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iQuestions Faculty, Ron Price 
 
 
Question: 
 
When interviewing job candidates are there any specific questions that 
are inappropriate or illegal to ask? 
 
Answer: 
 
When you’re interviewing candidates for a job, there are three 
questions that you don’t want to ask, because they’re illegal.  
 
The first question is about family: “Tell me about your family. Are you 
married? Do you have children?” It’s illegal to ask that question, and it 
shouldn’t have anything to do with how well they can perform on the 
job. 
 
The second question that you might feel like you want to ask—but it’s 
illegal—is, “Tell me about your religion, where do you go to church? 
What do you believe?” It’s just not appropriate, and you can end up in 
a lawsuit because you’ve asked somebody that question.  
 
The third question—and it’s not very politically correct, but I hear 
people ask it—is, “Do you have any special handicaps or disabilities?” 
That’s not legitimate because of the Americans with Disabilities Act. 
 
Another way to ask a question, though, that’s valuable is to show 
them the position description and say, “Based on this position 
description, are there any special areas of assistance that you think 
you may need in order to complete the job?”  
 
 
 
Now, if they have some type of a special need, they can let you know 
about it then. If they don’t let you know and you find out later, then 
they haven’t been forthright with you. 
 
So these are the three areas: family, religion, and disabilities. You 
don’t ask those questions in an interview if you don’t want to pay your 
lawyer. 
Price -2- 
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