You’re sitting in a job interview and your interviewer asks you:
“So, do you have children?”
“What church do you go to?”
“What an unusual last name. Is it Japanese?”
Interviewers aren’t supposed to ask these sorts of questions. But what do you do when one asks anyway? First, let’s get the law out of the way. There’s a widespread belief that these questions are downright illegal, which isn’t quite right. What’s illegal, at least in most states, is rejecting you based on your answers, because it’s illegal for an employer to make a hiring decision based on your marital status, race, religion, gender, pregnancy or likelihood of getting pregnant, whether or not you have children, or other legally protected classes.
