EOE Concerns w/ Electronic-only Job Application? 402
Khyber asks: "Jobs seem to be increasingly harder to find in the real world today, and even harder to obtain due to the increased proliferation of on-line-only or electronic-only job applications. I know this firsthand - as today I attempted to apply for a job at Kroger's, only to discover that I had to fill out one of these electronic applications in their 'Career Opportunities Kiosk.' The machine miserably failed to get past the second page of the multi-paged the application. I've asked the manager if there was a paper application to fill out (why do I need to know how to use a computer to stock shelves?) and he has told me that I -must- fill out the application on their broken and defunct Dell Genesis Terminal. Are there legal concerns that I should be looking at, here?"
"Kroger's claims to be an EOE employer, however I feel that I am being denied my equal opportunity to gain employment due to the failings of a broken piece of software and hardware, and the refusal by the manager to give me a paper application to fill out, as an alternative. Can this be considered discriminatory to those of a lower education level in their attempt to obtain a job, as well? Are there any laws on the books that give me the opportunity to fill out the application on paper as opposed to digitally?"
Might not be what you think (Score:3, Interesting)
Maybe, just maybe they want to discourage you from applying. Maybe they don't like your face and tell you to use the broken machine, in the hope that you'll just give up, and they reserve hand-written applications forms for applicants that look more "kosher" than you to them.
I knew of an employer you used such tactics with applicants of black and arabic origins: he didn't want to be sued for racial discrimination, so he made sure non-white applicants had a really hard time applying.
Re:Submitter totally misunderstands what EOE means (Score:5, Interesting)
No laws to protect the stupid (Score:3, Interesting)
It would seem that an online application would be preferable in terms of equal opportunity. The person reading the application wouldn't be able to easily determine your race from the electronic forms. And it could hide your name and other identifying information from the manager until he/she decided to interview you. I would also suspect that it would be easier to gather metrics using a digital medium, to ensure fairness.
To answer your question more directly, I don't think there's anything illegal or unethical about their system, unless they're using it as a filter to only allow "acceptable" people to apply. (Which may very well be the case.) But EOE disclaimers only list things like race, gender, ethnicity, age, sexual preference, and disability. I don't think we'd want them to go further into things such as intelligence, people skills, personal hygiene -- things that might actually effect performance and teamwork.
I also fail to understand why you'd ask for legal advice from a bunch of geeks. And why you read Slashdot, yet claim to be technically dis-inclined.
Jumping through hoops *is* the interview. (Score:4, Interesting)
That was all he really wanted to know, did I want the job enough to jump some simple hoops? or was I a QUITTER?
Pretty much the interview was for show, I had the job barring being a total moron in the short interview.
You don't have a work history, neither did I at the time, so what do they judge you on?
They judge you how much do you want the job. When you have provable value and skills you can complain about how they jerked you around.
In the meantime, they saved themselves hiring a guy that gives up easy.
In other words, you have choosen poorly. Now learn from it.
Learning is not compulsory... niether is survival. -Deming
Where are all these people? (Score:3, Interesting)
Where are these people when we (in the business community) put up ads for employment?
Most of the business owners I know (yes, we all know one another...that's what those silly clubs like Kiwanis and Rotary is all about) can't seem to find an employee that's worth jack shit, when they can even find people at all.
Is there some cosmic disconnect? Nobody can find employees, and none of the unemployed can find jobs. I don't get it.
It's they way we are headed (Score:2, Interesting)
The worst of it is.. you search their site and you get a bagillion job hits. You click on the link to read more details and it asks you a bunch of questions about why you think you're a good candidiate for the cryptic two word position title, and then send your resume. You never get a chance to actually read the job description on the Raytheon website. What gives? And this guy send me back home and he's at a job fair. What in the world do these lazy HR people expect?
Re:Jobs aren't hard to find. (Score:3, Interesting)
It'd really just a hit and miss game, and we live in a world where it is increasingly difficult to create aything but the blandest, most vague resumes.
Some companies have a policy against accepting anything.
Sure, if someone shows up to the interview and is unprofessional, don't hire them.
Jobs can be very hard to find. I was out of work for nine months, and I spend 40 hours a week on getting a job. I am not lazy, and would walk from company to company and tlka to people and hand out my resume.
But how do you do that with Nike? Microsoft? and medium to large company?