Cher Forman
"Ask Cher"
Cher Forman has over 20 years of domestic and international Human Resources experience in organizations ranging from startups to $3B. As Director or Vice President, she has managed Human Resources groups at Applied Materials, Stanford Telecom, Ask Computer Systems, Teledex and Tri-Data Corporation and consulted on H.R. philosophy, values and infrastructure with many start-ups as well. Cher has managed several of these firms through rapid expansion and significant organizational challenges. While at Applied Materials, she led her business unit as the company grew from 6,000 to 16,000 employees in three years. Ms. Forman has specific expertise in employment, corporate legal compliance, development of cost effective compensation/benefit strategies, organization development and international HR management. She has a degree in Organization Behavior from the University of San Francisco and has participated in advanced training at several other colleges and universities.
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Ask Cher - Interview questions re family
December 22, 2010 by Cher Forman
Question:
Dear Cher:
Recently I interviewed at a good company for a position that sounded like a great fit for my background. I felt positive about the job and the company and was looking forward to the interview. When I got there, though, I was surprised at some of the questions I was asked!
After spending a while with the Employment Representative, I was asked if I could spend some time with the hiring Manager and his team. I met with the hiring Manager first. One of the first questions he asked really took me aback. He wanted to know if I was married!
I’ve taken some classes to prepare myself for my job search, so I expected us to be talking about my qualifications and how I can contribute to the company. I thought personal questions were off limits. I managed to say no and turned the question around, asking him if working here often required overtime. If so, I told him, my schedule is flexible enough to make that no problem. After that, we discussed the open position for the rest of the meeting. I was relieved when he asked if I would meet with the development team I might be joining.
I entered the room and there were six folks around the table. We introduced ourselves and they seemed friendly. Then we all just kept talking in generalities on topics like sports, movies, hobbies and weekends. After a while I realized they were trying to figure out if I’d fit in with the team socially, not how well I could do the work. There was no other plan for this meeting but to see if I would get along with the group! I tried to work in a few technical questions but they seemed to have no interest. In the end that’s all there was. If I’d known in advance I would have prepared some card tricks and a few snappy jokes
I left the company after being told they would get back to me. Although they had my resume, I wondered how they could make any decision based on those interviews. What should I have done to make the time better spent?
Buddy
Answer:
Dear Buddy:
It sounds as though that group and the manager had really lost their focus, or didn’t have one to begin with. You, on the other hand, were totally prepared and expected more “professional” interviews.
In the interview with the Manager, he was over the line asking if you were married. Marital status is not an indication of job performance in the technical world. The Manager may have thought he was asking a simple icebreaker. He probably had no idea the question was inappropriate and could result in the candidate feeling awkward about the motive.
Knowing a candidate’s marital status, however, is seldom related to job performance. There are many people who find questions like that intimidating or thoughtless. Often they are people who have no family and don’t appreciate being reminded unnecessarily. Or, like many applicants in our area of the country, they have non-traditional families or are from countries with very different customs. When they come in to interview they have no idea about a Manager’s attitude toward their lifestyle. They know they can or can’t do the job, and they know their marital status is irrelevant.
Unfortunately, many people who make hiring decisions don’t take interview training seriously, or have never had any. They often think “it’s just like having a conversation; I can do that”. Often they don’t realize the trouble a company can find itself in when their questions seem to favor a certain group of people over others. They also don’t understand the dangers inherent in hiring people because they remind them so much of themselves. Sometimes people are afraid to manage people who are different from them. Whatever the reason, it’s not good business. Our culture is comprised of people from many different backgrounds and lifestyles. Our businesses need to mimic these differences if our products are to appeal to the widest possible audience. This means the more diversity a company embraces, the more likely they are to be a success. That’s good business.
Similarly, teams who are comprised of only people with similar backgrounds are likely to hire clones of themselves and their manager. But that doesn’t mean the team will be high-performing.
I think you handled these two situations as well as possible. In the case of the Manager, you tried to find out what the real question was by asking if it had to do with long work hour expectations. Any other response could have seemed confrontative or unfriendly. And then you may never have gotten to meet that highly trained work team!
If you received an offer from this company, I’m sure you thought about it long and hard, weighing the plusses and minuses. In this economy, however, you may feel any offer is worth taking, and I wouldn’t blame you.
If, however, you are still a free agent, take a good look at the companies you have on your target list. Make sure their employee mix represents what you feel most comfortable with. If you are not certain, do some sleuthing now rather than wasting more time with clueless companies.
Best, Cher
Dear Cher:
Recently I interviewed at a good company for a position that sounded like a great fit for my background. I felt positive about the job and the company and was looking forward to the interview. When I got there, though, I was surprised at some of the questions I was asked!
After spending a while with the Employment Representative, I was asked if I could spend some time with the hiring Manager and his team. I met with the hiring Manager first. One of the first questions he asked really took me aback. He wanted to know if I was married!
I’ve taken some classes to prepare myself for my job search, so I expected us to be talking about my qualifications and how I can contribute to the company. I thought personal questions were off limits. I managed to say no and turned the question around, asking him if working here often required overtime. If so, I told him, my schedule is flexible enough to make that no problem. After that, we discussed the open position for the rest of the meeting. I was relieved when he asked if I would meet with the development team I might be joining.
I entered the room and there were six folks around the table. We introduced ourselves and they seemed friendly. Then we all just kept talking in generalities on topics like sports, movies, hobbies and weekends. After a while I realized they were trying to figure out if I’d fit in with the team socially, not how well I could do the work. There was no other plan for this meeting but to see if I would get along with the group! I tried to work in a few technical questions but they seemed to have no interest. In the end that’s all there was. If I’d known in advance I would have prepared some card tricks and a few snappy jokes
I left the company after being told they would get back to me. Although they had my resume, I wondered how they could make any decision based on those interviews. What should I have done to make the time better spent?
Buddy
Answer:
Dear Buddy:
It sounds as though that group and the manager had really lost their focus, or didn’t have one to begin with. You, on the other hand, were totally prepared and expected more “professional” interviews.
In the interview with the Manager, he was over the line asking if you were married. Marital status is not an indication of job performance in the technical world. The Manager may have thought he was asking a simple icebreaker. He probably had no idea the question was inappropriate and could result in the candidate feeling awkward about the motive.
Knowing a candidate’s marital status, however, is seldom related to job performance. There are many people who find questions like that intimidating or thoughtless. Often they are people who have no family and don’t appreciate being reminded unnecessarily. Or, like many applicants in our area of the country, they have non-traditional families or are from countries with very different customs. When they come in to interview they have no idea about a Manager’s attitude toward their lifestyle. They know they can or can’t do the job, and they know their marital status is irrelevant.
Unfortunately, many people who make hiring decisions don’t take interview training seriously, or have never had any. They often think “it’s just like having a conversation; I can do that”. Often they don’t realize the trouble a company can find itself in when their questions seem to favor a certain group of people over others. They also don’t understand the dangers inherent in hiring people because they remind them so much of themselves. Sometimes people are afraid to manage people who are different from them. Whatever the reason, it’s not good business. Our culture is comprised of people from many different backgrounds and lifestyles. Our businesses need to mimic these differences if our products are to appeal to the widest possible audience. This means the more diversity a company embraces, the more likely they are to be a success. That’s good business.
Similarly, teams who are comprised of only people with similar backgrounds are likely to hire clones of themselves and their manager. But that doesn’t mean the team will be high-performing.
I think you handled these two situations as well as possible. In the case of the Manager, you tried to find out what the real question was by asking if it had to do with long work hour expectations. Any other response could have seemed confrontative or unfriendly. And then you may never have gotten to meet that highly trained work team!
If you received an offer from this company, I’m sure you thought about it long and hard, weighing the plusses and minuses. In this economy, however, you may feel any offer is worth taking, and I wouldn’t blame you.
If, however, you are still a free agent, take a good look at the companies you have on your target list. Make sure their employee mix represents what you feel most comfortable with. If you are not certain, do some sleuthing now rather than wasting more time with clueless companies.
Best, Cher
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