Equal Opportunity is something you live and breathe, every second, as a supervisor. It's the absolute baseline for supervisory knowledge and skills. It's also the best, most practical supervisory methodology around.

All competent employers know this. There's a real bottom line here, and it's enforced by all good managers.

Critical issues in Equal Opportunity interview questions:

• The Equal Opportunity interview questions are strictly business.
• Get them wrong, and you can forget the job.
• Equal Opportunity produces more lawsuits than any other facet of employment law.
• It's a reasonable expectation that supervisors know their jobs well enough to avoid the possible disasters. There are no grounds for appeal if you make any mistakes with interview answers.

Preparation for Equal Opportunity interview questions

Even if you're a highly experienced supervisor, do a refresher. The idea is to make sure your knowledge is up-to-date and receive basic reminders. This is a basic interview preparation, but it's particularly important regarding Equal Opportunity.

How to prepare:

• The HR people at your new prospective employer will have the current information, statutory and management guidelines. These are critically important, because many in house policies vary between employers, even if the laws are all the same.
• You can find some useful materials online. Look for well laid out, easy to read, step by step sources. Don't wade around in masses of text.
• Check dates for currency. Five years is way too old. The last two years are the current materials.
• Search your local Equal Opportunity law administration, and you'll find the current legal issues.

Interview questions overview

The range of possible interview questions can be large. You can be asked anything from 'What is Equal Opportunity?' at a basic supervision entry level interview to higher level specific examples, situational interviews, and other techniques.

Answering Equal Opportunity interview questions

There's a common element in Equal Opportunity: the basic principles. These need to be incorporated into your interview answers to show your thinking, but they're also a good check on your information quality.

Example

'A new female staff member complains, claiming to have been discriminated against because she's not being given the chance to do higher duties in an administration job. What are the Equal Opportunity issues?'

'She's basically right, in theory. Her gender is no obstacle to her doing that work under Equal Opportunity laws. If she can do the job, she should have the chance to do it. But, she may not yet have the experience or training as a new staff member. She should also have had the chance to be trained up to a level to do that work. It would be a legitimate Equal Opportunity complaint if she hasn't.'

Equal Opportunity interview questions are all based on this sort of logic. Each interview question, and every answer, is predicated on your understanding of the Equal Opportunity principles. Remember the basics, and you'll have no problems with the interview.