While catching up on my TiVo this weekend, I couldn’t help but laugh when I came across this golden nugget of “reality” television. I apologize for the commercial introduction, but it’s worth it, I promise.
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Whether or not you are familiar with Jeff Lewis’ off-the-wall antics, you just can’t help but laugh at the absurdity that took place in that interview. In less than one minute, Jeff manages to ask the interviewee 7, count ‘em SEVEN, highly off-limits, if not illegal, questions. It’s almost as if he looked at the list of protected classes and then thought, “Hmm…I feel like going rogue today.”
All kidding aside, I’ve found that many employers just don’t know what they can and cannot ask: what is protected, what isn’t, and how can you get the information you need without crossing the line?
One of the ways to avoid any conflict is to monitor and educate your hiring managers. We see it everyday: an inexperienced manager, who has never been shown the ropes, asks entirely inappropriate questions during an interview. In most cases they mean no harm and don’t know any better, but it can still ruffle feathers. (If it ruffles the wrong person’s feathers it can be highly detrimental to your company and its reputation.) Avoid this unfortunate situation altogether by holding annual training meetings for all parties responsible for hiring. This is a great forum for addressing staff questions, highlighting changes in employment law and even implementing a company-wide interview process. Promoting uniformity leaves less margin for error in large organizations.
There are also several great resources that we recommend you look into when forming your interview outline or educating your staff. With education comes awareness, and in turn, a more well-equipped interviewer. The US Equal Employment Commission has a great website filled with information and suggestions for business. They offer excellent information for both employees and employers to understand their rights and investigate possible violations. If you do your homework [and follow the rules], your applicant won’t have to do his [and file a claim].
The website HR World also offers some excellent articles for employers to reference when developing interview questions. If you’re wondering how to phrase a particular question, check out the article entitled “30 Interview Questions You Can’t Ask and 30 Sneaky, Legal Alternatives to Get the Same Info”. It covers pretty much every topic you would want to address in an interview.
The real reality is that the most important tool you have in an interview situation is your intuition. Let your gut guide the process when making each hire…just make sure you play fair and stay on the up-and-up! I think that’s one thing that Jeff Lewis is exceedingly good at…trusting his gut and whether it’s good, bad or indifferent, he goes for broke. In the end, no matter how much you prepare, investigate and probe before making a hiring decision, isn’t it really just a blind leap of faith?
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