Is It OK to Talk About Your Personal Life During an Interview?

One of the biggest red flags during an interview, from the viewpoint of the interviewer, is when a person starts over sharing their personal life. It’s just not professional.

You can come into an interview with an excellent resume, perfect references available, and an impeccable outfit.

However, if you start talking about your personal life in great detail, especially if there is any negative emotion or energy involved, then you’re going to tank the interview.

People who conduct interviews are there to screen out the problem candidates. They don’t want to hire people who are involved in a lot of personal drama that spills over into the workplace.

And more than that, it’s just unprofessional to discuss this during an interview. If you don’t know that, it speaks volumes to your overall understanding and awareness of how to conduct yourself during an interview.

Can Interviewers Ask About Your Personal Life?

The difference between what an interviewer should ask you and what they can ask you are pretty significant. Even though it’s not appropriate for an interviewer to ask you about your personal life, it does happen.

The chances that an agency recruiter asks about your personal life are pretty slim. Agency recruiters are more sophisticated than internal HR recruiters, so it’s not common for it to happen when dealing with a headhunter or other person.

On the other hand, if you are dealing with someone who works as an internal recruiter for a company, in their talent and acquisition department, then you’re going to end up with some real losers. Sorry to be so frank, but it’s the truth.

When you’re dealing with a large company, or a big non-profit or hospital system, and you talk to their HR department, then you might end up speaking with one of their less than aware employees.

So, while it’s inappropriate, that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t happen occasionally.  That’s why you should be prepared for any outcome and any situation that might occur during an interview. It will help you be prepared and be ready for what comes.

How To Handle Talking About Your Personal Life During an Interview?

So, how exactly do you handle personal questions during an interview? It’s better to be prepared for this instead of getting nervous and fumbling during the interview itself.

My advice would be to be open as much as you want, as long as the discussion leans positive. Do not ever bring in negative personal stuff to an interview.

Here’s the scenario: You have an interview for a executive level role at a Public Relations firm. During the conversation, your interviewer notices a career gap of several months on your resume.

In the corporate world, small career gaps are discussed. It’s not the Medical field where Nurses and medical staff can have multi-year gaps on their resume without issue. Any long career gap (several months or longer) will need to be addressed.

If there were personal issues that you had to attend to, such as a sick relative, a personal injury, or perhaps you decided to travel before searching for work again, then it’s appropriate to discuss this.

It’s also fine to discuss long career gaps and how they can relate to personal issues such as raising children, caring for partners, children, or parents.

You should always try and make the conversation sound positive. That’s a key point in any interview. Never sound down about anything. Don’t be unnaturally peppy, but be positive in outlook.

Other times, the interviewer might bring up personal items on their end. They might mention that they have recently traveled somewhere. Feel free to then engage them and discuss the topic. If they mention that they traveled to Aruba, and you either went there or would like to, feel free to discuss this.

That will give the conversation a more relaxed vibe and it can make the interviewer feel more comfortable with you, which can only have positive ramifications.

If, for some strange reason, the interviewer starts to get too personal, then you have a few options.

First, if the question is completely out of line feel free not to answer it. This is likely not going to happen as HR employees tend to be over cautious when it comes to invading peoples personal life. However, if you do happen to get a rogue employee who asks invasive questions feel free to simply state you prefer to keep your private life separate from business.

Secondly, if the question isn’t outrageous and is more along the lines of unprofessional prying, then be prepared to discuss. Many times interviewers, especially in companies that have their own HR team interviewing, like to engage in power trips and so will ask slightly inappropriate but not rule breaking questions.

If they ask about family situation, for instance, such as roommates, if you live with a partner, or with your parents, be prepared to answer them. It’s not professional, but if you simply refuse to answer you will come off as strange and the type of person who asks this question would be the type to get angry at you for not engaging.

If you’re interviewing at a hospital or government office, or even a huge fortune 500 company, you could always lodge a complaint but in many cases unless you are seriously prepared to purse legal action they will ignore you.

Just be prepared and that way you won’t be frozen and stuck wondering how to answer them.

Expect the unexpected and you’ll be fine.

What is Too Personal For an Interview?

So, what’s considered too personal for an interview? What topics are not suitable or a job interview?

Well, there’s a lot, and generally speaking anything that’s controversial should be off limits. Here’s a good cheat sheet to use.

• Anything Political- Tread carefully because you don’t know your interviewers political stance.
• Divorce- No one wants to hear about a contentious divorce.
• Death-It’s sad, but don’t bring it up during an interview.
• Illness – Don’t bring it up. Again, it’s sad but it shouldn’t be a topic of conversation.
• Lawsuits- Anything involving a legal dispute that you have, it’s a major red flag.