So far today, I’ve experienced three internal interviews that all started with the line “well, this is a bit odd since I work with you everyday”. Two of which also included the statement “I’m not really sure what to ask you since I already know you”. And my personal favorite: “I didn’t really you had a degree in small business!”
Apparently this isn’t just a first for me.
If you ever search online for advice about internal interviews, you’ll find that good information is hard to find and the information that is available is geared towards the mega corporations. I kept finding pages listing illegal interview questions and sneaky ways H.R. can get around it.
For example, they cannot ask me if I am married. Fair enough. But the interviewers are also the people who threw me a wedding shower at work.
They also cannot ask me if I have kids or if I plan to have kids. But some of the interviewers have gone out with me for drinks after work with my husband (where he told them we plan on waiting about four years).
Nothing illegal is being asked but could I still be discriminated against? These are people who already know more than they should. Like I said yesterday, maybe it isn’t a win-win.
Maybe what all of this is telling me is that I need to be more guarded about my personal life at work. Which then of course leads me to the problem of how can I have a blended life if I have to unblend for eight to nine hour chunks each day.
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