Interviewing Tips for International Employers

International employers seeking to recruit candidates from the United States should know that there may be different interviewing practices, cultural norms, and U.S. laws pertaining to hiring and equal employment opportunity. The following tips and resources have been organized to help international employers successfully navigate recruiting and create legally compliant and culturally inclusive practices. 

  • Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion – MIT community members value workplaces that are inclusive and welcoming of people from varying backgrounds, viewpoints, experiences, and ideas. In preparation for interviewing, employers should prepare their recruiters to engage with students and postdocs from different cultures and nationalities. Diversity training can help recruiters be more inclusive and improve communication throughout the search process. 
  • Respecting Identity – Developing a good relationship with potential hires means appreciating how they want to be addressed. This could be relative to how they pronounce their name or preferred pronouns (she/her, he/him, they). If you mistakenly use the wrong pronoun, acknowledge it and try to use the correct one in the future. Look at the Best Practices: Respectful Pronoun Use in Recruitment offered by the University of Arkansas for suggested wording when interviewing. 
  • Gender-based Assumptions – Inappropriate recruiting practices can manifest in various ways that reinforce gender stereotypes and create hostile environments. Employers are encouraged to examine their biases and avoid stereotyping roles based on gender. In addition, we caution employers against commenting on a candidate’s appearance, attire, or physical attributes, which is considered unprofessional. 
  • Illegal Interview Questions – Employers should focus on asking questions about the skills, experience, and qualifications required for the job.  In general, illegal questions relate to a candidate’s race, gender, age, religion, marital status, nationality, or disability and are irrelevant to the candidate’s ability to perform the job. Examples of inappropriate questions:
    • Age or Family Status: How old are you? Are you planning to start a family soon?
    • Gender and Sexual Orientation: Do you identify as male or female? What is your sexual orientation?
    • Race, Ethnicity, or National Origin: What is your race? What is your native language? 
    • Religion or Political Affiliation: What religion do you practice, or holidays do you observe? Which political party do you support?
  • Fair Hiring Practices—Employers should aim to use inclusive language in job descriptions to encourage all candidates to apply regardless of gender. Further, pay equity is critical to counter gender pay equity when developing compensation packages and salary offers. Employers should also be prepared and open to women and men negotiating job offers. 
  • Alcohol-Free Recruiting—Creating opportunities to get to know potential hires over dinner or networking events can help find someone who is the right fit for a role and your organization. However, we caution employers from having alcohol at recruiting events as many MIT candidates are outside the legal drinking age (21 years) in the United States. In addition, alcohol can sometimes undermine the professional tone of an event or exclude individuals who do not drink alcohol for personal reasons. 

Additional Resources

  • CAPD Recruiting Guidelines
  • U.S. Equal Opportunity Employment Commission https://www.eeoc.gov/ – The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is responsible for enforcing federal laws that make it illegal to discriminate against a job applicant or an employee because of the person’s race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related conditions, gender identity, and sexual orientation), national origin, age (40 or older), disability or genetic information. The EEOC website provides details on the laws and regulations that candidates in the U.S. are accustomed. 
  • National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) – NACE is the leading source of information on the employment of the college-educated, and forecasts hiring and trends in the job market; tracks starting salaries, recruiting and hiring practices, and student attitudes and outcomes; and identifies best practices and benchmarks. View the Professional Standards for University Relations & Recruiting to learn more about the landscape of college recruiting.

If you have questions or would like to discuss interviewing at MIT, please see our webpage about scheduling interviews, and/ or email hiremit@mit.edu to meet with a member of the Employer Relations team.