Chapter III. Putting Your Best Foot Forward: The Successful Interview
Know Your Legal Rights When Job Searching
| Categories: | Employers May Ask: | Employers May NOT Ask: |
|---|---|---|
| Age | Are you under the age of 18? |
When were you born? How old are you? |
| Ancestry or National origin | No questions | What is your language, ancestry, or national origin? |
| Birthplace | No questions | Where were you born? Where were your parents born? |
| Citizenship | Are you a citizen? Do you intend to become a citizen? |
Are your parents/wife/husband citizens? When did you become citizens? |
| Criminal record | Have you been convicted of a crime? | Have you ever been arrested? |
| Dependents | No questions | Do you have children? Do you have childcare? |
| Disability | No questions | Do you have a handicap? Have you collected disability/ workers' compensation? |
| Marital Status | No questions | What is your marital status? |
| Military | Are you a US veteran? What is your military history? |
Are you collecting a service- connected disability pension? |
| Race | No questions | What is your race? Color? Photos cannot be required to accompany applications. |
| Relatives | No questions | Where does your mother, father or any other relative work or conduct business? |
| Religion | No questions | What religious holidays do you observe? |
| Sex | No questions | What is your sex? |
| Sexual Orientation | No questions | Are you a homosexual? |
If you feel you have been discriminated against--contact your local office of Human Rights.
Some employers may ask you questions they should not -- questions that may be discriminatory. While you should not answer them, be prepared to deal with the underlying issues (for example a question about age may be the interviewer wondering if you can handle the job or a question about childcare may be the employer wondering about whether you will miss a lot of work...you can reassure the employer about these things without directly answering the questions).
