Page 143 - 101 Dynamite Answers to Interview Questions

136 Nail the Job Interview!

decide the job is not as important as the principle. Or you may decide,
even though you really want this job, you could never work in an
organization that employed such clods, and tell them so.
On the other hand, you may decide to answer the question, offensive
though it may be, because you really want the job. If you get the job, you
vow you will work from within the organization to change such interview
practices.
There is yet a third scenario relating to illegal questions. You may
believe the employer is purposefully trying to see how you will react to
stressful questions. Will you lose your temper or will you answer meekly?
Though a rather dangerous practice for employers, this does occur. In this
situation you should remain cool and answer tactfully by indicating
indirectly that the questions may be inappropriate.
For example, if you are divorced and the interviewer asks about your
divorce, you could respond by asking, “Does a divorce have a direct bearing
on the responsibilities of ?” If the interviewer asks if you are on the
pill, you could respond, “Yes, I take three pills n day - vitamins A, B, and C,
and because of them, I haven’t missed a day’s work in the past year. ” The
interviewer should get the message, and you will have indicated you can
handle stressful questions.
A possible response to any illegal question - regardless of motive - is
to turn what appears to be a negative into a positive. If, for example, you
are female and the interviewer asks you how many children you still have
living at home and you say, “I havejve - two boys and three girls, ” you can
expect this answer will be viewed as a negative. Working mothers with
five children at home may be viewed as neither good mothers nor
dependable employees. Therefore, you should immediately follow your
initial response with a tactful elaboration that will turn this potential
negative into a positive. You might say,

I havejve - two boys and three girls. They are wonderjid children who,
along with my understanding husband’ take great care of each other. rf I
didn’t have such a supportive and caring family, I would never think of
pursuing n career in this jeld. I do want you to know that I keep my
personal 1 fe separateffam iny professional lfe. That’s very important to me
and my family, and I know itS important to employers. In fact, because of
my family situation, I make special arrangements with other family
members,fiiends, and day-care centers to ensure that family responsibilities