Slashdot Mirror
EOE Concerns w/ Electronic-only Job Application?
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?"
Let's see, you're asking for legal advice on Slashdot and the reason you need the advice is that you don't know how to use a computer? You're about 19 days too late.
Don't blame me; I'm never given mod points.
"Can this be considered discriminatory to those of a lower education level in their attempt to obtain a job, as well?"
"Equal opportunity employer" means they do not discriminate on the basis of legally protected traits (such as those protected by the Civil Rights Act of 1964 - race, color, religion, sex, or national origin). Education (or lack there) is *NOT* a protected characteristic. They are perfectly free to say that people who have below a certain level of education need not apply. (And the reverse is also true - I remember hearing about a police department in New Hamshipre that would not take applicants with above a 105 IQ, citing the high rate of burnout due to boredom)
To make laws that man cannot, and will not obey, serves to bring all law into contempt.
--E.C. Stanton
stop being a whiney bitch. If their terminal sucked, so what? You obviously have internet access to be posting your story to slashdot, and every public library has internet access, so you and the general public can apply online at Kroger's website.
http://www.kroger.com/careers.htm
Does the name Pavlov ring a bell?
It's going to be hard to convince them you need any accomodations, when you're posting to Slashdot to ask for advice!
"[Regarding the 'cloud,'] ownership was what made America different than Russia." -- Woz
I used to *hate* filling out gobs of paper applications - they'd inevitably have something like
write your entire life history here -> [______]
Do not omit significant details.
in a little 1/2" square box.
try { do() || do_not(); } catch (JediException err) { yoda(err); }
Everybody has an Equal Opportunity to operate this crappy machine. Honestly I have no idea what the hell you're going on about.
If the machine was broken, it was broken for everyone. Online applications is the norm at this point, and you'd have to have a really solid position to challenge the company in court. Maybe if you were blind and their online application was a non-standards compliant web page...
Even then, do you really want to work for a company that you had to sue to get a job? Do you think they really want you on staff if they are forced to hire you on due to a lawsuit?
And what the hell are you talking about it being hard to find a job? The nation wide unemployment rate is around 5%, there are a LOT of jobs out there. Likely even jobs that you are qualified for. But YOU have to find them.
-Rick
"Most people in the U.S. wouldn't know they live in a tyrannical state if it walked up and grabbed their junk." - MyFirs
I tell you what, I got my first job because of one simple thing. I stuck it out in lobby while he kept me sitting around for 45 minutes.
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
Never answer an anonymous letter. - Yogi Berra
In fairness, there's always a finite probability that you will be fucking shot, stabbed, run over, horsebit, snakewhipped, mugged, mutilated, rape, gagged, bound, drowned, cornholed, blown up, crashed, hit with a frikken jet, crushed by a falling building, or forced to train cheap foreign replacements in any lifestyle.
The military forces you to confront this early, it's a great level set for the rest of your life.
Everyone I know who says that they can't find a job are doing the same thing: faxing or e-mailing a resume, possibly submitting something online, and then waiting. Let me tell you something as an employer, sending your resume in the mail doesn't tell me you want the job. Following up with phone calls, in-the-flesh visits, and thank-you notes after interviews will get my attention. If you're fishing for "just something" then you're not the type of employee I want to invest in.
Everone so far is missing the point - companies use computer applications BECAUSE of EEO.
If there is a person taking an application, that person can always be accused of bias. Theoretically, a machine doesn't CARE the race/gender/whatever of the applicant. It doesn't know what that info is, and if it does ask (for EEO reporting purposes)sure as shit the code has been audited/certified by the vendor supplying it.
Their machine was broken. Take it at face value. Believe it or not, you don't have a right to be given a job - only the right not to be denied a job based on certain characteristics. Being a litigious jerk is not one of them.
"As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly." A. Carlson
have you ever filled out one of the online only applications before?
I've filled out 5 of them so far (and not one has even contacted me and two of the places have big ass "NOW HIRING!" signs right where you sign up and in front of the store) and in every instance they all had the same thing in common, they asked what race & gender I was.
Now the computer might not care what skin color or biological organs you are & might have but the machine doesn't determine if you get the job or not, a human being still makes that call (though I doubt they even look at them anymore) so if you mark that you are black or white or any other race & a man or woman it still comes into play, In fact your race comes BEFORE your qualifications on the rest of the application.
Now what makes that any different from brining in a piece of paper and the one doing the hiring decides "I ain't hiring this *Insert racial slur here*" or "I ain't hiring this *Insert man/woman here* and someone filling out an electronic form and seeing that they are a certain race or certain gender and saying the same thing?
so until these online applications get rid of "What race are you" fallowed quickly by "We are an equal opportunity employer!" the race/gender issue will always come into place
Wait, is that the smell of Karma burning?
How are sites slashdotted when nobody reads TFAs?