A job interview is not only about assessing the candidate, but also about creating an employer brand, where the candidate builds an image of the interviewer and the organisation. With tips from a lawyer specialising in employment law and a founding partner of VALO Partners, you can ensure that your recruitment process doesn't end in misunderstandings or a courtroom.

Just ask in relation to the job you are applying for questions necessary for the job

Contrary to popular belief, there are no 'strictly forbidden' questions in a job interview. The need for information must be assessed on a case-by-case basis in the recruitment situation from the point of view of the job for which the employee is applying. Sometimes the job may require information about the applicant's health or family members, for example, if the applicant is a worker who is posted to another country and moves with his or her family. At national level, the processing of employees' personal data is based on the necessity requirement under the Employment Data Protection Act, according to which the employer may only process personal data that are directly necessary for the employee's employment relationship and cannot be derogated from with the employee's consent. Job interview questions should therefore be mirrored in the job advertisement to ensure that the necessity requirement is met. 

The wording of the questions matters

The wording of the questions also matters "Are you aware of any medical condition that would prevent you from performing this task?" is a much better formulation than "Do you have a medical condition?". The applicant has the right to refuse to answer unnecessary questions and to ask for justification of their necessity. In practice, however, I think that quite few job applicants dare to ask for justification for a seemingly unusual interview question in a job interview situation. There can be no negative consequences for the employee if he answers such a question untruthfully.

Is stemplate talk riski?

The need to ask questions is also linked to avoiding discrimination. In practical job interview situations, the legal pitfalls arise from chatting in order to relax the atmosphere. In such cases, the employee may typically volunteer information such as the fact that he or she spends free time with children of primary school age, or other similar information unrelated to the job applied for and performance of the job. Such purely oral information falls outside the scope of data protection legislation, as personal data is not purely oral information. Even if such oral small talk does not involve the processing of personal data, a presumption of discrimination can still easily arise if the applicant is not selected for the job and the interviewer talks about, for example, the employee's kindergarten-age children. It is therefore always worth keeping the focus on the information that is relevant to the job in any case and steering the discussion back to the relevant issues of the job fairly quickly.

Collecting data from elsewhere 

Googling information or asking an old colleague who worked in the same job as the applicant may sound like an easy way to find out more, but it requires the applicant's consent. The primary source of information is always the employee themselves. With the written consent of the employee, information can also be obtained from elsewhere. It is also advisable to ask for references only at the very end, so as not to collect unnecessary personal data for the organisation. A LinkedIn profile is an exception, as it is seen as a kind of public CV. Nevertheless, it is good practice to ask the applicant about their LinkedIn profile if it is not apparent from the application, for example.

Do not record information that is irrelevant to your job for yourself up

Taking notes during the interview can be useful, but remember that any information you write down will refer to information relevant to the decision and may be seen by the applicant at a later stage, as it may be in the public domain. So only write down information that is relevant to the job you are applying for and think about how it will look to the judge if it is presented as evidence in court. It is unlikely that anyone will write down information about applicants that is irrelevant to the job they are applying for.

PRO TIPS

1. Collect only information that is directly relevant to the employment relationship.

2. Focus your questions on issues relevant to your job.

3. Consider the impression the applicant will get from asking the question if he or she is not selected.

4. Mirror the questions on the job advert to ensure they are relevant.

5. The primary source of information is always the jobseeker himself.

6. Obtaining information from elsewhere only with the written consent of the job applicant.

7. Take notes only on information that is relevant to your job.

8. The wording of the questions matters.