Often when sitting for an interview, recruiters ask candidates about their marital status. Questions like “Are you married?” or “When are you planning to get married?” are usually posed before female candidates but rarely before male applicants. Although most leading organisations have discouraged this practice, a 25-year-old Indian marketing specialist based in the UK recently claimed that an HR representative of an Indian company asked her this infamous question during a job interview. Taking to X, Janhvi Jain expressed disbelief over the question.
“This HR of an Indian company asked me how old I am and when I said 25, they asked me if I am looking to marry soon??? Is this still happening??” Ms Jain tweeted.
Take a look below:
This HR of an Indian company asked me how old I am and when I said 25, they asked me if I am looking to marry soon???
Is this still happening??
— Janhavi Jain (@janwhyy) November 19, 2024
Ms Jain’s post struck a chord with several social media users, many of whom shared similar experiences with recruiters in India. Some users also urged the marketing executive to share the name and shame the company.
“People are asked when are they planning kids coz employers would not want to give Maternity etc,” shared one user. “Happening around the world, not just in Indian company. If you are newly married then you have to answer your pregnancy plans. Company works on manpower & they can’t afford leaves & we are unfortunately born with uterus,” commented another.
“Yes, there was one company & I wish I could name them because I’m beyond irked. Every round, even the offer letter discussion, revolved around marriage. That’s when I decided, this is it ‘I’m not joining, no matter how exciting the opportunities are'” wrote a third user. “Worse. The Indian HR of a US-based research platform asked me when I plan to have kids. I told her it’s an inappropriate question and I’m not answering that. She dismissed it saying it’s a common question they ask every married woman,” said another.
“Some things never change. I had once said (which wasn’t true) that “I am married” out of curiosity what they will say next. The next question was “Are you planning for kids in the near future?” committed one user.
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However, some social media users defended the practice, saying that organisations ask such questions because they would not want employees to take leaves in the middle of important projects for personal reasons.
“I don’t see anything wrong in it. It’s for their project and timeline. They would have their recency bias. Imo, startups wants people who can work over and above. Do not want much responsibility of family which may affect their work,” commented one user. “Ya legit question… company cannot give extended off (as needed for marriage) till the time project is completed. For start ups this is a mandatory question imho, asked to both male and female candidates,” expressed another.
Since being shared, Ms Jain’s post has accumulated more than 118,000 views and several likes.
