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Posted By: Dnkldorf Interview questions Quiz - 10/01/06 01:21 PM
Which of these questions can you ask, or not ask legally, when interviewing an applicant?


1. Of what country are you a citizen?
2. Are there any hours or regulary scheduled work days you are unwilling to work?
3.How old are you?
4. Please list or state your academic, vocational or professional education and schools attended?
5. Have you ever changed your name, by court order or otherwise?
6. If hired, can you provide proof of age? (for minors)
7. What religous denomination are you? or
Do you attend religous services?
8.Are you able to perform the essential funtions of the positions for which you are applying for?
9.Are you pregnant, do you plan on becoming pregnant?
10. Are you a citizen of the United States?
11. What is your native language?
12. Have you ever worked for this comapany under a different name?
13. What is your marital status?
14.What languages can you read or speak fluently?
15. Have you ever been arrested?
16. What is your height and wieght?
17. Have you ever been convicted of a felony? If so, when/what is the disposition?
18. Are your parents, spouse, or family, citizens of the United States?
19. In what country did you attend school?
20.What kind of work does your spouse do?
Posted By: PE&Master Re: Interview questions Quiz - 10/01/06 02:32 PM
I once interviewed with GE for an engineering position and the interviewer asked me if my dad was dead. No lie. I think he was trying to shock me or something.
Some personal/family questions have no place in an interview regardless of legalities. Religion and politics come to mind. A married Catholic Republican may not be any better than a divorced Methodist Democrat. Has no bearing on his/her ability to do an effective job.
Alot of your questions should be submitted in a job application form before the interview to save each of you some valuable time. For $20-$30 bucks you can buy a very good job application form on line.
Posted By: Alan Nadon Re: Interview questions Quiz - 10/01/06 04:11 PM
You may want to check your local Human Relations office for guidelines.
In some areas it is known as the Equal Employement Office.
Alan--
Posted By: LarryC Re: Interview questions Quiz - 10/01/06 04:12 PM
I'm not a lawyer but ....

1. Of what country are you a citizen?
YES __if__ it is a defendable requirement of the job such as military.

2. Are there any hours or regulary scheduled work days you are unwilling to work?
Don't know.

3.How old are you?
NO.

4. Please list or state your academic, vocational or professional education and schools attended?
YES.

5. Have you ever changed your name, by court order or otherwise?
YES if a background or security checks are required as part of the job requirements.

6. If hired, can you provide proof of age? (for minors).
YES

7. What religous denomination are you? or
Do you attend religous services?
NO, except if it is part of the job requirements.

8.Are you able to perform the essential funtions of the positions for which you are applying for?
YES.

9.Are you pregnant, do you plan on becoming pregnant?
NO. However if becoming pregnant prevents the applicant from performing the essential functions of the position, or will expose the fetus to hazardous conditions such as ionizing radiation, toxic chemicals, etc. the candidate has the obligation to inform the employer so that the employer can relocate the candidate to a position of less hazards.

10. Are you a citizen of the United States?
YES __if__ it is a requirement of the job such as military.

11. What is your native language?
NO.

12. Have you ever worked for this comapany under a different name?
YES.

13. What is your marital status?
NO.

14.What languages can you read or speak fluently?
YES.

15. Have you ever been arrested?
__NO__ Changed after rereading question.

16. What is your height and wieght?
YES if it is a requirement to perform the essential funtions of the position.

17. Have you ever been convicted of a felony? If so, when/what is the disposition?
YES.

18. Are your parents, spouse, or family, citizens of the United States?
NO.

19. In what country did you attend school?
NO.

20.What kind of work does your spouse do?
NO.

Again I am not a lawyer.

Larry

Editted reply for #15

[This message has been edited by LarryC (edited 10-01-2006).]
Posted By: renosteinke Re: Interview questions Quiz - 10/01/06 04:45 PM
Interview and application questions.... now, there's a touchy subject.

I suppose the first response to any question should be "does it matter?" If the answer cannot have direct bearing on the job, then the question doesn't belong.

In other words, what do you really want to know?

Let's take religion as an example. While the wire won't care if it's pulled by either the Pope, or an atheist.... it would matter if the guy's practices meant he needed to leave early on Friday. While that might not be a problem, it need to be discussed.

Arrest? Sorry, not relevant. Conviction- there's another thing altogether.

When you ask things relating to nationality, what are you really asking?
Are you asking if the person has the right to work here? The I-9 form answers that.
Are you asking whether you can communicate with them? Apart from the interview, tests exist, that you usually ask everyone to take.
Are yopu questioning their qualifications? Quite relevant.... not only do wiring practices vary greatly, but other countries have differing standards. Neither a Phillipine 'engineer' or a Russian 'doctor' are what you'ld expect here!

Look at things from another perspective: how would you react if your customers asked YOU the same questions?

Hiring is, and always will be, a crap shoot. None can see into another's heart, or tell the future. While the Union Hall can be counted upon to do some screening, it's not the cat's meow either.

Then again, lots of employers wouldn't survive their own job application process, either!

So, the best you can do is to keep your eye on the ball, limit your questions to those that are relevant. Maybe even include a skills test- say, run pipe from one box to another, with a few obstacles in the way.
Posted By: Dnkldorf Re: Interview questions Quiz - 10/01/06 04:54 PM
Larry, the military doesn't require you to be citizen of the US.

You're close, they are 7 yes's, and 13 no's.

But which ones?
Posted By: Scott35 Re: Interview questions Quiz - 10/02/06 06:10 AM
I'll bite [Linked Image]

***KEY***
"No" = Illegal to ask an Applicant;
"Yes" = Not Illegal to ask an Applicant.
(trying to remember the items per "Civil Rights Acts of 1964, Title VII; Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967; and Americans With Disabilities Act "ADA" of 1991, Title I)

#1:
Q: "Of what country are you a citizen?"
A: No.
Reason: Discrimination per Nationality.

#2:
Q: "Are there any hours or regularly scheduled work days you are unwilling to work?"
A: Maybe No, Maybe Yes.
Reason for "No": Discrimination per Religion.
Reason for "Yes": Scheduling of Night and Weekend Work.

#3:
Q: "How old are you?"
A: No.
Reason: Discrimination per Age.

#4:
Q: "Please list or state your academic, vocational or professional education and schools attended?"
A: Yes.
Reason: May be additional benefits, or even requirements for the intended Position.

#5:
Q: "Have you ever changed your name, by court order or otherwise?"
A: No.
Reason: Name changes are Confidential.

#6:
Q: "If hired, can you provide proof of age? (for minors)"
A: Yes.
Reason: Child Labor Laws!!!

#7:
Q: "What religious denomination are you? or
Do you attend religious services?"
A: No.
Reason: Discrimination per Religion.

#8:
Q: "Are you able to perform the essential functions of the positions for which you are applying for?"
A: No.
Reason: Discrimination per Medical History (often violated!).

#9:
Q: "Are you pregnant, do you plan on becoming pregnant?"
A: No.
Reason: Status of Pregnancy information is irrelevant.

#10:
Q: "Are you a citizen of the United States?"
A: No.
Reason: Discrimination per Nationality. Information pertaining to Citizenship is disclosed on Form I-9 (IRS).

#11:
Q: "What is your native language?"
A: Yes.
Reason: Not Discrimination per Nationality question.

#12:
Q: "Have you ever worked for this company under a different name?"
A: No.
Reason: Name changes are Confidential.

#13:
Q: "What is your marital status?"
A: Not sure on this one, but "My Gut Feelings" say _No_.
Reason: Spousal information is irrelevant.

#14:
Q: "What languages can you read or speak fluently?"
A: Yes.
Reason: Bi-lingual Personnel are assets in many places.

#15:
Q: "Have you ever been arrested?"
A: No.
Reason: Irrelevant.

#16:
Q: "What is your height and weight?"
A: Yes.
Reason: Mainly is not a Discriminative question.

#17:
Q: "Have you ever been convicted of a felony? If so, when/what is the disposition?"
A: No.
Reason: Irrelevant.

#18:
Q: "Are your parents, spouse, or family, citizens of the United States?"
A: Sounds like "No", but may be "Yes"???.

#19:
Q: "In what country did you attend school?"
A: Yes.

#20:
Q: "What kind of work does your spouse do?"
A: No.
Reason: Spousal information is irrelevant.

It has been a while since I have done any interviewing for new Employees, but when I did the Interviews, the questions and topics discussed were directed towards the past work experience of the Candidate, and a small part towards Education and future goals.
All other information listed on Application went along the guidelines listed at the top part of this post.

I tended to keep off all Personal stuff of Candidates during Interviews - since this is of no relevance anyway. Only focused on what was relevant to the Company's well-being, which would be the Person's qualifications and where to place that Person, if accepted.
However, there were a few times when Candidates mentioned something of interest - like Trains, Music (instruments), Injunearring (Engineering), Corn-Puters (Computers), and such, which were openly discussed.

Kind of miss those days! [Linked Image]
Now I am "In The Other Seat!" being Interviewed, rather than doing the Interviewing.
Let me tell ya, I have been thrown way too many questions which are definite "No-No's", and so many "Borderlining No-No's"!!!
Even some of the Applications have No-No's imbedded!
Then there are some of the "Pre Qualification Electrician's Quizzes" which are very inadequate, or simply written very poorly, that I went and added so much "Examples and/or Exceptions" writing - in addition to my (possibly) already long-winded answer, that I either frightened off, confused, or just irritated the Interviewer; resulting in "Thank You For Your Time, We Will Contact You".

However, had 3 "Good" Leads, which had good Applications, Great Interviewers and a decent quiz!
These People have called back, and I am on the fence as to which one to choose from.

Scott35

edited spelling errors - which were not intended! [Linked Image]

[This message has been edited by Scott35 (edited 10-02-2006).]
Posted By: TNSunny Re: Interview questions Quiz - 10/02/06 06:21 PM
I agree with Larry's responses. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prevents discrimination based on several categories. However, depending on the work and hazards involved, some of the questions could be asked. Others, however, such as marital status and religion, are never permitted to be asked.

Kevin
Posted By: macmikeman Re: Interview questions Quiz - 10/02/06 07:19 PM
I have a question. It has been a number of years since I had to give any of this stuff a second glance and am not up on all of it anymore. Do any of the not allowed answers posted above have any exemptions for number of employee's? Meaning if you are a small employeer with say 5 employee's, then are you allowed to ask any of the questions above? (discounting local or state rules).
Posted By: Dnkldorf Re: Interview questions Quiz - 10/02/06 08:27 PM
The way the questions are worded, the answers are:

1 no
2 y
3 n
4 y
5 n
6 y
7 n
8 y
9 n
10 n
11 n
12 y
13 n
14 n, unless it is a essential feature of the job, ie. language teacher, interperator.
15 n
16 n
17 y
18 n
19 n
20 n
Posted By: TNSunny Re: Interview questions Quiz - 10/03/06 05:27 PM
macmikeman:

Title VII is a Federal Statute, so it trumps any state or local statutes. In other words, the state or local government cannot get around this law with their own. They can add additional protections, but they can't take any away.

And no, these rules apply to all employers regardless of size.

Kevin
Posted By: renosteinke Re: Interview questions Quiz - 10/03/06 11:02 PM
TNS, I am going to have to say that answer is not complete.

The Federal Givernment is not, in any way, "superior" to the states, or counties. It only has what powers are assigned to it by the Constitution. Powere not specifically assigned to it belong to the States, or to individuals.

Now, I will conceed that the Federal Government has asserted thet the power to regulate interstate commerce (which is assigned to it) can be stretched to cover any whim of the Federal Government. But, they don't always win (RE: Lopez).

That said, compliance can be a nightmare. Company size does matter.... too small, and the various agencies can have difficulty applying certain theories. For example, how can you accuse a one-man shop of discriminating in Employment? Yet, I have seen EEO suits that claimed that an employer discriminated by having the "wrong" minorities employed. Go figure.


One is essentially limited to three protective measures:
- Use already court-tested "standard" paperwork;
- Employ a 'buffer,' such as an employment agency; and,
- Be so poor no attorney will bother with you.

"Sue me for all I have... it won't take long!"
Posted By: TNSunny Re: Interview questions Quiz - 10/05/06 03:59 PM
"The Federal Givernment is not, in any way, 'superior' to the states, or counties. It only has what powers are assigned to it by the Constitution. Powere not specifically assigned to it belong to the States, or to individuals."

Essentially correct. The Constitution contains what is known as the "Supremacy Clause", which makes it the supreme law of the land. If this were not so, then the Bill of Rights - for example - could be "overruled" by the States. In effect, the federal government would become virtually powerless. But because the Supremacy Clause is there, so the states cannot do this. This applies for Title VII as well. The states can try to diminish it's authority by passing their own legislation against it, but the Federal courts have the power to strike it down.

"Now, I will conceed that the Federal Government has asserted thet the power to regulate interstate commerce (which is assigned to it) can be stretched to cover any whim of the Federal Government. But, they don't always win (RE: Lopez)."

Correct again. I don't believe the founding fathers ever intended the commerce clause to become the "catch-all" that it has. However, the courts are ruling in favor of those who write their checks (the politicians), and thus we have the extreme bureaucracy that we have today. Unless and until the American people as a whole finally stand up against them, they are going to continue seizing power and control. In fact, it is my opinion that our Constitutional Republic is pretty much dead and we are on the verge of a police state or unofficial "monarchy."

"That said, compliance can be a nightmare. Company size does matter.... too small, and the various agencies can have difficulty applying certain theories."

I agree that compliance can be a nightmare when it comes to affirmative action laws, etc. However, I disagree in regard to size insofar as Title VII is concerned. I am not aware of any statutes or precedents that would permit any employer from discriminating against the protected classes based upon size of the employer. Some laws, such as the FMLA do have stipulations that exempt employers under a certain size, but not Title VII.

One additional protection is for a person to educate themselves the best that they can as to what the law requires.

Thanks for your comments.

Sincerely,

Kevin
Posted By: brianl703 Re: Interview questions Quiz - 10/27/06 03:00 PM
I believe you're allowed to ask whether someone is legally eligible to work in this country, and to provide proof of that eligibility.

If that's your concern, that's a better question than #1 and #10.
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