How To Professionally Answer Illegal Interview Questions

Imagine this, you are in an interview for your dream job, and everything is going perfect. You answered all the difficult questions nicely, and you and your interviewer becoming buddy-buddy. Then, all of a sudden, your interviewer asks, “So what religion are you?”

Did you know that is illegal? Yes! Any question related to your family, nationality, gender, race, religion and more are all illegal. But sadly, these questions get asked more often than you think. So, before you get into the interview, it is good to know how to respond if you are faced with one.

Here are the best professional ways to deal with these illegal questions when the interviewer decides to drop it on you!

Sexual Orientation

Discriminatory questions about sexual orientation are very common these days in Malaysia, especially given our current social circumstances.

 I’ve had a colleague told me in previous interview they asked him “you seem kind of...effeminate. Are you gay??” 

But in reality, nothing related to sexual orientation should be asked in the interview process—at all.

 If it comes up, the best approach is to answer the question, but without referencing sexual orientation. 

For example, if you’re asked, “How would you handle managing a team of all men?”, drop the last part of the question and focus on your leadership skills, instead. Try: “I’m very comfortable in a management role. In fact, in my last position, the department I led exceeded its annual sales goals for three years straight.”

Marital and Family Status

Sometimes, interviewers will ask you on your marital status, on the assumption that you need to have someone to ground you or something along those lines. 

I’ve had an interviewer ask me if I was planning to get married, because according to him, unmarried people are more likely to jump jobs because they have no commitments to take care of. >.>

There’s a chance that you may be faced with the same question I did, even if questions related to your family status are technically illegal, but employers often ask them to get a read on your future commitment to the job and company.

An appropriate answer to these types of questions would be “You know, I’m not quite there yet. But I am very interested in the career paths at your company. Can you tell me more about that?” 

This assures the interviewer that you’re committed to your professional growth, but doesn’t promise them anything in terms of your future—and lets you change the topic of the conversation back to a job-related topic.

Race

Malaysian employers sometimes like to ask about your race.

It is technically illegal to employ someone based on their race alone, and if they ask you for it, you can keep it neutral.

Answer stating your nationality and inform the interviewer that you are a Malaysian or are legally authorised to work in the country.

If the interviewer keeps on pushing the question, you might have to politely spell it out and ask “May I know why my race is a matter of concern and how it would affect my ability to do the job?”

Age

We've all heard of age discrimination for example,

Younger candidates getting passed up for more experienced ones, and older workers being pushed aside in favor of junior employees who might cost less in terms of salary.

Be prepared to address what the interviewer is trying to get at: Do you have the required experience for the position? 

A good answer would be to turn back to your job-related skills: highlighting specific accomplishments and how your experience can benefit the company.

Alternatively, if your age does not affect your ability to do the job and has no relevance to the interview, you can also joke with them and say “Old enough to drive!” and laugh it off. Hopefully they will get the idea and move on.

Religion

If this question pops up, you can ask how it is relevant to the job.

You can also lighten the mood by saying something along the lines of “Hey, I thought we aren’t supposed to talk about sensitive topics such as religion and politics during business meetings?”

This way you can kill two birds with one stone, it deflects the question and ensures that the interviewer won’t ask you about politics next!

Overall, the best approach is to determine why the interviewer is asking the question and whether they have a legitimate concern they are trying to address. Then, tailor your answer to speak to that concern, gracefully avoid the illegal part of the question, and turn the conversation back to your job related strengths.