to pay them?
Don't forget that you have to pay a lot more taxes (think 60% VAT for starters.)
You think that anywhere in the EU there is a sales tax of 60%? What the hell have you been smoking?
Stop disparaging the US until you get a clue.
Stop disparaging the system in other countries until _you_ get a clue
Of course they do. And they can do that all they want in their personal lives.
On the job though they're expected to behave professionally.
And part of "professionally" means not bringing up issues such as religion or politics and so forth. Or being able to deal, professionally, with others who have differing views.
And when an employer is selecting for religion / politics / whatever then there is a problem.
every country has a rick santorum. Not every country has a large group of people that tolerate having a rick santorum being a serious contender for president.
Some ways that employers get the answers they want without appearing to do anything illegal:
* age: what year did you graduate?
* race / country of origin: where did you go to school?
* citizenship: have you had or are you able to obtain a security clearance?
* membership in clubs: what activities do you engage in, in your free time?
* family status: what would you costs be to relocate to our new location?
I'd rather live in a place where most people are not the products of public schools.
I'd rather live in a place where most people are not the products of "public is always bad, private is always good" propaganda.
And you realize that, if we're going to use your standard, the German state has only existed about 21 years?
It's quite revealing how weak your argument is that you have to cite the overall rate of US economic growth, all the way back to the founding of the republic, to find a standard by which the US is doing (present tense, as in now) better than Germany, never mind that it is a completely specious standard.
I actually thought someone could answer how the US economy is still doing better than Germany *right now*. I guess not.
Holy cow, didn't we JUST cover this? It is NOT ILLEGAL to ask a prospective questions. You can ask them pretty much anything. BUT if you do ask them questions concerning race, religion, age, sex, and a few other things, and you don't hire them. You open yourself up to a lawsuit. So rather than risk it, it is recommended you don't ask these sort of questions.
Of course it makes it difficult sometimes. We were told not to ask where someone lived (could indicate living situation as in living in the poor part of town. But when I used to walk a candidate back to my office, I used to talk about the weather. And I liked to know where they lived, so I could compare our weather to what they are used to.
BUT IT IS NOT ILLEGAL! Just strongly recommended you don't ask certain questions.