can you decline to answer certain questions during an interview?

[coralfangs]

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can you? if you don't feel comfortable answering the questions?

this happened to me during a recent job interview, the interviewer wasn't too impressed with my response.....

 

[LicensedPremed]

can you? if you don't feel comfortable answering the questions?

this happened to me during a recent job interview, the interviewer wasn't too impressed with my response.....

Yes.

 

[MahSpoon]

You can do whatever you want, are they going to torture you until you answer? Whether or not you will get accepted for doing so is another question

 

[Law2Doc]

can you? if you don't feel comfortable answering the questions?

this happened to me during a recent job interview, the interviewer wasn't too impressed with my response.....

Technically yes -- there are quite a few topics that interviewers aren't even supposed to even ask about (family planning is a big one). But most advisors would suggest that if there is a way to answer a question without being uncomfortable, even if it is something they had no right to ask about in the first place, you probably should anyway. It's probably best to think of things you don't want to answer ahead of time and come up with how you plan to respond. If we are talking about low grades, gaps in your educational/employment history, or other red flags, etc, you need to have an answer ready that seems forthcoming, even if it is not expansive.

 

[154241]

I know of a person through my advisor who refused to answer a question about her parents' divorce (saying it was none of their business) and was rejected as a result. My advisor called the adcom of that school, and they cited that reason specifically, saying she was otherwise qualified, but seemed to have unresolved personal issues if she couldn't answer that question. So that's not very fair, but there you go.

 

[Depakote]

I'm going to echo what L2D said.

The best way to respond to these questions is to answer it as best as possible within your comfort zone. If it is an illegal question that you have a problem with (there are only a few questions that fall into this category), bring it up with the dean of admissions immediately following the interview. If it is a personal question, but not legally protected, it is in your best interests to give an answer that will satisfy them.

 

[estairella]

can you? if you don't feel comfortable answering the questions?

this happened to me during a recent job interview, the interviewer wasn't too impressed with my response.....

Now I'm curious too... so have you stopped beating your wife?

 

[killinsound]

Now I'm curious too... so have you stopped beating your wife?

ladies and gentleman, i present to you, jokes gone bad.

 

[alwaysaangel]

As others have said - you CAN do whatever you want. But its in your best interest to answer anything they ask you no matter what.

If it was REALLY inappropriate then you can go talk to the interview coordinator of the day/dean of admissions and explain it to them. They may choose to give you another interview or just make a note in your file.

Frankly, I don't think it was necessarily unfair that the girl who refused to talk about her parents divorce was rejected. There had to have been a reason that it was brought up (probably by her), so it was probably her reason for a poor semester or something. Then when they asked her for more details she probably got overly defensive and told them it was none of her business - it was likely more the way she told them it was "none of their business" than it was that she said it at all. It led them to believe that she wasn't stable and mature enough to start medical school yet - which is likely if the divorce was very recent.

 

[inaminute]

response, said with a wicked grin:

"is this one of those off-limits questions you ask to see how I handle being asked an off-limits question?"

 

[UCDavisdude]

why r so many people lacking common sense on these boards...no offense

 

[MassTransport]

I'd be careful bandying about words like common sense, it usually means you haven't thought about it enough.