Weirdest job application

[wataugachicken]

Just went to a clothing store and filled out an application. I think they've been copying the same one since the 1970's or at least pre-1988 EPPA regulations.

Name, SS#, Address, DOB - normal

Male or Female - did you read my name? are you really supposed to even ask?

Elementary School - is that really necessary? do you have a handbook listing the best elementary schools?

Job History - they give you two lines (teeny tiny, might be able to fit an 8pt font in between them)per job to give all the information - name, address, #, supervisor, wage, dates worked, why you left. teeny tiny lines.

*The Optional Section* - where i started to get a little nervous.
Smoker? okay, understandable. I always put No because I don't expect to smoke at work. Since it's legal and doesn't affect them it's not their business.
Right or left-handed - What? Maybe just ask if i can read and write, that would make more sense. Ask me the definition of a word or something.
Married/Separated/Divorced/Single/Widowed - Why?
Number of children & ages - excuse me? Does that apply to my employment?
Spouse's name, age, and number - ?????? I would have put that person as my emergency contact, otherwise not your business.

The best part - where you would usually sign and date the application at the end, they have a paragraph where basically signing the application itself waives my rights and allows them to give me a polygraph test, wait, I mean a "Scientific Employee Survey", as they called it, at any time and for any reason before or after employment.

 

[AnDr3w]

WOW thats pretty messed up. What did you put for the last part?

 

[kjr928]

Sometimes companies cooperate with survey studies and agree to put silly/pointless questions on their applications to gather stupid statistics.

Then later on, you'll be watching the news and they can say "A new study says that 14.6% of all left-handed people are smokers". Or whatever.

 

[Dangerdoll]

for a clothing store?

 

[wataugachicken]

WOW thats pretty messed up. What did you put for the last part?

I put that i was right-handed, left the rest blank. Signed the bottom, but if they try to actually give me a polygraph for any reason i'll refuse.

Sometimes companies cooperate with survey studies and agree to put silly/pointless questions on their applications to gather stupid statistics.

Then later on, you'll be watching the news and they can say "A new study says that 14.6% of all left-handed people are smokers". Or whatever.

senseless questions are one thing, but things they are not supposed to ask (marital status, spouse, children) should not be part of it. those are illegal questions on a job application. i forgot it in the first post, but they asked about race too - white, black, hispanic, asian, other. saying they are "optional" is their way of saying you volunteered the information, it was not mandatory. i don't think that would hold though.

 

[Fungi]

They can probably just type your name into Google and find all that information if they searched hard enough, I heard that employers are checking employees' Facebooks/Myspaces and general blogs now...

 

[bkw1982]

*The Optional Section* - where i started to get a little nervous.
Smoker? okay, understandable. I always put No because I don't expect to smoke at work. Since it's legal and doesn't affect them it's not their business.
Right or left-handed - What? Maybe just ask if i can read and write, that would make more sense. Ask me the definition of a word or something.
Married/Separated/Divorced/Single/Widowed - Why?
Number of children & ages - excuse me? Does that apply to my employment?
Spouse's name, age, and number - ?????? I would have put that person as my emergency contact, otherwise not your business.

The best part - where you would usually sign and date the application at the end, they have a paragraph where basically signing the application itself waives my rights and allows them to give me a polygraph test, wait, I mean a "Scientific Employee Survey", as they called it, at any time and for any reason before or after employment.

I think it's illegal to even ask these questions in an interview and on an application. It could lead to discrimination.

 

[wataugachicken]

They can probably just type your name into Google and find all that information if they searched hard enough, I heard that employers are checking employees' Facebooks/Myspaces and general blogs now...

I've Googled myself, anything that used to come up is gone (which was just a couple letters to the editor). I don't have Myspace or Facebook.

 

[j_chicago]

The optional section they can ask anything, its your option not to answer them, and they cannot not employ you based on your answers or lack of. I think its more of a get to know you type for your situation.
The race question is pretty much standard for the government and the company to keep track of EOE and affirmative action.

When I was job hunting I always refused to answer optional sections. And I'm surprised how much people will give up on the applications that come across my desk.

 

[j_chicago]

Oh, and that electronic survey, is probably not a lie detector test. Its most likly talking about a personality survey. Where they basically sit you infront of a computer before they interveiw you and you answer 100 some questions such as "do people say you have a good work ethic? if you saw another employee steal would you tell your supervisor? do you think you have a good work ethic? Do you consider taking a box of paper clips home is theft? etc."

My father is head of HR at a state funded university in Texas, and they use a program like that, and I've taken them for financial postions I've applied for.

Its a way to weed out applicants without wasting man hours for interviews.