3 ms·

Any competent HR department would have a fit if they knew these kinds of questions were being asked. It's way too easy to wander into illegal discrimination whe

Any competent HR department would have a fit if they knew these kinds of questions were being asked. It's way too easy to wander into illegal discrimination when you're making hiring decisions based on people's backgrounds like this.

ryandrake 3y ago
You'd think this was true, but I've seen some crazy shit in interviews, even at companies that were big enough and had a robust enough legal team, where you'd think they'd have their shit together. I once interviewed at a medium sized, name brand Silicon Valley darling everyone on HN has heard of, where an interviewer outright asked me if I was married and if I had kids! Like, holy shit, just read your interview training manual! The very first sentence is probably "Do not ask any questions where the answer would even imply information about things that would get us in trouble discrimination-wise." Yet this person overtly asked! Here I was in the stairwell walking down to the second floor and she hits me up with one of the few totally forbidden questions! I thought about saying "What would HR think of that question?" but the asker was the HR manager! Totally bonkers.
- b112 3y ago
  And now, the company is filled with those willing, or not caring about HR abuse. An interesting strategy?
- AlotOfReading 3y ago
  The way I understand it, you can legally ask the questions, you just can't consider protected status for hiring purposes. The interview guidelines prohibit asking because "we didn't ask" is a stronger defense than "our interviewers have mental firewalls". This case is strictly worse because the questions are explicitly being asked to evaluate eligibility for hiring.
  - evilduck 3y ago
    It's still a major blunder by an HR manager but maybe there's a chance that they had already decided to hire the person but hadn't made an official offer and it was a mistimed getting-to-know-you chat? I don't know, it seems insane to even ask.
- UncleOxidant 3y ago
  My wife was asked that question ("are you married, do you have kids?") in an interview with a tiny company 30 years ago. She attributed it to ignorance and replied "That's not a legal question to ask". The interviewer apologized profusely and he hired her. He turned out to be a really nice person who was unaware of what was out-of-bounds to ask in an interview. But that was 30 years ago, people should know better now.
- shrimp_emoji 3y ago
  *Leans back and puts bare feet up on the table* Are you a virgin? https://youtu.be/fwYy8R87JMA https://youtu.be/fwYy8R87JMA
bigbillheck 3y ago
This person came out of the Thiel Fellowship, the rules are different.
UncleOxidant 3y ago
The HR people often seem to be the ones that ask the psychological questions.
emeril 3y ago
this 100% - you technically can't even ask someone how they are doing on an interview as that's not job related I could definitely see arguments for asking these sorts of questions in how they could be job related but not worth the legal risk I haven't had (nor ever likely will) have the luxury of working somewhere where potential/smarts is too relevant past a relatively low threshold

ryandrake 3y ago

You'd think this was true, but I've seen some crazy shit in interviews, even at companies that were big enough and had a robust enough legal team, where you'd think they'd have their shit together. I once interviewed at a medium sized, name brand Silicon Valley darling everyone on HN has heard of, where an interviewer outright asked me if I was married and if I had kids! Like, holy shit, just read your interview training manual! The very first sentence is probably "Do not ask any questions where the answer would even imply information about things that would get us in trouble discrimination-wise." Yet this person overtly asked! Here I was in the stairwell walking down to the second floor and she hits me up with one of the few totally forbidden questions! I thought about saying "What would HR think of that question?" but the asker was the HR manager! Totally bonkers.

b112 3y ago
And now, the company is filled with those willing, or not caring about HR abuse. An interesting strategy?
AlotOfReading 3y ago
The way I understand it, you can legally ask the questions, you just can't consider protected status for hiring purposes. The interview guidelines prohibit asking because "we didn't ask" is a stronger defense than "our interviewers have mental firewalls". This case is strictly worse because the questions are explicitly being asked to evaluate eligibility for hiring.
- evilduck 3y ago
  It's still a major blunder by an HR manager but maybe there's a chance that they had already decided to hire the person but hadn't made an official offer and it was a mistimed getting-to-know-you chat? I don't know, it seems insane to even ask.
UncleOxidant 3y ago
My wife was asked that question ("are you married, do you have kids?") in an interview with a tiny company 30 years ago. She attributed it to ignorance and replied "That's not a legal question to ask". The interviewer apologized profusely and he hired her. He turned out to be a really nice person who was unaware of what was out-of-bounds to ask in an interview. But that was 30 years ago, people should know better now.
shrimp_emoji 3y ago
*Leans back and puts bare feet up on the table* Are you a virgin? https://youtu.be/fwYy8R87JMA https://youtu.be/fwYy8R87JMA

bigbillheck 3y ago

This person came out of the Thiel Fellowship, the rules are different.

UncleOxidant 3y ago

The HR people often seem to be the ones that ask the psychological questions.

emeril 3y ago

this 100% - you technically can't even ask someone how they are doing on an interview as that's not job related I could definitely see arguments for asking these sorts of questions in how they could be job related but not worth the legal risk I haven't had (nor ever likely will) have the luxury of working somewhere where potential/smarts is too relevant past a relatively low threshold