How Do You Respond To Colleagues Who Ask Your Personal Questions (interview, jobs)

[Harpaint]

Originally Posted by thatguydownsouth

You keep bodes in your refrigerator dont you.

What are bodes?

[Dilnca]

If someone was "shot gunning me questions" instead of having a conversation with me, I'd be annoyed.

Generally I am pretty friendly and will talk to anyone but if they asked me something too personal, I'd just say I don't feel comfortable discussing that.

I have a friend who is from another culture that doesn't like personal questions because in that culture these things are seen as private and intrusive. He has had a lot of problems relating and getting along with co-workers for this reason. They want to get to know him and he refuses to talk chit chat about his private life.

He has the right not to discuss these issues and they keep thinking he is just secretive and "stuck up."

[Nanny Goat]

I make jokes out of personal questions if I want to evade them. Always works. We'll laugh and the topic goes somewhere else. I'm pretty direct, but I'd never answer questions about where exactly I live or finances or anything else I didn't want to answer!!

[txfriend]

Not one person has ever ask #6, #8, #9, unless it was a financial professional, the rest is of little consequence.

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by RNW2015

6 how much money are you making

I have a problem with this question in the workplace, but I work in IT at a company with employees in dozens of locations around the world, and an equally large variety of employment contracts, etc. There are also folks who have been here 30 years and folks out of school.

Who knows how much anyone makes? I can make a guess based on grade level (which is public knowledge at this firm), but otherwise not.

The other questions don't bother me, but I would just do whatever comes naturally. If you don't want to talk about a given subject, either give a very general answer, or just let them know you aren't comfortable with that topic.

[3littlebirdies]

I answer one question and then I ask them three. People love talking about themselves so it is very easy to shift the questions off me and onto them while still coming off very social and open to conversation.

[BusyMeAK]

First people ask how to avoid answering personal questions, then complain that they have no friends. Seems to me that second is a direct consequence of the first.

[hhwtm]

Nearly all of those questions are WAAYY too personal, especially to talk about at work. Ridiculous. They need to buzz off.

[Above Average Bear]

I usually respond with I'd tell you, but then I'd have to kill you. I usually don't get asked again, or to lunch for that matter.

[CSD610]

Originally Posted by RNW2015

So how do you respond to colleagues who ask personal questions at work. I know many people don't mind sharing their personal lives but I'm not one of them.

In the past I've had coworkers ask

1. Are you dating/ married
2. How many children do you have
3. Where do you live (giving them the city wasn't good enough) they want cross streets
4. What does your spouse do for work
5. What type of work did your parent do
6 how much money are you making
7 how old are you
8 how much do you pay in rent/ mortgage
9 how much did you have in student loans


Often times when these and other questions come up especially during an initial conversation with a colleague I think "none of your business" but I have yet to figure out how to politely either not respond or vaguely respond. If you are like me how have you successfully avoided colleagues who can ask a million and one questions which have nothing to do with work. How can you tell them to back off without having them turn into a workplace enemy

Please let me know any tips or suggested answers.

Please don't respond with "just get to know them" or "don't be so secretive" or the like

Thanks guys

I don't and never did, my personal life is just that, personal and it really is none of their business.
Work is work not social hour and I always got a salary to work.

If I was asked a personal question I either immediately changed the subject to business or walked away without answering.