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Illegal Questions During Interview


Better Call Eva

" How many children do you have ? »

“Your first name is pretty, where does it come from? »

" What is your astrological sign ? (this one is nugget)


🤡🤡🤡


So many questions which, in addition to being eccentric and indiscreet, are… totally illegal ❌

📕 The Labor Code, in its article L1221-6, provides that the information requested from the candidate must be for the purpose of assessing "his ability to hold the proposed job", and that it must "present a direct and necessary link" with it.


Questions about age, sexual orientation, ethnicity or political opinions are therefore necessarily prohibited... which then means, at the same time, that you are not required to answer them!

But how to react in such cases?


Delicate question, especially when the position in question really interests us, I grant you.

Everything will therefore depend on the degree of indiscretion and insistence in the questions asked.

If someone asks you "where do you live?" “, which, moreover, is also an illegal question, well, one can suspect that it is posed in a somewhat innocent way, with no intention of harming or humiliating.


On the other hand, if you are asked if your 3 children are from the same father, there, we can agree on the fact that there is no longer any doubt about the baseness shown by the recruiter.


Here are 3 possible reactions that will reverse the balance of power:

1️⃣ Do the donkey to have sound (it's my favorite expression) 🐴


You pretend not to have understood the question, and you ask the recruiter to rephrase. Whether he realizes his stupidity or not:

➡️ either, he will be uncomfortable that you didn't answer frankly 😳

➡️ either, he will quickly realize his mistake and will do what is necessary to catch up with his dumpling 😵 💫

2️⃣ Answer him bluntly that his question is illegal, that you will not answer it because it has no direct and necessary link with the position for which you are applying.

There, it's delicate: you risk touching him in his esteem, the bugger. 👺

But after all, ask yourself this question: do you really want to work with someone who, from the first contact, makes you feel uncomfortable and allows himself freedoms that he does not have? 🤔

And if he refuses you following this incident, answer in the 3rd point.

3️⃣ Finally, answer his question. And if the answer does not suit him, he will surely dismiss you from the recruitment process.


🙌🏼 EXCEPT, again, you're the winner. For the simple and good reason that it is forbidden, in the eyes of the law, to remove you from the position for a discriminatory reason. ❌


✅ In this case, you will be able to seize the industrial tribunal, and even the criminal court, since discrimination in hiring is also criminal (therefore punishable by imprisonment and fines). You will then have to provide proof of the discrimination.

And you, what was your worst interview question, and how did you react? Tell us in the comments! 💬


Better Call Eva

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