‘Are you interviewing my parents or me?’: Singapore job seeker baffled after interviewer asks about parents’ jobs and NS history

A Singaporean job seeker who recently shared an experience on Reddit is left baffled after an interviewer asked him intrusive questions about his parents' employment and his National Service (NS) history. Posting in the r/singaporejobs forum on Aug 2, the job seeker expressed his frustration, questioning why the company, SME, was seeking such personal details.

He was initially asked, "Wah, your parent work at company xxxx ah?" followed by inquiries about the company, his parents' positions and salaries, as well as his NS experience, including the location of his service, his rank, and posting details. The job seeker found it perplexing that his NS background was relevant to a job that was "totally unrelated to government or civil service."

Moreover, he noted that there was no introduction to the company culture, and the interviewer kept emphasizing the company's position in a "sunrise industry" while comparing it to other banks and Singtel. The job seeker also complained about being offered a salary below the market rate, which he deemed unwarranted. His post garnered reactions from other Redditors, with some expressing understanding of why the interview was strange, while others deemed the interview process unprofessional.

Some suggested possible explanations for the questions, such as information harvesting and assessing the candidate's desperation.