How to Handle Inappropriate Job Interview Questions. Job interviews can be challenging to navigate even without the added stress of trying to diplomatically field inappropriate, invasive, or downright illegal lines of questioning. BibMe Free Bibliography Citation Maker MLA, APA, Chicago, Harvard. We asked you to share the most insane interview question youve been asked on Facebook, and boy, did you all deliver. In the interest of helping future job hunters navigate these choppy waters, we took the worst and weirdest of your interview experiences, and sought out expert advice on how to handle them. Thanks to all the readers who shared their experiences with us. Your questions fell into a few categories. Brain Teasers. While these types of questions are lessening in popularity, quite a few of you have run into them during job searches. Some of the brain teaser questions you shared included puzzlers like Why are manhole covers round rather than square How are hotel shower systems designed so the hot water comes on almost instantly How would you go about figuring out how many cows are in Vermont Calculate the number of lamp posts between City A and City B. As Alison Green, who runs Ask a Manager, explained in our post on weird interview questions, brain teasers are often asked to get a sense of how you think through a problem rather than whether or not you have the right answer. Watch A Little Bit Zombie Online. Even if youre not a huge fan of these types of questions, try to walk the interviewers through your thought process and then hopefully move on. Job interviews are nerve wracking enoughand then you get hit with an odd question like If youRead more Read. Personal Questions. These kinds of questions are tricky, because interviewers often use them to make assumptions about you as a candidate, which in some cases is illegal. Mary. Jo Fitzgerald, Economics Communications Manager at Glassdoor, advises you to know your rights as a candidate and if an interviewer crosses the line you can contact your local Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to file a claim. Its illegal for employers to inquire about your age, gender, marital status, sexual orientation, race, religion, or any disabilities. Some personal questions readers shared got pretty close to or crossed that line What church do you go toAre you planning on having children Do you have a boyfriend A variation of this Are you marriedWho did you vote for What kind of car do you drive Fitzgerald suggests a couple different ways to redirect the conversation back to your qualifications and away from an intrusive question Two helpful phrases to use are either The question doesnt affect my commitment to the position. I dont feel comfortable sharing that personal information, but Im happy to discuss more about other relevant experiences. Both allow you to take control of the direction of the conversation and highlight why you deserve the position. It can be rough when you dont feel like youre heard in a conversation, but it can beRead more Read. Of course, if the questions are really offensive or show you that the company culture is not going to be a good fit for you, you can always end the interview early. Its hard for that not to be awkward, but you can try something like, Im realizing that Im not the right fit for this position. To be respectful of your time, Id like to end the interview now. Thank you very much for the opportunity to meet today. Seemingly Unrelated to the Job. A little different than brain teasers are questions that test a skill not core to the role youre interviewing for or that seem unrelated to the job. A few that you shared with us Who is your favorite Beatle Take something out of your bag and tell us a story about it. Sell me this pen. For an administrative jobWhat would you do if a coworker showed up with a gun and started shooting people That last one is a doozy, and to be honest, I dont know if theres a good answer to that one if you can recover from the shock of it being asked. For some of the other types of seemingly unrelated questions, youll have to decide in the moment why you think theyre asking you that. They might want to see how you react when put on the spot, how creative you are, or how you think. Challenge Of The Super Friends Full Episodes. That doesnt make these good interview questions, but it does help you figure out how to answer. If you think you know the intent behind the question, do your best to show them that skill. MNDHmb40Pdw/UVF09GpLosI/AAAAAAAH688/IHAu4BmmJPo/s1600/FAQ_About_Time_Travel-2009-MSS-09.jpg' alt='Watch Frequently Asked Questions About Time Travel Online Forbes' title='Watch Frequently Asked Questions About Time Travel Online Forbes' />If youre not sure how it relates to the job, you can ask for clarification, Can you tell me how that relates to this role or Can you explain a bit what youre looking for with that question And if the question is really out of the blue, try Fitzgeralds suggestions above to redirect the conversation back to your qualifications. Its cake versus ice cream for Splatoon 2s first Splatfest and were streaming all the fun live on our Twitch channel.