I have to interview a person who is at least 65. Can you tell me some questions I can ask?

Can you tell us some of the questions you already have? That’ll help us know what direction you’re going in.

Well,what are you curious about?
You could ask things about their childhood,what games they played,what they learned in school,what their family did for entertainment.What their teen years were like.Did they date? Where did they go? What music and style of clothes were popular.Who was president? Favorite movies? There is so much.
Have fun! :)

What inventions during their lifetime amazed them the most. You can list color TV’s, microwaves, remote controls for TV’s, cell phones, etc.
What they felt helped shape them.
Schools now vs. then.
What music they grew up with and did their tastes change with the times or are they stuck in the 50’s and 60’s.

Is this for a specific class and suppose to have a specific direction?

“Do you still go out with friends a lot?”
“What do you do for entertainment now that you’re retired?”
“Do you have to wear Depends yet?” :P

How about this?...........

Do you use Viagra?

Do you use Ben Gay?

Do you come to work in an electric wheelchair?

Do you use Medamucel?

Do you belong to AARP?

What was the first rock concert you attended?
Where were you when Kennedy was assassinated? Elvis died?
How many of your friends/family members served in Vietnam? Who didn’t come back? Did you protest the war?
Did your mother work outside the home?
What was your first car? How much was gas?
Who was your best friend in high school?
How often did your family eat out?

@john65pennington LOL!

Why would you ask them any different questions than you would anyone else who is applying for a job? I assume you would ask questions that would help you ascertain whether they are capable and the best of the applicants for the job at hand.

You will find that older people are very reliable and more apt to show up everyday and on time than a lot of younger. They are also less likely to job hop as soon as you get them trained.

Age should not matter.
A round of questions about how they fit the job and their past experiences and how they relate.
They should be focused on seeing if they fit the skils needed.
A round of questions that tell you more about them as a person so you know if they fit the culture and team:
Not knowing the job, Here are ones I ask about their personality fit
1)What makes you stand out from others?”
2)Give me an example of a time when you took the time to share a co-worker’s achievement with others
3) How many hours a week do you need to work to get this job done?”

If the person is male you can ask them:

Did you dodge the draft?
Did you serve during the Vietnam War?
What was your reaction to the termination of the Selective Service System?

For any gender:

Were you gaga for the Beatles or the Stones?
Have you ever seen the Doors, Jimi Hendrix, the Cream, or Janis Joplin in concert?
Were you a hippie, or if you weren’t, what was your opinion of them back then?

What were your reactions to the assassinations of RFK and MLK, Jr.?

What colloquialisms did you use back then, if any?
Did you use words like far out, groovy, boss, bitchin’, or out of sight, for example?
Did you use any nicknames for law enforcement, such as the man, the pigs, the fuzz, etc.?

Did you freak out or do you know anyone that did when the USSR launched Sputnik?

Do you know anyone that used thalidomide?

What have they learned in their lifetime that they think is worth passing on, if anything? What makes them laugh about what they’ve learned?
What was better or worse about the time that they were the age you are, or what do they miss about that time? What’s their happiest memory, or greatest achievement, or what do they want to do now that they’re at retirement age? What’s their ‘bucket list’?

Better yet, just try to imagine asking your 65 year old self questions about what you’ve learned between where you are now and where you might be at 65. If you ask questions that you’re really interested in, it’ll be a lot more interesting and fun for both of you.

Society’s morphed into an isolation of generations that’s been a loss for us all. If you can approach this as an opportunity to talk to someone who was once your age and who’s now facing the culmination of their life, you might feel more comfortable and at ease, maybe make a new friend, maybe learn something, and maybe share a laugh or two. Good luck.

I am amazed at these responses. It has been a while since I applied for a job but in all my years of working no one ever asked me any of the bizarre irrelevant questions listed above. Nor did I ever ask such questions of a prospective employee. Are you all joking? This question is in general so the answers are to be helpful.

The main consideration is whether this person can do the job. Age discrimination is illegal but it is like sex discrimination, it happens all the time and slips under the radar because it is difficult to prove. As I said before, ask them the same questions you would ask a 25 year old, and I doubt it would be what is the first rock concert you have ever attended.

Did I miss something? I thought the questions were for a sociology class, and not employment…

I don’t see anything about employment either, but I did miss the topical references to retirement. ;-o

where do you see yourself in 10 years?

omg, when I saw it said interview, I just assumed it was a job interview.

Sorry, I am overly sensitive about older people being turned down for employment because of their age.

I humbly apologize.

I see from the tags that you are curious about their “life after retirement”... ?

Guys, I don’t think this is for a job interview, I think it’s for a personal interview…

@WillWorkForChocolate yeah, i missread it.ooops…I zigged, when I should have zagged. Have been interviewing way too many people this past month.

Ask them if they attended Woodstock!

Oh, I have a better idea – ask them where they were when Kennedy was shot, when we landed on the moon, and when the space shuttle blew up.

If we asked the manager of your most successful project, what would he or she tell us about you?

@mattbrowne This isn’t about a job interview.

@WillWorkForChocolate – What is the context exactly?