VOA慢速英語: 美國面試中五個不合法的問題（雙語）

美國面試中五個不合法的問題

The three most stressful situations in life are said to be ending a marriage, dealing with death and moving to a new home. Many people would add one more experience to that list – a job interview.

人生中最緊張的情形是：離婚、面對死亡還有搬進新家。很多人還會再加一個經歷——面試。

Finding a good job is difficult enough. Add to that the fact that employers may ask some very personal questions during a job interview. In the United States, it is illegal for employers to raise some of these issues.

找到一份好工作很困難，而且在面試期間，雇主也許會問一些私人問題。在美國，雇主問一些私人問題是不合法的。

See how they compare to job interviews in your country.

來看看他們的面試跟你們國家的有何不同。

In a job interview, you must show your best side. You must sell yourself and show the interviewer that you are the best candidate for the job.

面試過程中，你需要展示自己最好的一面。你要把自己推銷出去，告訴面試官你是這份工作的最佳候選人。

To do this you must answer question after question. A prospective employer will want to know about your skills, qualifications, past work experiences, and goals.

想要得到這份工作，你必須回答一個又一個的問題。一個未來的老板想要知道你的技能、資格、工作經歷以及期許目標。

The interviewer is the person asking the questions. Interviewers want to learn as much as they can about the interviewee, the person seeking employment. This can cause an uneven balance of power and lead to some difficult questions. In the United States, a few of those questions are not just difficult, they are illegal.

面試官會問些問題，他們希望盡可能多的了解到面試人員的情況。這會導致力量的不平衡，會產生一些問題。在美國，一些問題不僅僅是難回答，它們還是不合法的。

There are many websites that offer advice on careers and how to prepare for a job interview. You may have used some of these sites, such asMonster.com and LinkedIn.

有很多網站為找工作的人如何準備面試提供一些建議。也許你使用過這些網站，例如：Monster.com 和LinkedIn。

The following five areas showed up in all the reports and lists I examined during my recent searches. All of these areas of questioning are considered illegal in the United States.

下面五條是我最近做的調查中，所有報道里出現的5個方面的信息。在美國，所有這些方面的信息都被認為是不合法的。

1.     Sex questions are off limits.

性別問題是禁區(qū)。

It is very easy for an interviewer to discriminate based on a person’s gender or sex. If you are a woman, you may be asked, “Are you comfortable managing a team of men?” If you are man you may be asked, “Would you feel comfortable having a woman as a boss?”

面試官很容易基于面試人員的性別而歧視他/她。如果你是位女性，也許會被問到：“如果你管理一組男同事會不會覺得不舒服？”倘若你是位男性，則會被問到：“假如老板是位女士，你會不會覺得舒服自在？”

In the United States, any question related to gender should not be raised during the job interview. But if gender does come up, answer the question by stating your past work experiences that show you can do the job, regardless of whether you are a woman or a man.

在美國，面試過程中，任何涉及到性別的問題都不應該被提及。但是如果提到這個問題，不管你是女士還是男士，只需要陳述過去的工作經歷，告訴面試官你能勝任這份工作。

2.     Questions about marriage and children are illegal.

關于婚姻和孩子的問題也是非法的。

People with children love talking about them. But during a job interview it's not the time. Questions such as, “Do you have children?” or “Do you plan to work after having children?” are not legal to ask.

有孩子的人喜歡談論這個話題，但是在面試過程中，談論孩子就不合時宜。諸如這樣的問題：“你有孩子嗎？”或者“生完孩子后，你還打算工作嗎？”這些都不適宜問。

Naturally, future employers want to know how long you plan to be with them if you are hired. Hiring people takes time and, as they say, time is money. But it is illegal to not hire someone because they have children or are planning on having a child in the future.

自然地，未來的雇主想知道，如果你被雇傭后，會跟他們公事多長時間。雇傭職員需要花費時間，人們常說：時間就是金錢。但是因為某人有孩子或者未來想要個孩子就不雇傭人家是非法的。

It is legal for a prospective employer to ask, “What hours can you work?” or “Do you have responsibilities that might keep you from doing your job?” These questions are legal because they are directly related to the job and not tied to your personal life.

雇主這樣問的話就合法：“你能工作多長時間？”或“有沒有什么事會讓你無法工作？”這些問題是合法的是因為它們直接跟工作有關系而不是詢問你的私生活。

Any question related to your marital status, whether you are married, is considered illegal in the U.S. But they are common. Asking someone, “Are you married?” is a loaded question, a question looking for more than what is simply asked. A question about marriage is illegal because it may lead to information about your sexual orientation -- whether you are gay, straight or bisexual. And that is no one’s business but your own.

在美國，涉及到婚姻狀況的問題，無論你結婚是否，都被認為是非法的。但是這些問題很常見，問一個人“你結婚了嗎？”是個含蓄的問題，用一個問題引出更多的問題。問關于婚姻的問題是不合法的，因為這會指向你的性取向——同性戀、異性戀或者雙性戀。這只是你的事，與別人無關。

3.     Your Citizenship and Nationality are private.

 你的公民身份和國籍都是隱私的。

It is illegal for a U.S. business to hire someone who is not permitted to work in the country. But the only way a company can explore the issue legally is to ask the question directly - “Can you work legally in the United States?” Done.

美國企業(yè)雇傭的人員未被允許而待在美國也是非法的，但是公司能夠直接這樣問來求證一下——“你能否在美國合法工作？”這樣就沒問題了。

If an interviewer asks things such as, “Where are you from?” or “Where were you born?” they have, again, crossed into Illegal Land. These may seem like innocent questions. But they are illegal because it involves your country of birth. Employers in the U.S. cannot legally ask about your nationality.

如果面試官這樣問：“你來自哪兒？”或者“你在哪兒出生？”這些問題又踩到非法的界限內了。這些問題看起來似乎是無罪的，但是確實是不合法的，因為涉及到你出生的國家。美國的雇主不能非法詢問你的國籍。

This also extends to language. It is not the employer’s lawful right to know if a language is your first language. However, they can legally ask what other languages you know.

延伸到語言也是如此，雇主沒有權利知道哪一種語言是你的母語。但是，他們可以問你還知道其它那些語言。

4.     Asking about religion is a no-no.

詢問宗教問題也不可以。

Employers may want to ask which religious holidays you observe to see if it may interfere with work. But questions about your religion are illegal.

雇主也許會通過問你參加哪種宗教禮拜，來判斷是否會影響工作。但是問你的宗教問題就是非法的。

Employers can legally ask if you can work on a Sunday, a day when many Christians attend religious services.

雇主可以問你在周日是否可以工作，因為在周日，許多基督教徒會參加宗教儀式活動。

5.     Your Age is your business. Not theirs.

  年齡是你自己的事，與他們無關。

The question, “How long have you been working?” may seem fine. But this question is all about age discrimination. It is also illegal for an interviewer to ask what year you completed high school or college or even your birthday. It is easy enough to do the math. It is legal for an interviewer to ask you how long you have been working in a certain industry. Again, the question is tied to the job and not your personal life.

“你工作多長時間了？”這個問題看起來沒什么問題，但這個問題就是年齡歧視。面試官問你何時高中畢業(yè)、大學畢業(yè)，甚至問你的出生年月日都是不合法的。通過算數很容易能夠算出來你的年紀。面試官可以問你在某一領域干了多長，這個問題仍然是跟工作相關，不涉及你的私人生活。

It can be difficult to answer personal questions during a job interview. After all, if you want the job, you do not want to seem difficult. If a question seems illegal or just makes you feel uneasy, simply direct the question back to the job and your qualifications.

面試中，很難回答個人問題。畢竟，想得到這份工作，就不想讓問題很難回答。如果問題不合法或者讓你感到不自在，直接返回到你工作的問題以及你的資歷上來。

Of course, you do not have to answer any question that you feel is insulting or illegal. This, however, may cost you the job.

當然，如果你覺得問的問題很無禮或者不合法，你可以不回答。但是，這樣也許你也無法得到這份工作。

In the end it is a personal decision. But always know your rights.

最后是個人的決定，但是你要了解自己的權利。

How do these employment laws in the U.S. differ from laws in your country? Let’s talk about it … in the comment section.

美國的這些勞工雇傭法與你們國家的法律有和不同？我們在留言區(qū)一起談論一下。

I’m Anna Matteo.

我是安娜·馬特奧。

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Words in this Story

candidate – n. a person who is being considered for a job, position, award,etc.

qualification – n. a special skill or type of experience or knowledge thatmakes someone suitable to do a particular job or activity

prospective – adj. likely to be or become something specified in the future

sexual orientation – n. the inclination of an individual with respect toheterosexual, homosexual and bisexual behavior

discriminatory – adj. unfairly treating a person or group of people differentlyfrom other people or groups of people. The noun is discrimination.

gender – n. the state of being male or female

hire – v. to give work or a job to someone in exchange for wages or a salary;n. someone who has been hired for a job