An applicant involved in an employment interview is anxious to please, to impress, and to persuade. And that is as it should be. However, from time to time inappropriate personal questions are asked, which may make an applicant uncomfortable.

As a Career Management Coach, I suggest that often these personal questions are more frequently asked of women than of men. Applicants are protected from answering a variety of inappropriate questions and from revealing personal information as a result of legal statutes. The legal safeguards are based, fundamentally, on the concept that certain questions have no bearing on the quality of an applicant's skills and abilities and, therefore, these questions should not be asked in an interview.

Examples of these inappropriate questions are:

- "What a lovely engagement ring. Are you planning to get married soon?"
- "Tell me about yourself. What does your husband do."
- "Are you working just to earn extra income?"

These 3 questions are designed to ascertain the marital status of the applicant which, clearly, has nothing to do with the applicant's ability to perform the job in question.

- "Where were you born?"
- "What languages do you speak at home?"
- "How much do you donate to your church each year?"

These 2 questions are asked to determine the ethnicity of the applicant.

There are basically 3 ways to respond to these kinds of inappropriate questions. First you may, of course, answer them honestly. The law protects you from answering these questions, but it doesn't prohibit you from answering them if you are not uncomfortable revealing personal information. Second, you might get angry or emotional and say something to the recruiter like, "You shouldn't ask me questions like that. I don't have to answer them." However, you will probably botch the interview and destroy any good will you have already established.

I suggest a third type of response:

- "I'll be glad to answer those questions after I'm hired."
- "There isn't anything I could tell you about my family that would affect my performance in this job."
- "If I'm chosen for this position, I will carefully respond to any personal questions either verbally or in writing."

Good luck in your interviews...and don't let these kinds of questions rattle you.