@ WORK

What do you do when a prospective employer fires away with inappropriate questions during a job interview?

By William Conroy, Business Writer

The job applicant was a younger woman engaged to marry an older man. Her prospective employer, noting this, asked if the couple planned to have children soon. The woman said they did.

When she did not get the job, the woman sued, contending she had been discriminated against because of her answer during the job interview, said Noel C. Crowley, the Morristown-based employment lawyer who represented her. The case was settled before it went to trial, said Crowley, who could not discuss the details of how it was resolved.

An honest answer to an inappropriate or improper question in a job interview might provide grounds for a lawsuit, but often the wiser, more practical course is to deflect the question, Crowley said.

"A more evasive answer might be more conducive to actually getting the job," he said.

Career counselors say there are ways to avoid loaded questions during job interviews.

An employer who asks about marital status or plans to have children is usually concerned about how long a person will stay on the job, or their ability to travel or work on a regular basis, said Richard White, director of career services at Rutgers University in New Brunswick.

"You do not need to answer the questions directly," White said. "You should affirm your understanding of the employer's concern and assure him or her that your personal life is arranged in such a way that it will not interfere with your job."

Barbara Davis, owner of Barbara Davis Employment Services in Red Bank, said a person should come to a job interview armed with questions about the job.

To the question about having children soon, "You can say, 'We really haven't decided right now, but I'm more concerned about this position. What are the requirements of the job?' " Davis said. "Try to throw it back in their lap."

If the interviewer persists with a line of excessively personal questions, "you have to make a decision right then and there if you want to work for an employer like that."

But it's a mistake to assume that one oafish manager reflects the entire company, said Mitch Baskin, who co-owns BBCS Counseling Services with his wife, Beverly. The company has offices in Marlboro and Woodbridge.

You could meet and interview with other representatives of the company who act more professionally and decide you still want the job, Baskin said.

"The one thing you definitely want to avoid is confrontation," he said. "It's not a matter of who's right and who's wrong."

Assumptions can backfire in the job-application process, Beverly Baskin said. It's a mistake to assume a prospective boss shares your views on politics or other controversial subjects, so it's best to keep those to yourself. She said it would have been natural for an employer last week to comment on the toppling of the statue of Saddam Hussein in Baghdad Wednesday, and say: "Wasn't that something?"

An applicant should not express a strong view for or against the war in Iraq in response, because the interviewer might feel the opposite, she said.

"Just say: 'Yes, that was something,' " she said.

"You don't know what the religion and politics are," White said. "I would express a neutral, middle-of-the-road position."

Questions not related to someone's objective qualifications for the job are not allowed, said Linda Wong, a West Windsor lawyer who specializes in employment law.

Employers cannot ask about marital status, age, whether you have a disability, what country you are from, or comment on an accent you have, she said. They can ask if you are capable of performing the essential tasks of the job, she said. That does not mean the best course is to file suit whenever an interviewer oversteps the line, Wong said

"I usually try to counsel employees to be realistic," she said. "….Most women have been sexually harassed at work in some mild way or another. They are not going to jump up (and file suit) every time it happens."