Employers sometimes ask people applying for jobs for personal information such as their hobbies and interests, and whether they are married or single. Some people say that this information may be relevant and useful. Others disagree.
Discuss both the views and give your own opinion.
It has become a common practice that job applicants are requested to provide their personal information along with their academic and work details. While some are in favor of seeking personal data, others, including myself, believe that those data are just irrelevant and unnecessary.
On the one hand, some hold a view that assessing the background of a person provides a clear understanding about him/her. In other words, information such as marital status, ideologies, interest and hobbies can help to assess the behavior of the individual in general which can possibly the same in work environment as well. For instance, an individual with excellent communication skills might perform better in marketing job rather than in account work. Therefore, assessment of background information would support an organization to recruit and select right person with necessary characteristics to give justice to given role.
On the other hand, some argue that personal records cannot reflect the skills and capabilities of the applicants which are the most relevant information in the selection process. Although private information may provide general information, it may not be useful to figure out the strengths and weaknesses of the applicants. Moreover, it is even considered by some that employers use personal details to discriminate competitors during the screening process without even assessing their core capabilities. For example, sometimes an employer rejects an application just because the candidate is fan of football while the recruiter is follower of cricket.
In conclusion, although soliciting some private details might help the recruiter sometimes in assessing the personality of a candidate, it is just irrelevant and useless in most, if not all, cases. I think that skills and expertise are the most important factors that determine the appropriateness of an employee for the particular position.