EMPLOYERS SOMETIMES ASK PEOPLE APPLYING FOR JOBS FOR PERSONAL INFORMATION SUCH AS THEIR HOBBIES AND INTERESTS AND WHETHER THEY ARE MARRIED OR SINGLE.

There are arguments that consider that personal details like hobbies and marital status of a job applicant are important and necessary for the organisation, and there is a faction that opposes the idea and considers such data redundant. Although, the candidate may not have any issue furnishing such details, more often than not, these details do not add any value to the kind of relationship the new employee will have with the organisation.

Personal information like aforementioned gives the recruiter some idea about how the candidate can be as a person. This is done in order to find candidates who are suitable to work with a team, along with a judgement of sincerity and other factors, which can vary from organisation to organisation. For instance, the candidate may have a medical requirement, or the organisation may offer some benefits for the family of the employee. This judgement, according to employers, helps them shortlist people that they can invest company resources on.

Although, it may seem justified to seek out such details with such intentions, but unfortunately, these intentions and judgements often lead to desperate candidates lying on their application for them to be shortlisted. People believe that as long as aperson is not an ex-convict, for instance, they are fine for any job for which they havethe skills, qualifications and experience. They opine that such personal information has no use in the professional life of an individual, and hence, are redundant for an employer to know.

In my opinion, this information about the candidate is nonsensical for the employer in the modern times. Today, our world works on specialisation and delegation.  This specialisation requires organisations to find candidates that are excellent in their professions, interested in the goals of the company, and have a quick turnaround time. Hence, such filters unnecessarily evoke conversations about the private lives of the employees, which may be uncomfortable or unacceptable for many individuals.

To recapitulate, although many companies do ask for such details regarding the personal and social life of the prospective employee, the need and requirement of these details seem none. Moreover, such information may be used negatively, and may harm the employee or the productivity of the employee and hence, organisations must do away with such information which neither the organisation nor the job has any concern.