How to answer privacy questions in an interview

How to answer privacy questions in an interview

During the interview, some employers will ask questions that involve the personal privacy of candidates, such as "Do you have a boyfriend?" "Do you approve of extramarital sex?" "What do you do if a customer asks you to have sex?" "What would you do if the boss harassed you? Hit him with a bottle? "

Xiaojiang, a fresh graduate of the Chinese Department of a famous university in Guangzhou, was recommended by the department to apply for a local state-owned enterprise, and the interviews at all levels were quite smooth. Finally, she got a chance to interview the head of the department alone.

"Do you have a boyfriend?" After some standard questions, the person in charge suddenly asked this question.

Xiaojiang did not have any psychological preparation, and subconsciously replied: "Yes."

"Is he in Guangzhou or out of town?"

"He is going through the formalities of going abroad." Xiao Jiang still answered truthfully.

"Will you go out with him in the future?"

"My major is useless, so I didn't think about going out."

"So you're not breaking up?"

"hmm ...? You have considered it longer than me! "

After asking these questions, Xiao Jiang looked a little ugly, but the interview didn't end like this.

The person in charge across the table continued to ask, "What do you think of unmarried cohabitation?" "

Xiaojiang was surprised and felt greatly humiliated. She said excitedly, "This personal opinion belongs to my privacy. Does it have anything to do with my work? " Then she got up angrily and left.

Afterwards, Xiao Jiang learned from the teacher that he didn't get the job. Later, Xiao Jiang regretted it, because her subsequent job search process was not smooth. Xiao Jiang dared not tell his teacher about his interview experience, so he vented his anguish online. She asked everyone, "Has anyone ever encountered a similar problem? What's your answer? Encountered such a thing today, my in the mind is really uncomfortable ... "

Wang Wei, general manager of New Age Hotel

Our company will also ask some privacy questions when recruiting certain positions, but it will not be so explicit. For example, during an interview, we often touch on the privacy of candidates, and we often consider how to ask questions to avoid privacy problems and achieve the purpose of investigation. For example, a brand director of our marketing department gave birth to a baby and needs to find a short-term employee for six months to replace her. The marketing director said that there are a lot of marketing activities recently, so let's try not to find female employees who are considering having children.

Although we know that this is a question involving personal privacy, we still have to ask the young women who come to apply: Are you married? Do you have any kids？ Later, an applicant's answer satisfied the boss: "I'm not married. Even if I get married, I won't change my plan to do a full-time job. I can put all my energy into my work. " In answering this question, she is friendly and confident. In fact, the interviewer wants to know the personal situation of the job seeker and judge whether it will affect the work of the company.

When a colleague of mine discussed this problem with me, his opinion was: some personal questions just want to know your personality. The recent recruitment of students in charge of public relations promotion requires bold and cautious people. Therefore, some privacy questions are also set up to examine candidates' reaction ability and outlook on life, which is a set of their own practices for their company to examine individual comprehensive reactions.

However, I don't advocate that enterprises can ask employees privacy questions at will. My suggestion is: for the units and positions that want to interview, it is best to do your homework first, so the chances of success will be greater.

Wang, employee of Venus International Training Institute

To tell the truth, many interviewers are not of high quality now.

The year before last, I went to an education consulting company in Xuefeng Building for an interview. The dignified interviewer asked me: Do you have a girlfriend? How many/much? Where are you from? ..... He asked with a smile, and the colleagues around him not only didn't show disgust, but also smiled. Shit, I really want to slap him!

Xiao Jiang in the above article is really calm. I really admire her calmness! My suggestion is: this kind of question is too much, hit him with a bottle! What does Xiao Jiang regret for such obvious harassment? Even if there are no hidden rules, they will be harassed. This kind of company is definitely not allowed to go, and there will be endless troubles. It's already cheap for them to leave!

If the company has to ask some "obscure" questions to examine employees because of work needs, it can design some questions in advance that do not touch personal dignity and bottom line. Of course, this requires the interviewer to improve his own quality.

Personally, in a formal occasion like an interview, no matter what the purpose of the recruiter is, whether it is to test the integrity of the applicant or the responsiveness of the applicant, there are many ways and means to choose from, and there is no need to use such privacy-related questions, especially to ask a girl who just graduated.

In fact, Xiaojiang's problem is really just the tip of the iceberg. The privacy issues involved in the interview are far more than these. Let's go online to collect news about privacy. About hepatitis B, sexual orientation, underwear color, and when to have children. What is completely personal privacy is regarded as a problem by some interviewers.

Many interviewers take it for granted that as long as they do not violate laws and regulations, the unit can ask some privacy-related questions according to the needs of the investigation. The problem is that many questions that invade personal privacy have nothing to do with work, such as "the color of your underwear?" Questions like this are not only unrelated to work, but also really involve "colored" content.

With the improvement of China's laws, people's awareness of self-protection is getting stronger and stronger. If the unit violates personal privacy, the individual can sue the unit for infringement, which is definitely not a glorious thing for the unit.

Now, more and more candidates are beginning to complain that their employers have invaded their privacy. For example, last year, someone made a random survey of Guangzhou 15 fresh graduates. It was found that 1 of the five boys were asked if they had a girlfriend during the interview, and 7 of the 10 girls were asked if they had a boyfriend and other similar personal privacy issues. Six of them felt "a little embarrassed and unhappy", and only 1 Dafang said that they didn't mind answering such questions. An interviewed female classmate of Jinan University said indignantly, "Does my private life have anything to do with finding a job?" From this point of view, if this problem does not attract the attention of employers, it can be said that it will be endless trouble.

A lawyer also quoted classics as saying: According to the relevant provisions of the Labor Contract Law, employers do have the right to know the health status, knowledge, skills and work experience of workers when recruiting them, which is the right to know enjoyed by employers in the process of signing contracts with workers. However, when exercising the right to know, the employer should clearly know that the scope of the right to know is the information related to the conclusion of the labor contract. The personal privacy of job seekers does not belong to the scope of the right to know. The so-called "department head" used the recruitment opportunity to ask candidates about their views and attitudes towards "extramarital sex", which obviously exceeded the scope of the unit's right to know. These problems not only have nothing to do with the conclusion of labor contracts, but also infringe on the personal privacy of job seekers. Job seekers have every right to refuse to answer these questions.

It is said that Motorola appreciates those who refuse to answer privacy questions. The company will also ask you a few embarrassing questions during the interview, such as are you married? When do you want to have children? Boyfriend standard? Are you willing to be sexually open? The company will appreciate it if it refuses to answer on the grounds that the question belongs to personal privacy. They believe that these candidates will not succumb to pressure because of immediate interests. With personality and dignity, you will be less tempted in your work, stick to principles and always put the interests of the company first.

However, how many companies, like Motorola, refused to answer privacy questions and were hired? How many job seekers dare to flatly refuse? A married childless woman was asked when she would have a baby. She was afraid of losing the opportunity. She simply said that she belonged to "double income no kids", but she still didn't get the job. When she learned that the company finally hired a man, her subsequent resume simply omitted the marital status and became an "invisible marriage".

It seems that privacy is really a double-edged sword, because it not only hurts the reputation of enterprises, but also makes job seekers become liars.

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