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I've been asked if I had children (illegal) because the supervisor didn't want any call outs for childcare issues (hmmm, too bad children exist as far as she was concerned!), been asked to get fingerprints before I was offered the job (usually that comes after the offer). I had one job where the woman asked me if I could wear polyester!! I kid you not. I had an all cotton outfit on and I guess she didn't like any wrinkles!! I just chuckled (90's).
One job I already had & the psycho boss wanted me to wear all whites w/ my home care visits & white stockings if a skirt. So, when I dropped off my paperwork (to her house 1/week), I'd wear the "appropriate" outfit & on other days, it was casual clothing without socks even. Hehe. It was Florida & w/ the humidity probably 100. Nowadays w/ the job market being what it is, I'm sure there are some strange stories out there.
I had the opposite. This was back in the early 90s, so it probably wasn't illegal yet. But my interviewer asked me if I had kids. I told her that I had a 9 month old. She squealed (I'm seriously - she actually squealed with joy) and hired me on the spot. She had a 10 month old and nobody to discuss baby issues with at work.
I quote (more or less): "We party here. You'll need to be a drinker and also, it will be your job to keep the fridge in the breakroom stocked with beer. We have 4 p.m. Friday Fun." This was one of those quirky law offices. Too bad I wasn't offered the job.
This didn't happen during an interview, but after the employer made me the offer. My interview did not take place in the city where the job was, and I asked to check out the city and see the offices where I would potentially be working. So they flew me there and my prospective boss met up with me there to show me around. Later on, we had a drink in the hotel bar and he asked me why I was interested in relocating. I told him I had lived in my city pretty much all my life and was ready for a change of scenery. He would not accept this response and kept pressing me, saying that there must be more to it or some personal reasons. I thought it was really inappropriate and nosy. It wasn't the main reason I declined the offer, but it was definitely a factor.
An interviewer asked my race because he thought I was Mexican like he was. He clarified this after the question. They were paying too low and not good hours and i rejected them anyway. Im not Mexican for the record and they were still interested so no discrimination in my case even though it was a surprising illegal inquiry and the first question asked.
I applied for a posting within the company that I had been working for for three years. The position was a lower paygrade, but the attraction to me was that I would not have to work weekends and it was a 5 minute commute from my house (instead of the 30 one I had been driving). The guy interviewing me asked me (one of the first questions, at that) how my husband felt about me applying for this job (the implication being that he would have a problem with me bringing in a lower income). Ummm.... I never said anything about being married. Never said anything about being married to a man, either. I just looked at him and told him that "He'll think whatever I tell him to think." And then the rest of the interview I just gave yes or no answers to him, as I was no longer interested in working for someone that thinks that is a relevant question.
Needless to say, I did not get the job. But truthfully, if it were any other company than the one I was currently working for, I would have walked out of the interview.
Freelance job, after a couple of weeks of phone tag we finally met for an "interview", which was more of a run-down of the job duties. He was pretty fidgety and suddenly whipped around in his swivel chair for a few seconds (back to me) and then whipped back. And said "Excuse me, I had to zip up my fly", then had a decent pause before resuming the job discussion.
I didn't even know how to respond to that comment - even if I had noticed it was down, I wouldn't have said anything!
I've been asked if I had children (illegal) because the supervisor didn't want any call outs for childcare issues (hmmm, too bad children exist as far as she was concerned!), been asked to get fingerprints before I was offered the job (usually that comes after the offer). I had one job where the woman asked me if I could wear polyester!! I kid you not. I had an all cotton outfit on and I guess she didn't like any wrinkles!! I just chuckled (90's).
One job I already had & the psycho boss wanted me to wear all whites w/ my home care visits & white stockings if a skirt. So, when I dropped off my paperwork (to her house 1/week), I'd wear the "appropriate" outfit & on other days, it was casual clothing without socks even. Hehe. It was Florida & w/ the humidity probably 100. Nowadays w/ the job market being what it is, I'm sure there are some strange stories out there.
I've been asked at several interviews if I was married. So annoying.
Yes, these questions about marriage and children are technically illegal, but don't think they aren't being considered. They do this simply because they know a family needs more income. THAT is usually the biggest determining factor in being offered the job or not.
It's crap, but money is the American way. We are paying the price for that habit now..
Yes, these questions about marriage and children are technically illegal, but don't think they aren't being considered. They do this simply because they know a family needs more income. THAT is usually the biggest determining factor in being offered the job or not.
It's crap, but money is the American way. We are paying the price for that habit now..
No, I doubt that. Some do it simply because they are curious and it's just conversational for them to ask about you.
Those that are looking to discriminate (which is illegal in this case because of protected classes) are doing it because they tend to believe people with children won't be as dedicated (have other priorities in life, won't want to stay as late, won't want to work weekends, won't want to travel, etc) or will miss more work (kids home sick, hubby has the real job so wifey always stays home).
Employers don't determine their salary ranges based on what an applicant "needs".
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