It’s Time for a Job Seekers’ Bill of Rights

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Companies are now often requiring an extensive assessment test to be taken immediately after the application. This turns the hour long application process into two hours....if you are lucky.
I recently applied for a position that I am very qualified for and have several years of experience in. I filled out the application and spent an hour on the assesment and recieved an interview through a recruiter. I drove three hours for the interview. It was a large group process and I was asked if I had filled out the application and assesment. I was interviewed and later that afternoon my recruiter let me know that they really liked me and wanted to hire me.
I waited a week before calling my recruiter and asking for an update. A few days later she called me and said they had changed their mind because I did not score well enough on the assesment. I was shocked. I have an AA and a BS degree as well as a two certificates to tech school. I have never failed an exam in my life.
This assesment was made up of a role playing scenario and a few hundred personality questions. There were no math questions, no english questions, no questions with a "right" answer.
I emialed my interviewer to ask about my results. She responded that she does not get to see them and I should ask my recruiter, which I already had done and she had no information for either.
If a decision that is going to affect my life as much as a job does is going to be based on someone's made up test I have the right to see that test. These companies are taking the human element out of the hiring process and leaving the decision to a machine. I have spent hours on applying for this job, and a tank of gas and I am told that I would have been hired but for some ironius test score.
This is not how to put America back to work!

Saffron of WA 3:04PM September 21, 2012

I would like thank the author of this article, for educating job-seekers on valuing self worth, and showing us how interviewers and corporation have stray from professionalism when it comes to dealing with candidates. Job-Seekers spend a lot of time preparing and researching the company where they will be interview at, only to find out, that once interview process is over, they will never receive a straight-forward answer that will indicate when they will hear from them. This happens all of the time, if the candidate is not right for the Job a simple no or yes will suffice, or even an email with rejection notice, that will politely state that have decided to go with the other candidate. How complicated and time consuming could it be to let a candidate know the results from their interview, if writing an automated response message takes but a few minutes, versus spending a few cents in the mail.

Joanna Smith of CA 7:24PM June 26, 2012

Does anyone know if there is an actual petition or bill of rights draft currently moving towards legality? If not I intend to start one but I do not wish to duplicate efforts. My initial search led me here, I was very happy to find this page.
What can we do right now?

CB of CA 1:35PM April 05, 2012

I reside in Oregon where the practice of performing a credit check on job candidates, for most types of jobs, was banned in October of 2011. Recently I had a prospective employer request I sign a credit check release for a position that was not exempt from the ban. I was told the candidate choice for the position would be made within two weeks. One week past the decision deadline, I had not yet received a notification. In order to talk to a live person that I could discuss this with; I had to use over sixty minutes of pre-paid cell phone service, and call numbers in three states. The first number called was the receptionist who then transferred me to the HR representatives extension. A recorded message gave me another number to call in Texas. The number was only given once, and, since I didn't have any way to write it down, I had to go through the calling and transferring process again. You would think the person making the recorded message would consider most people would not be prepared to be given a second phone number to call, and repeat the number for convenience sake. Upon calling the second phone number, I was confronted with another message telling me the person to whom the number belonged was not taking calls at that time. The message then proceeded to give a third number, only repeated once. After calling the third number, in California, the phone was answered by a human. Unfortunately, this person neither seemed to know how to handle my questions, or do so professionally. They made my plight seem trivial by telling me they didn't have the information I needed but they would try to contact someone who did and have them contact me. This person also made sure they covered their behind by telling me they could make no guarantee if any of this would happen. Several days later I received a generic email stating; "…After thorough consideration, we have determined that we will continue our search…". They didn't specify why I wasn't selected, or give a reason why they had not contacted me within the stated time frame. I've been actively seeking employment for more than a year now, and this kind of experience with prospective employers seems to be the standard. I believe experiences like these should be shared. The unemployed and under-employed in this country are treated not unlike cattle. Those without college degrees, or, not a high enough degree are banned from certain types of work, even though many of the jobs do not require a higher degree of education, especially when the job seeker already has a significant amount of experience in that field of employment. Companies tend to make it difficult for an older job seeker to migrate to another kind of work, even though it's in the same basic field (i.e.; business, sales, electronics, finance). This kind of treatment borders on being inhuman, and I sincerely believe these unfair screening practices need to be brought to a halt by dragging them out into the light of day.

K of OR 7:24PM February 22, 2012

I consider this article very appropriate in light of the current unemployment disaster occurring now. I'm wondering if there are any sites were an abused job seeker like myself can go to review companies that have taken advantage of their unemployed status.
One point not mentioned in this article is that companies rarely indicate exactly why a candidate was not selected. It's always just a general brush-off reply (if you get a reply at all). It would be very helpful if the candidate knew exactly why they weren't selected, so they could try to improve in that area; don't you agree?
I believe it is time for job seekers to band together and start holding prospective employers accountable for their actions. A website allowing the unemployed to review companies that take unconscionable advantage of the current unemployment plague should have a myriad of whistles blown in their direction.
Prospective employers just don't seem to care about the time and resources a job seeker has to utilize during their search for employment. The hours of research, resume preparation, applications, travel time, and yes, "fuel" expense are an extreme burden and drain on a person with a limited income, or no income at all (like me). I will describe a "nightmare" experience I recently had with a prospective employer in a second, posted comment.

K of OR 6:36PM February 22, 2012

Thanks. I really appreciate this article. I hope employers everywhere read this article.

Job Hunter of CA 6:52PM February 06, 2012

You know I haven't had a chance to think some of this over but it makes sense. I am a 37 year old returning college freshman. I have over 18 years in the workforce. But could not find a job. So I am finally going back to school to get a degree in Information technology and software development. There is a quote from Susie here that says Also A low credit score should have nothing to do with your performance at a company nor your age. I agree with her. But I will say one thing on my field especially. Employers should keep in mind that people in this field with a long span of unemployment and a perfect credit score mightnot be as honest as they want to think they are. Keep in mind we are the ones that you pay to keep the computer networks and databases running properly. So we know how to fix problems that pop up especialy personal ones.

Jeremy M of TX 11:32PM November 22, 2011

DITTO!!!! ALSO A LOW CREDIT SCORE HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH YOUR PERFORMANCE AT A COMPANY; NOR AGE.

SUSIE of NV 6:22PM October 22, 2011

I haven't found a job in over 3 years, i had a part time thanks to a friend but they closed down shortly after i got on, its extremely hard to find a job being of the younger age group *currently 20, ive been turned down for lack of experience all over seriously i got turned down hand washing cars for minimum wage because they wanted 2 years experience, and you cant get experience without a job in the first place, currently i live at home, got a car that needs fixed, medical bills and all kinds of other stuff that i cant afford to take care of because i cant find a job, later on the point is why the hell is it if i try to be "normal" go into a store try to talk to someone about employment all they ever say is "apply online", what happened to the good ol' pen and paper something I can hand you and see you at least receive it, whether it's next stop is your desk or the trash bin, I know you got it, plus online applications take so long to fill out, often ask open ended questions, and crash often it's just not that easy specially for someone with limited internet connectivity. I'd much rather be sat in an office looked over and turned down face to face, rather than spend 2 hours on an application and never hear anything back at all not even a confirmation they received my application, plus honestly you cant generally "read" someone over computer type, paper applications you generally would see them maybe exchange a few words and get an idea about them and while reading their application form see more of them expressed through their handwriting. Not only that bothers me but im perfectly qualified for many things between computer tech, handyman work, construction, welding, bike maintenance, among many other things that I am proficient at but alas I cant get any "experience" doing so. Dont get me wrong i love computers i can code and program and just about anything else i need to ever do with a computer but what happened to human contact specially in a situation as important as applying for employment . sorry to rant i did so because i was just filling one out and their server disconnected and wont let me re apply, so i was looking for a way to petition online applications. have a nice day

steve of CA 5:53PM September 20, 2011

I enjoyed the replies back to my post but probably should add some clarification. My comments neither reflected my personal nor business approach to hiring and management and they do not reflect my personal philosophy. I DO think that they are very representative of the realities of the marketplace, especially in the US with its limited employment laws and to a lesser degree, here in Canada.
I work with job seekers and consider myself a battle-hardened veteran of the hi tech sector and its many gyrations. However, I am not a fan of candy-coating reality which brings me back to my comments on the "bill of rights". It sounds great but short of legislation (what odds do you give that?), then it's far much better to understand how a company thinks and behaves, and as job seeker to tailor your approach.
I would hope that it does not depress job seekers, it's just the reality for most businesses. There are great ones out there and the more they succeed ,then by their success, others may follow.
My favourite company = Lincoln Electric. Never had a layoff. Been a case study for the Havard Business Review several times. Studied to death. Think about why every other company isn't following their example.

Len 8:55PM July 14, 2011