Ask HN: How to deal with inappropriate interview questions?

9 points by kobot 12 years ago | 4 comments

A while back I had an interview with a fairly well known startup for an internship. The interviewer asked me a few personal questions - what did my parents do, do I have any siblings, what is my relationship status, whether or not my SO would be willing to move, etc. At the time I was a little creeped out but I didn't think much of it since I ended up taking an offer somewhere else.

<p>Now it's about the time that I'm going to start looking for a full-time job and I was wondering what I should say if that situation comes up again. If I say "sorry, I don't feel comfortable answering these questions", I'm afraid they might think I'm being prudish or something. I know startups are quite casual, but are these types of questions normal?

dandrews 12 years ago |

Your interviewer just sounds inexperienced to me. I'd deflect it: "That sounds like an off-prem kinda question. Maybe one of these days we can meet for a beer after work and swap stories."

dnm 12 years ago |

"Relationship status" is flat out illegal.

The personal family stuff is just wierd.

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=things+you+are+not+allowed+to+ask+...

true_religion 12 years ago | |

Technically no question is illegal during an interview. However, if you ask a question they may later use that as evidence of discrimination in the future.

throwaway420 12 years ago |

It all depends on the level of inappropriateness, how it benefits you, and your personal comfort level with it. If you're applying for a super great job, it might be in your self-interest to casually accept a few probing questions like that if you think that it gives you a better opportunity to get the job.

If you're the litigious or confrontational type, you might be able to spin this type of incident into a lawsuit or threaten them in some sly way to guarantee the job. I wouldn't do it that way or recommend doing that, but that's certainly an option for aggressive personality types.