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(It feels like filtering this would be silly.)
Three weeks ago, I went to interview for a job. As seems to be fairly typical these days, I had to fill out a form before the interview.* The first page is for my name, contact information, and the last 10 years of my work history. On my resume, I have 10-15 lines to describe what I did at each former job. These forms allow 1, or perhaps 2, and they always specify not to write, "see resume." They need the space for information about salary, name and title of supervisor, and reason for leaving. Then a page for education, which usually starts by asking for the address of my secondary school, and what degree I earned there--I can actually answer that one. These forms never have a place to list post-graduate study without degrees, whether 3/4 of a PhD or ASQ credentials (which are not a state licenses.)
On the third page, it said, "List scientific, business, engineering, or industry societies or associations you have belonged to during the past 10 years. (You may exclude those which indicate age, race, color, religion, sex, national origin, ancestry, or disability.)" That made them seem rather scrupulous about avoiding the appearance of illegal discrimination. After all, if they aren't collecting information about whether or not a person is in a stigmatized group, that must mean they aren't going to discriminate. Right? Er, maybe. They seemed respectful on the fourth page, where they ask on what date I would be available for full time work, carefully specifying, "other than for religious observances." (That exception is very unusual. I haven't seen it on other companies' forms.)
Then I got to the fifth page, where a paragraph of boilerplate above the signature line asked me to affirm the truth of everything above under penalty of perjury (as is customary.) My signature also gave permission for them to investigate everything mentioned on the form, my credit record and my personal history (as is increasingly common.) Even a cursory investigation of my personal history reveals my age, race, color, religion, sex, national origin, ancestry, and disability.
*Some companies require these forms before they will look at my resume in the first place. Most of them seem to require them before the first face-to-face interview. A few ask for it after they've pretty much made the decision to hire. Signing the form is optional, in the sense that one has the option of not signing it and not being considered for the job. I am not applying for jobs involving security clearances. I'm just finding HR departments (or in some cases, contracting agencies) being disturbingly intrusive.
Three weeks ago, I went to interview for a job. As seems to be fairly typical these days, I had to fill out a form before the interview.* The first page is for my name, contact information, and the last 10 years of my work history. On my resume, I have 10-15 lines to describe what I did at each former job. These forms allow 1, or perhaps 2, and they always specify not to write, "see resume." They need the space for information about salary, name and title of supervisor, and reason for leaving. Then a page for education, which usually starts by asking for the address of my secondary school, and what degree I earned there--I can actually answer that one. These forms never have a place to list post-graduate study without degrees, whether 3/4 of a PhD or ASQ credentials (which are not a state licenses.)
On the third page, it said, "List scientific, business, engineering, or industry societies or associations you have belonged to during the past 10 years. (You may exclude those which indicate age, race, color, religion, sex, national origin, ancestry, or disability.)" That made them seem rather scrupulous about avoiding the appearance of illegal discrimination. After all, if they aren't collecting information about whether or not a person is in a stigmatized group, that must mean they aren't going to discriminate. Right? Er, maybe. They seemed respectful on the fourth page, where they ask on what date I would be available for full time work, carefully specifying, "other than for religious observances." (That exception is very unusual. I haven't seen it on other companies' forms.)
Then I got to the fifth page, where a paragraph of boilerplate above the signature line asked me to affirm the truth of everything above under penalty of perjury (as is customary.) My signature also gave permission for them to investigate everything mentioned on the form, my credit record and my personal history (as is increasingly common.) Even a cursory investigation of my personal history reveals my age, race, color, religion, sex, national origin, ancestry, and disability.
*Some companies require these forms before they will look at my resume in the first place. Most of them seem to require them before the first face-to-face interview. A few ask for it after they've pretty much made the decision to hire. Signing the form is optional, in the sense that one has the option of not signing it and not being considered for the job. I am not applying for jobs involving security clearances. I'm just finding HR departments (or in some cases, contracting agencies) being disturbingly intrusive.
