SINGAPORE: A 25-year-old jobseeker was left unsettled after being repeatedly asked about her marital status during a virtual interview with a multinational corporation (MNC).
On Tuesday (July 15), the woman took to the r/askSingapore Reddit forum to share her experience and seek advice.
According to her post, the interview was conducted virtually and one-on-one with a middle-aged manager from the department she had applied to, rather than a representative from human resources.
While the interview initially proceeded as expected, things took a turn when the interviewer began probing into her personal life. “She started with ‘Are you single?’, to which I replied ‘Yes’,” the jobseeker wrote.
“Then, despite the answer that I’ve given her, she continued on with ‘Any plans to get married?’, to which I replied, ‘Not for the time being’.”
Despite the jobseeker clarifying that marriage was not on the horizon, the interviewer allegedly went on to talk about engagement-related matters. The candidate noted that she had not mentioned anything about relationships or marriage during the interview.
“I tried to divert the topic to something pertaining to the company, and I think it worked well temporarily,” she said. “But as we got to the last 5 minutes of the interview, she repeated the ‘Are you single?’ question again, which, I once again, reaffirmed my answer.”
The woman shared that she felt uncomfortable and was unsure whether the line of questioning was appropriate. She also expressed concern about an upcoming in-person interview with the rest of the team and asked for advice on how to respond if similar questions are raised again.
“Does it scream red flag company? Or rather, is it a good idea to (respectfully question them about this particular question? As in, ask them about the purpose of this question asked?” she asked fellow Redditors.
“Truth be told, I’ve not received marital status-related questions in job interviews before. And although I am somewhat uncomfortable about the question, I don’t know if there are any others out there who have had the same interview experience as I before? Please advise me before this Thursday’s job interview!!!”
“It’s really, really, REALLY inconvenient if someone joins and then has to go on maternity leave.”
In the comments, many Singaporeans were quick to call out the manager’s behaviour, with some saying it was a major red flag.
One Redditor didn’t mince words, saying, “Screams red flag manager at the very least, and that’s enough to turn anyone off if it makes them uncomfortable.”
Another person chimed in, calling the whole thing “super inappropriate” and added, “They really shouldn’t ask any personal questions like that… ever. If you ever get the same questions, be brutally direct and ask, ‘Is this a concern to you in case I get pregnant?’ They can’t answer that, but they should immediately shut up.”
Still, not everyone was entirely against the manager. A few people tried to make sense of why those questions were being asked.
One user said, “From an employer’s point of view, it’s really, really, REALLY inconvenient if someone joins and then has to go on maternity leave within the first year.”
“I think she was trying to get that info out of you; she was just not very good at asking it. She was probably trying too hard to mask her intentions and ended up asking in a weird way.”
TAFEP: Avoid asking personal details
The Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices (TAFEP) strongly advises hiring managers and HR personnel to avoid requesting personal details in job application forms.
This includes information such as age, gender, race, religion, marital status, pregnancy status, whether the applicant has children, or any disabilities. These details are considered irrelevant to a candidate’s ability to perform the job and should not be included in the application process.
Featured image by Depositphotos (for illustration purposes only)
