Get prepared for your next interview with the interview question of the week.
It's that time again! It's time for the Interview Question of the Week. Whether you are looking for a job or thinking about making a move, one of the keys to standing out during your interview is practice. It's not enough to show up and do your best to get through it anymore. By preparing ahead of time for the types of questions that will be asked and sketching out your answers, you won't have to worry about forgetting the main things you wanted to say or worse, drawing a blank.
To help you get prepared, each week we go over another popular interview question and break it down to figure out the best way to answer it. So, here you go, the Interview Question of the Week:
Question:
Any illegal question about age, marital status, children, religious views, political affiliations
Why it's a trap:
There are many questions that interviewer aren't allowed to ask. They include questions about your age, the number and ages of your children, marital status, religion, birthplace and disabilities, unless they are directly related to your ability to perform the job. Even though most interviewers know better than to ask these question, sometimes they still do.
The best answer:
When an interviewer crosses the line and asks one of these questions, know that you don't have to answer it. You would have every right to be offended, to assert your rights and call the interviewer out for asking the question. But, when you really need that job you may want to consider if you want to be right or if you want the job.
It may seem easier to just go ahead and answer the question, and if you think that your answer is going to help you, then go ahead. For example, if you are aware that your interviewer is an active supporter of a political candidate and they ask you about your political affiliation, and you are also a supporter of that candidate, feel free to share your views.
However, most of the time, the answer isn't so clear cut. If you don't want to answer the question but don't want to call the interviewer out or refuse to answer, you can answer the concern behind the question without actually answering it.
For example:
If an interviewer ask you if you plan to have children you can address the concern by saying, “I am very dedicated to my career right now and I have no plans in regards to having children.”
This answer allows you to reassure the interviewer that you are committed to building your career without really discussing your plans for a future family. Even if you do have plans, you don't have to reveal that. Once you have the job, you can always change your mind.
What do you think about this question and answer? Are there other questions you would like to see answered here? Let me know in the comments.
If you are looking for a job in Real Estate, visit RealEstateJobsite for the best Real Estate job listings.
By Melissa Kennedy-Melissa is a 9 year blog veteran and a freelance writer for RealEstateJobSiteBlog, along with helping others find the job of their dreams, she enjoys computer geekery, raising a teenager, supporting her local library, writing about herself in the third person and working on her next novel.
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