Interview a Female Applicant
The interview process is an integral step in finding the right employees to help your business grow and succeed. Interviewing female job applicants is different than interviewing men, because there are some questions that should be avoided or that are illegal to ask. Here are a few guidelines on how to interview a female applicant.
Steps
- Create a list of unisex questions.
- Outline a list of desired criteria you want to find in an applicant and write a set of interview questions based on that criteria. This list should be equally inclusive of male and female applicants and relate to job experience, education, skills and workplace strengths. Having non gender-specific questions will help you avoid prohibited questions and focus on finding the right candidate for the job.
- Learn what you can't ask.
- United States of America: Federal and state anti-discrimination laws protect female job applicants by prohibiting questions about marital status, spouses, sexual orientation, children or pregnancy in addition to questions that would relate specifically to women.
- Canada: Federal and provincial laws have similar restrictions on the questions that can be asked but also include age.
- Be aware of these prohibited questions prior to the interview so you know what lines you can't cross.
- Assess overall appearance.
- Evaluate a female applicant based on her overall level of professional appearance. Female and male applicants should meet a basic standard of dress in professional or business casual attire with shirts tucked in, suits clean and pressed, shoes shines and hair neat. This unisex factor will allow you to evaluate female and male applicants on the same level.
- Ask questions about current skills only.
- Avoid asking questions about future plans or career goals when interviewing a female applicant. This could be seen as an attempt to discern whether the applicant has plans pertaining to marriage or children that could impede her future work performance, which is illegal to ask. Stick to questions about her current qualifications and why she wants the job with your company.
- Break the ice on a professional level.
- Keep introductory questions related to business and the industry when interviewing a female job applicant. Questions about family or weekend plans are inappropriate and could set an informal tone that will prevent you from accurately evaluating the applicant.
- Avoid questions about past discrimination.
- Asking about past incidents of unfairness or discrimination could lead to the applicant disclosing more than what is appropriate, make her feel that you will discriminate in a similar manner, or cause the interview to take a negative turn. Stick to questions about her job experience and industry accomplishments.
- Verify references.
- References and contacts are another unisex factor that allows you to evaluate male and female applicants on the same level. Contact previous employers and learn more about her work performance and track record, but do not ask about any of the issues that are forbidden to ask in interviews. Laws also prohibit you from asking previous employers about this information.
Related Articles
- Change Address for Florida Unemployment
