How to Properly Interview Job Applicants

Working in a company’s human resources department can be very rewarding and very difficult at the same time. The job can be rewarding because you are responsible for finding the right employees for the company. On the other hand, the job can be difficult because you are tagged with the responsibility of hiring and firing the company’s employees, some of which might be your friends.

As a human resources hiring manager, be sure you follow the laws of your state when it comes to conducting employment interviews. You do not want to discriminate against potential employees, which can land you and your company in some very hot water. Discriminating against potential employees could lead to you losing your job, and garnering a very bad reputation within the industry.

Here we will show you the wrong way and the right way to interview a potential employee. The first couple of questions deal with the employee’s name.

“If you legally changed your name, what is your old name?” (Wrong Way)

“Can you be identified by another name found on your high school or college records?” (Correct Way)

The next group of questions deals with the age of the applicant.

“You must be in your mid-50s right?” (Wrong Way)

“Are you at least 18 years of age?” (Correct Way)

According to United States employment laws, there are no proper ways to ask about a person’s citizenship. Instead, there only improper ways to ask questions about citizenship. Those improper questions include the following:

Are you a citizen of the United States? Are your parents or your spouse citizens of the United States? When (please provide a date) did you, your spouse, or your parents acquire United States citizenship? Are you, your parents, or your spouse native-born United States citizens?

If you decide you would like to ask the applicant about his or her educational career, be sure you do not ask about the religious affiliation, racial character, or nationality of the school the applicant attended. If you want to know academic information about the applicant, you can ask if the education was vocational or professional. You can ask the applicant what schools he or she attended, the degrees acquired, the number of years attended and the courses of study.

When it comes to asking questions about work schedules and travel schedules, make sure you do not ask about child care, the age of children, or any other family questions. These questions could be misconstrued by women and handicapped individuals as discriminatory. The proper way to ask this question is, “are you available to work on a consistent basis, overtime, and  travel for the job?”

Running a human resources department involves a lot of stress when following laws and regulations but if done correctly, the job can be incredibly rewarding.