Affirmative Action/Employer Equal Opportunity guidelines for Job Candidate Questions:

As an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity employer, USU functions under the rules of the AA/EO guidelines for interviewing. Before our first candidate arrives, I urge you to take a look at the Human Resources information below about appropriate and inappropriate questions to ask job candidates. Again, this should be useful to you not only as we invite candidates to campus over the next few weeks, but also as potential job candidates yourself in the future.  This information comes directly from the USU HR website; for the links to additional information see http://training.usu.edu/htm/online-quick-trainings/hr-quick-trainings/interviewing/interviewing-quick-training 

Interviewing Quick Training

Key Points

·         Ask only questions that are job related and based on the job description.

·         Ask Behavioral Based Questions.

·         Do not use social media as a reference source to “check out” an applicant’s suitability.

·         Do not ask questions about: Race/Color, Gender, Religion, Age, Disability, Health, National Origin, Citizenship Status, Genetic Information, other Protected Classes.

** NOTE: "Bona Fide Occupational Qualification (BFOQ) defense is permissible discrimination if legally necessary for employer's particular business." BFOQs are very rare. They must be confirmed by the Human Resources and AA/EO Offices.

(Bennett-Alexander, D., & Hartman, L. (2007). Employment Law for Business. New York: McGraw-Hill/Irwin)

What to do:

·         When dealing with applicants who may or may not have obvious disabilities:

·         Describe the essential duties >and functions of the job.

·         Essential job functions and duties should focus on functionality not physicality.

·         Ex: Job requires moving a heavy box

·         Functionality- using a cart or dolly,

·         Physicality- bending, lifting, carrying, etc.

·         Then ask (of all applicants) "Can you perform these duties with or without reasonable accommodation if necessary?"

You may request:

·         A demonstration of how the applicant would perform the job task. (If you ask one applicant, you must ask all applicants to do the same demonstration.)

·         Information to know whether the individual may need reasonable accommodation for the interview process and/or on the job.

·         To determine if accommodation is reasonable, contact HR.

·         If someone “spills the beans" of a disability during the interview or is obviously disabled:

·         Discuss only the essential functions and how the candidate could do them if hired.

·         You can only require medical examinations or drug tests if it is job related and after the job offer has been made.

·         You can ask about:

·         previous employment

·         behavior-based questions (click for examples of behavior-based questions)

FAQ's

·         Do you have to tell the person why they didn't get the job?

·         Best practice: Explain why the successful candidate was hired.

·         Can you ask about a gap in the resume?

·         Yes, but it can be dangerous if it is due to health or disability. See above for instructions on dealing with that information.