Interview questions you should avoid (and what to ask instead)

Job interviews are the best opportunity a recruiter has to find out whether a jobseeker has the skills and personal qualities required for the role, as well as determining whether the candidate’s personality would fit with the organisation’s culture.

There are some interview questions that are obviously discriminatory and avoided by almost all employers. However, when trying to build a friendly rapport during an interview, it can be easy to innocently stray into ‘grey’ areas which may seem harmless but are in fact discriminatory, and therefore potentially illegal. Employers may think they are making conversation but could be leaving themselves open to litigation.

In this blog, TPP examines how you can find out all the information you need in an interview without straying into potentially litigious territory

This information is for guidance purposes only and not legal advice. Not all the questions below are necessarily illegal, but it is best practice to avoid straying into any of these areas.

Before you start the interview…

Although anti-discrimination legislation can feel like a minefield, it doesn’t have to complicate the interview process.

By simply asking questions in a different way, you can find out the information you really want to know (ie the candidate’s suitability for the role) without asking the interviewee to divulge information about their personal life (that you don’t need to make a decision).

The exception to these guidelines is when there is an occupational requirement for a role, when an employer can objectively justify why a specific type of candidate is required, eg a religious organisation may stipulate that only candidates of that religion should apply, if it is a genuine requirement of the role.

Place of Birth, Ethnicity or Religion

Employers should steer clear completely of any questions regarding a candidate’s birthplace, background or religious affiliation. If an applicant has an unusual name, don’t ask about its origin, as the answer could possibly be grounds for discrimination.

While it is legal to ask about ethnic background on application forms, this is for monitoring purposes only and usually anonymous, and should never be brought up in an interview.

You may want to ask about religious practices to find out about any scheduling conflicts around weekends or religious holidays, but you should never ask a candidate about their beliefs. Instead, simply confirm they are able to work when they will be required to.

Don’t ask: What country are you from? Where were you born?
Do ask: Are you eligible to work in the UK?

Don’t ask: What is your native language?
Do ask: This job requires someone who speaks more than one language. What languages are you fluent in?

Don’t ask: What religion do you practice? Which religious holidays do you observe?
Do ask: Can you work in the days/schedule required for this role?

Marital Status, Children or Sexual Preference

Asking questions about someone’s children is usually just making conversation, but not appropriate in an interview setting. You cannot ask a candidate if they are planning a family, if they are pregnant or about their childcare arrangements.

This also applies to questions about marital status, which could be grounds for discrimination, as some employers may believe that married employees are more stable, or single people may have more time to devote to the job.

Any mention of an applicant’s sexual preference should also obviously be avoided.

Don’t ask: Do you have or plan to have children?
Do ask: Are you available to work overtime on occasion? Can you travel?

Don’t ask: How many children do you have? Do you have childcare arrangements in place if we need you to work out of hours?
Do ask: This job may require some overtime work on short notice. Is this a problem for you? What days/hours are you available to work?

Don’t ask: Is this your maiden name?
Do ask: Are any of your references or qualifications under another name?

Don’t ask: If you went on maternity leave, would you come back to work afterwards?
Do ask: What are your long term career goals?

Gender or Age

Steer clear of any questions that reference a candidate’s age or gender. You should certainly ask about their ability to handle the challenges of the role, but never imply that their gender or age may affect this.

The only question regarding age which is acceptable is to establish whether they are of the minimum age required for the role. A prime example of what not to say to an applicant would be to ask of someone in their sixties, “and how many more years do you see yourself in the workforce?”

Don’t ask: We’ve always had a woman/man in this role. How do you think you will handle it?
Do ask: What can you bring to this role?

Don’t ask: How do you feel about managing men/women?
Do ask: Tell me about your previous experience of managing staff.

Don’t ask: How old are you?
Do ask: Are you over the age of 18?

Don’t ask: How much longer do you plan to work before you retire?
Do ask: What are your long term career goals?

Don’t ask: When did you graduate?
Do ask: Do you have a degree or other qualification related to this role?

Location

It is very common in interviews to ask about commuting distances and times, to make sure the candidate will be able to get to work on time. However, this can be difficult to judge, as how far people are willing to commute varies wildly. Some employees are willing to travel for over an hour, while others think 20 minutes is too long.

In addition, asking someone about where they live could create discrimination issues if it is in a neighbourhood heavily populated by a specific ethnic group or social class.

Don’t ask: How far would your commute be?
Do ask: Are you able to start work at 9am?

Disability or Illness

Interviewers should be careful around any questions related to illness. Asking a candidate to explain any gaps in their CV due to long term sick leave is acceptable, but asking directly if they have any health conditions is not.

Questioning a person over a disability and whether or not it would affect their ability to do the job is grounds for disability discrimination.

Don’t ask: How many sick days did you take last year?
Do ask: How many unscheduled days of work did you miss last year?

Lifestyle Choices

An employer cannot ask an interviewee whether they smoke or how much alcohol they consume. While an employer can set rules for professional conduct and substance use at work, what an employee does in their own time should have no bearing on whether they are suitable for the job.

While you can ask about criminal records on an application form, it’s generally not a good idea to bring it up at interview. Likewise, while some roles require a CRB check, you cannot discuss the findings in a job interview.

Questions about political affiliations or group memberships should not be asked during interviews, unless they are relevant to the role in question. Although you might want to find out if they are involved in any activities that may have an impact on their time commitments, it is better to simply ask if they are able to commit to the role.

Don’t ask: Do you belong to any clubs or organisations?
Do ask: Are you a member of any professional group that’s relevant to this role?

Don’t ask: Are you a member of the Territorial Army/Special Constabulary/Other Volunteer Force?
Do ask: Do you have any upcoming commitments that would require extensive time away from work?

Height or weight

Questions about a candidate’s weight or height are also best avoided unless there are certain minimum or maximum requirements required for the role.

Don’t ask: How tall are you?
Do ask: Are you able to reach items on a shelf that’s five feet tall?

Don’t ask: How much do you weigh?
Do ask: Are you able to lift boxes weighing up to 50 pounds?

How TPP can help

If you need more help with interviewing, please see our articles on Interviewing Advice and 6 common interview mistakes employers make. TPP are always happy to advise our clients on the best questions to ask to rate a candidate’s suitability for a role.

Achieving diversity from the bottom up

Almost all not for profit organisations now recognise the value of having a diverse workforce and that achieving this is something they need to work towards. Organisations often begin by seeking to increase diversity among their senior, high visibility staff. But it is equally important to make sure that you have a diversity strategy in place for entry and lower level staff, ensuring that you are creating a pool of employees to become future leaders.

Why embrace diversity?

Employing people from a wide range of ages, backgrounds and lifestyles can add a great deal of value to organisations. Diverse workforces have a broader mix of skills, knowledge and experience, giving an organisation more creativity and flexibility to overcome challenges.  It has also been proven that increasing diversity leads to better staff retention.

For not for profit organisations, it is particularly important that their staff empathises with the beneficiaries of their services, and a diverse workforce can help to achieve this. Charities also have a public duty to promote equality, as per the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000, Disability Discrimination Act 1995 and the Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2003.

Top down or bottom up?

Bringing in top level staff from a non-typical background is a great way for not for profit organisations to publicly demonstrate their commitment to diversity. However, it is also important to diversify the composition of staff at lower levels, to ensure there is a ‘talent pipeline’ that will supply the next generation of management.

Improving diversity at all levels of the company is also important in encouraging staff to believe in and support equal opportunities policies and mission statements.

So where do you start?

Obviously, to ensure you have a diverse workforce, you have to be able to measure both your existing workforce and progress against targets. When setting these targets, you need to consider the populations you want to reflect – the public in general, your specific service users and your volunteers and donors.

Following are some specific ways in which you can introduce equal opportunities at the lower levels of your organisation.

Explore different advertising options

To improve diversity in your workforce, it is important not to rely on word of mouth, referrals and traditional routes to market to advertise your roles. These generally only bring in candidates who are similar to your existing employees.

Instead, explore different networking channels such as special interest groups or training organisations. Make sure your vacancies are advertised among your organisation’s beneficiaries, by putting them on your website and in any newsletters, magazines or other publications you produce.

Start at the interview stage

If you are serious about improving equal opportunities, you need to make sure your interviews take place in accessible locations and at flexible times.

Assess each person you consider against a predetermined person specification, and not against the other candidates. Take care when writing this specification to avoid your own beliefs and attitudes don’t skew the selection criteria, and be sure that the qualifications specified are really needed to do the job and not ones based on assumptions.

Consider positive action

Reverse or positive discrimination is illegal in the UK.  However, there are measures you can take to target particular groups that are under-represented in your company.

For example, including statements such as “we welcome applications from disabled people” in your job advertising or offering guaranteed interviews to disabled candidates can encourage more of these people to apply for your roles.  You could also consider allowing certain groups more time to submit their applications.

Other positive action steps that you can consider include offering on the job training or flexible working options targeted to attract a specific group.

Recycle unsuccessful candidates

If you’ve seen a candidate who you feel would work well within your organisation, but might not be suitable for that particular role, don’t automatically dismiss them but take a while to consider how they could fit into the organisation in other ways.

Are there other vacancies coming up which they could apply for? Or is it possible to place them in a role in which they could be trained up to do the job they originally applied for?

Mentoring and work placements
A great way to bring candidates from different backgrounds into your organisation is to offer mentoring or work experience schemes. This way, you can give disadvantaged candidates some valuable work experience and career training and advice. If you come across any who might fit particularly well within your organisation, you can then choose to move them to temporary or permanent paid employment.

See the DTI Work Experience Guidelines via the Skillset website for practical advice on offering work experience.

How can TPP help?

Many employers, particularly small organisations, simply may not have the resources available to devote to diversifying their workforces. This is where a recruitment consultancy like TPP Not for Profit can offer real value.

We have arrangements with a wide variety of associations, networks and job boards, meaning that your vacancy can either receive as wide a coverage as possible or be targeted at a particular population group, depending on your requirements.

Useful Resources

The Equalities and Human Rights Commission
Diversity works for London
Chartered Institute of Professional Development
REC factsheet on the access to work scheme (provides funding to employers to improve access for those with disabilities)
REC factsheet on the recruitment of ex-offenders 

Part time workers can add value to your organisation

38% of voluntary sector employees are currently working part time (compared to the 27% national average) and this percentage is increasing.  Why are not for profit organisations increasingly choosing to employ staff on a part-time basis and how can you take advantage of this trend?

Typical part time workers


Part time staff are those who fewer hours per week than a full time employee. Jobs are generally classified as part time if they cover fewer than 30 or 35 hours per week.
 
There is a growing pool of jobseekers who are specifically looking for part time work, particularly women with young children wanting a job they can fit around childcare.  Typical part-timers also include the semi-retired, students balancing work with study and professionals looking to spend some time freelancing or volunteering.

Make cost savings

Obviously, employing part time staff helps to keep costs down in areas where you don’t yet need full time cover, particularly for smaller charities.  Employing a part timer to help out full time staff can also help save on overtime costs and reduce staff stress and absenteeism.

Using part time employees can also give your organisation greater flexibility to cover busy periods or areas of growth.

Bring in new skills

Hiring a part time employee can also add real value to your organisation, as you can look at more senior staff then you could otherwise afford.  These employees have often had a variety of jobs and can bring more knowledge and experience to your organisation and are used to handling stress and juggling lots of different tasks.

Employers often combine specialist skills in order to create one full time vacancy, such as fundraising and marketing or finance and IT.  However, it can be better to hire two part time specialists, rather than one full time employee who has to wear two different hats.

Part timers can also be used to bring in a specific skill currently lacking in your current employees.  This enables your organisation to grow without necessarily investing a substantial amount of money.

Widen your pool of candidates

Recruiting for part time staff has another big advantage of giving you a wider pool of candidates.  Part time roles are still greatly in demand, as people wanting to work part time greatly outnumber the jobs available, meaning you have your pick of candidates.

This is particularly true when hiring for positions where good candidates are in short supply.  If you’re unable to find suitably qualified candidates at the right salary, extending your search to part timers can give you access to a huge army of well qualified people looking for flexible work.

Offering the option to work part time also allows you to retain talented staff, eg after maternity leave.

Increase productivity

A rewarding side effect of employing part time staff is that it can help boost morale, productiveness and retention.  Part timers usually value their jobs greatly and combined with the increased job satisfaction that flexible working traditionally brings, this is reflected in their productivity.  In fact, it is not uncommon for part-time workers to do as much in their shorter day or week than a full-time worker on the same staff.

Part timers also tend to fit the rest of their life in the time that they are not at work, so require less time off for dentist’s or doctor’s appointments and have lower absenteeism and sickness rates than full time employees.

Young part timers, such as students, can bring energy and enthusiasm to an organisation, as well as a willingness to learn and take on new tasks and responsibilities.

Demonstrate diversity

Employing part time staff also helps to demonstrate that your organisation has a diverse workforce and ethical employment practices.  This is particularly important for charities that champion those sectors of society which have a high percentage of potential part time workers, eg those dealing with women’s rights, parenting or ageism.

Recruiting for part time staff

The next time you are recruiting for a job requiring a high level of skill but with a low salary, or for one spanning several disciplines, consider employing one or more part timer instead of a full time employee.  Even if you do decide to advertise the role as full time, don’t automatically discount CVs from part time candidates, as they might be just the solution your organisation needs.

Unlike some recruitment consultancies, who don’t like recruiting for part-time positions as it results in lower fees for them, TPP are always happy to fill part-time roles and always encourage our clients to consider what option will give them the best value for money.  In fact, 13% of TPP’s own workforce are part time employees.

How to offer the right salary

When recruiting for a new employee, it can be tempting for organisations to set a wide salary range to bring in applicants of the right quality, but then make an offer to a successful candidate at the lowest level. However, the savings on staffing costs this may make are not usually worthwhile in the long run.In this blog post, TPP examines the reasons why you should offer at the right level and the best ways to establish what that is.

Getting the balance right

Specifying an extremely low compensation package for a role will obviously limit the quantity and quality of responses, which is why most organisations advertise using a salary range. But there is no point specifying a range, if you automatically offer at the lowest level.  Remember, if a candidate rejects your offer, it can cost much more to restart the recruitment process than simply upping the salary, particularly when productivity losses are factored in.

Even if a candidate accepts a low offer, they are not likely to be fully motivated in their new role, and may leave after a short period of time, negatively affecting your staff turnover levels and the performance of the organisation.

Conversely, if you offer a new employee too high a salary, that does not fit within the pay scales of existing employees, it can also lead to poor performance. Chances are, your existing employees will find out, and this will lead to resentment among your team. Salary discrepancies can also leave you open to charges of discrimination.

Keeping salaries competitive

The key to offering at the right level is to make sure your salary is competitive. Employees of not for profit organisations will usually accept lower salaries in exchange for intangible benefits such as a better quality of life and higher job satisfaction, but they will still expect to be paid at a similar level to staff in similar organisations.

Monitoring job ads from organisations of a similar type or size can help you to make sure your compensation package is competitive. TPP constantly monitor the recruitment market and can give you help and advice on benchmarking your salaries.

Even if you are simply re-filling a role following the departure of a member of staff, it is not a simple case of advertising the role at the existing salary. The job description and responsibilities for the replacement may be different, meaning you will have to conduct a review of the salary as well. You also need to be consider whether a low salary was a contributing factor in the previous incumbent’s departure.

Setting a salary range (and sticking to it)

Once you establish the industry average for a role, you should set a salary range around that amount.  Make sure you have criteria set to decide which qualifications or skills a candidate would need to have to achieve the highest level.  And which can be sacrificed for a lower salary.

This is particularly important if you are recruiting for more than one position, as differences in salary offers could leave you open to discrimination charges.  Make sure you can back up your decisions and be careful not to simply link salary to years of experience.

The more senior or specialist the role, the more flexible you will need in terms of salary to make sure you get a candidate with exactly the right skills and experience.

Similarly, if you are only interested in hiring a candidate who is currently working for an organisation that is similar to yours, it can take a higher salary to tempt them away from their current employer than someone who is currently unemployed, particularly in the current economic environment when people are reluctant to take risks by moving roles.

Once you have specified a salary range, make sure you stick to this range when making an offer. Nothing is more likely to make a candidate reject an initial offer without any possibility for negotiation than going back on the advertised salary package, meaning you may have to start your recruitment process again from scratch.

What if your initial offer is rejected?

A candidate may reject your initial offer if they feel they deserve a higher salary and could achieve it elsewhere. In this instance you may wish to stick with your initial offer if you think it is a fair one, or you can reassess based on the value they could potentially add to your organisation.

If salary becomes a real sticking point, you could make a revised offer with an initial salary at the original level but with a clearly-defined path of progression to move the candidate up to a higher level within a specified time frame.  This way, the candidate is given an opportunity to prove they are worth the extra and the organisation can ensure the additional investment will be worthwhile.

If there is no room for manoeuvre with the salary you can offer, take a look at the total compensation package.  Make sure you are including all available employee benefits and consider what you could add to make the role more attractive, eg training courses, flexible working, extra paid holiday.  If a candidate is not entirely happy with the salary they may still be willing to join your organisation if they think it will be worthwhile in the long haul.

How TPP can help

TPP Not for Profit constantly monitors salary packages to establish industry averages for roles of every type and level.  We can help ensure your salary is as competitive as possible and give you advice on making the total package attractive to potential new employees.

We handle all potential salary negotiations for roles placed with us and are dedicated to making sure that you get the best possible value for money when recruiting.

Further Reading

Debunking Charity Salary Myths
Low Salaries Hold Charities Back