524 Appendix A Competent InterviewingDealing with Difficult or Unethical Questions
“What fictional character most clearly reflects your outlook on life?” This is
an actual question that an interviewer asked a colleague of ours some years ago
when she was applying to college. To this day, she remembers the question be-
cause she panicked—not because she lacked an answer, but because she wasn’t
expecting the question. An interviewer might use such unexpected questions to
seek insights into the way candidates view themselves or to judge how well they
think on their feet. Some questions are simply tricky—they offer a challenge to
the interviewee but also a great opportunity to show one’s strengths.
Other questions are more than just difficult; they are unethical and some-
times even illegal. Questions that have no direct bearing on job performance and
have the potential to lead to discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion,
national origin, sex, age, disability, and marital or family status are illegal in the
United States. Although an organization whose employees ask illegal questions
during employment interviews can be subject to a variety of penalties imposed
by the federal government’s Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
(EEOC), such questions continue to be asked, and applicants must consider
how to answer them. There are at least five tactics you can use to respond to ille-
gal questions (Stewart & Cash, 2014). By answering briefly but directly, tactfully
refusing to answer, or neutralizing the question, you respond without giving
too much information or inviting further inquiry. You can also consider posing
a tactful inquiry—that is, asking another question in response—or using the
question as an opportunity to present some positive information about yourself.
These five strategies are outlined with examples in Table A.6.Asking Questions of Your Own
Of course, the interviewer should not be the only person asking questions in a
job interview. A candidate for any job should arrive at an interview prepared toc (^) Tell me about what led you to choose your particular field/your academic major.
How satisfied have you been with your choice?
c (^) Describe what you understand is required in the position you are applying for.
Summarize your qualifications in light of this description.
c (^) Why do you want to/did you leave your current employer?
c (^) What do you know about our organization that caused you to become interested
in us?
c (^) Describe something important that you learned from a previous work experience.
c (^) Describe a time when you demonstrated initiative in your employment/volunteer
position.
c (^) Describe a recent project that didn’t turn out the way you wanted. How would
you make it work if you had another chance at it?
c (^) Describe a time when you worked through a difficult coworker situation.
c (^) If I gave you this job, what would you accomplish in the first three months?
c (^) Are there any questions that you want to ask?
TABLE A.5
COMMON INTERVIEW
QUESTIONS
Source: Adapted from Greco (1977).
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