transgender interview questions

Trans People Answer The Most Googled Questions About The Trans Experience

Know your rights, resources and when to take action against discrimination

While there is a certain level of discomfort that comes with interviewing in general, transgender and non-binary people may experience sex-based discrimination during the process that they may be protected from. The U.S. Equal Opportunity Commission outlines that it is illegal for employers to deny employment or permit harassment in situations including when a woman does not dress or talk in a feminine manner, a man dresses in an effeminate manner or an employee or job applicant is planning or has made a gender transition from female to male or male to female.

If you feel like you have experienced discrimination in your interview you may consider reaching out to an organization that provides transgender legal services.

Additional resources include:

Practice self-care

After an interview, it can be helpful to take some time to practice self-care. Because you can experience emotional triggers from conscious or unconscious biases, practice using relaxation techniques like meditation and breathing exercises to center yourself. It can also be helpful to connect with your support system and debrief about the interview with someone you trust.

Practice common interview questions to feel confident when distracted

No matter how qualified you may be for the role, during an interview, there may be lingering thoughts about whether your gender expression is matching your gender identity.

Feeling confident about how you’re articulating your skills and experience may help to alleviate some of the stress that occurs around gender identity during the interview. To build that confidence, practice answering a mix of general, behavioral, situational and, if applicable, technical questions that pertain to your industry either alone or with someone you trust.

Some examples of common interview questions to expect might be:

Common behavioral interview questions that you can prepare for may include:

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Transgender people are now at the forefront of LGBTQ issues in America.

Across the country, conservative lawmakers are pushing policies that prohibit transgender people, who identify with a gender different than the one assigned to them at birth, from using the bathroom that aligns with their gender identity. State officials say these laws are necessary for public safety — despite no evidence that letting trans people use the bathroom for their gender identity causes public safety problems.

And recently, Trump administration revoked a guidance, originally written by the Obama administration, that told federally funded schools to not discriminate against trans students and, most controversially, let trans students use the bathroom and locker room that correspond with their gender identity. The Trump administration effectively argued that whether trans people are protected under the law should be decided at the state, not federal, level.

At the heart of the issue seems to be a widespread lack of understanding of trans issues and gender identity. After all, until a few years ago, concepts like gender identity and expression — and how they affect the hundreds of thousands of Americans who identify as transgender, gender nonconforming, genderqueer, and nonbinary — hardly scratched the surface of mainstream news and entertainment in any meaningful way.

Now, the issue is at the forefront of public attention. The stories of Caitlyn Jenner; Laverne Cox, a trans woman who plays Sophia on Netflixs Orange is the New Black; and Maura, a fictional trans character in the series Transparent, have all drawn greater attention to the many aspects of trans lives and what it means to identify with a gender different than the one a person was assigned at birth. And state lawmakers, notably in North Carolina, are now passing anti-LGBTQ laws that specifically target trans people — in large part as a response to the progress weve seen with LGBTQ rights.

But the increasing coverage of gender identity issues has in many ways outpaced public understanding. What does it mean to be transgender? And what would compel not just a rich and famous person like Jenner but the thousands of other less-privileged trans people across the country who face discrimination, family abandonment, and even violence to publicly come out?

The answer is both simple and complicated, and challenges some of societys deeply held — but evolving — ideas about gender.

I am not offended when someone asks how I identify, or if I identify as transgender. I would rather someone ask than assume. I identify as genderqueer or nonbinary, which I understand as a transgender identity. I’m open to sharing that with someone who asks, and talking about it if they don’t know what that means. That being said, I would also want people to consider: why do you need or want to know? Is knowing my gender necessary for our interaction? Do you need to know my gender in order to prepare my cappuccino, for instance? Do you need to know my gender in order to cash my check at the bank? I would be so much more comfortable in a world in which people interacted with me as a person rather than needing to figure out if I am transgender, a woman, or a man.

The misperception of transgender people as pathetic is just as damaging. It depends on the assumption that there right and wrong ways to be or appear as a man or a woman, and that if a transgender person does not conform to or achieve those expectations, then they are failing in some way. In these representations, we are shown transgender people—usually transgender women—struggling to be perceived as the gender with which they identify—struggling to “pass” as cisgender. We might be shown a transgender woman struggling to walk in high heels, for example, or perhaps her makeup is not right, or perhaps her voice or the size of her hands or her broad shoulders “give her away” as “not really a woman.” These representations reinforce the beliefs that there are limited ways to be a woman, or that there are physical characteristics that invalidate a trans woman’s gender. One way we are seeing these assumptions shift is the hashtag #TransIsBeautiful launched by actress and producer Laverne Cox. With this hashtag, trans people across social media platforms are sharing s of themselves and others, proliferating diverse media representations of trans people, and affirming that beauty can take many, many forms. I find this hashtag really life-affirming because it claims that those features that make someone identifiable as transgender does not mark them as pathetic or failed; rather, they add to the possibilities of what it can mean to be beautiful as a woman, as a man, or as someone who identifies outside the binary.

First, I would prefer if people didn’t presume my gender. Rather than “ma’am” or “sir,” “ladies and gentlemen,” “she” or “he,” try using gender-neutral language. You may not know how someone identifies based on visual or other social cues. I think it’s best not to presume.

What other struggles — beyond discrimination, threats of violence and increased rates of suicide — do transgender people face?

I would also offer to that person that each and every one of us are constantly making conscious and unconscious decisions about how we will continue to become who we want to be. We do this in terms of our professions, our occupations, our hobbies, our health, and our bodies. We could think of this as various forms of self-determination: we choose how we will cut our hair and what clothes we will wear; we make choices about exercise in order to support our health and also to shape our bodies in the ways we want them to be shaped; we take pharmaceuticals for any number of reasons that transform our bodies and our physical experiences at molecular and cellular levels; we choose what name we use with friends and colleagues, and sometimes we change our names to reflect changes in our lives, as when people change their names when they get married. Sometimes we seek our medical procedures in order to change our bodies and how we live as them. As we get older, our bodies change, and perhaps we make different choices in all these different areas. We all make choices of self-determination in all kinds of ways, and we do this with our genders as well.

Introduction  Many people—particularly those who have never met a transgender person—are naturally curious about what it’s like to be transgender. There may be unfamiliar terms, conflicting information, and uncertainty around what is and isn’t OK to ask. Asking transgender people questions about their experiences can be a great way to learn more about what it means to be transgender. Some transgender people are open to answering just about anything, while others may not want to share intimate details about their lives, especially outside of personal conversations with close friends. This guide is intended to help you decide whether or not a particular question is appropriate to ask a transgender person in your life. It also has answers to specific questions you may have, along with thoughts on why transgender people may be uncomfortable if you ask them those questions directly.  Let’s dive in!

Transgender people can have all, some or none of these surgeries. Some people don’t need certain surgeries, or any surgeries, some can’t afford them, and some can’t have them because of other medical conditions. Like with any other medical treatment, different surgeries costs different amounts. The

The effects of taking feminizing hormones (estrogen) can include:

Some of these changes are reversible and change back if someone stops taking hormones, and some are not reversible. There are some things that hormones don’t change: for example, taking estrogen or testosterone won’t make someone taller or shorter. But hormones do affect many characteristics that people typically rely on when deciding who looks like a man or a woman: for example, a transgender man on hormone therapy might grow a beard and chest hair, and may live his life being seen by everyone as a man regardless of whether he has had any surgeries. The effects of hormones vary for each person, just like how non-transgender people experience different physical changes while going through puberty. For example, some non-transgender boys grow facial hair early on, and their facial hair might be thicker or thinner depending on their genetics. Much the same way, transgender men who take testosterone might grow thick or sparse facial hair and might grow it quickly or slowly, depending on their genetics and other physical characteristics.

FAQ

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