When applying for a new job...

[Orrex]

What the hell business is it of theirs what my starting and ending salary were at my last job?

And why the hell should I have to give them my social security number prior to being hired?

[brendan120678]

1. You don't have to provide a SSN until...

you are offered a position and accept.

As for starting/ending salary, they probably just want to get a feel of what your expected salary range would be if they were to hire you.

[Orrex]

17. During the period of my unemployment...

I've seen literally dozens of online applications that simply can't be submitted unless you fill in all of the mandatory fields, with DOB and SSN being two of them.

It may be the case that you don't legally need to provide these at the outset, but I've seen plenty of companies that make it impossible to apply without doing so.

[LibDemAlways]

2. My guess on the SS number

They want to run a credit check on you.

Employers have become increasingly nosy and potential employees are afraid to squawk in this shitful job market.

[quakerboy]

3. Or criminal background

Though I am not sure that takes SS#. We have to run those, as its part of our guarantee to our clients.

[lukasahero]

5. SSN is not required but it's helpful

Too many John Smith's in the world to make name and DoB particularly effective. (I am currently re-writing our company's background check application and just got that info from Lexus-Nexus a couple of month's ago.)

[lukasahero]

4. Actually, they most likely just want to run a background check

Most employers do not do credit checks but almost all now do background checks. And the above poster is right - you don't have to provide ssn until you are offered and accept a position.

[Chan790]

6. Well...sure.

I can tell you though that that 4 places I've worked since college all circular-file your app if you refuse to disclose it upfront so they can run their background checks. One of the four made me sign a release and pee in a cup 15 seconds after I arrived to the interview...I think they thought they could catch people off-guard and beat the drug-test beaters that way.

[lukasahero]

7. And of the 6 places I've worked since 2003

None has even asked for my ssn until after the job offer was made when it was disclosed that they were preparing for a background check. I'm not sure my anecdotal data is any more relevant than yours.

I'm also not sure you can readily assess why your application did not pass the 'circular file' but assuming it's because you did not disclose your ssn is a bit limited in vision. Millions of job seekers use resumes nowadays and would never consider putting an ssn on such. Their resumes are not thrown out because ssn is not included.

[Chan790]

10. No, I was a hiring manager in two of those positions...

that's what I do, I manage retail. (It's not my life's ambition. I didn't grow up dreaming of managing a Starbucks or the tools department of a Sears.)

The company guidelines say, typically (emphasis theirs): Do not consider for-hire any incomplete application including DoB and SS# under penalty of disciplinary action up-to and including termination. All new hires not official until approved by a representative of your local central Human Resources. These guidelines are key to our compliance with state and federal regulations regarding the work-eligibility of all employees.

Given these are large megalithic corporations who view me as replaceable with a monkey and my employees as more extremely so I do appreciate that this may not be true of work above the level of retail drones. Most people would not put up with the abuse I take from the public and my superiors with a smile, nor expect to be abused in these ways. Took with a smile...tomorrow I get to go pee in a cup so I can find out if I'm capable of being a bank teller.

[grace0418]

12. All but one of my previous employers ran credit checks. And I am not in a field handling

money or merchandise.

[lukasahero]

13. Anecdotal data is just that

None of my previous employers ran a credit check and I worked in either the financial sector or compensation/defined contributions for the last 10 years. My last job I had production level access to systems processing over $100,000,000/day and they didn't run a credit check. A background check, yes. A credit check, no.

[raccoon]

8. I completely agree, my good Orrex...

"What the hell business is it of theirs what my starting and ending salary were at my last job?"

Much less, what does it matter what my salary was in the Dark Ages?

[stray cat]

9. If you never got a pay increase in 15 years I would be concerned

I also want to know if there is any way I can afford you or if you are way over my budget - why waste my time.

[jmowreader]

11. That one's hella easy

Assume I pay $20 per hour, and three people show up. Person A used to make $10 per hour, person B $20 and person C $30.

I'm going to have to look really hard at Person A before I consider him. Did he make $10 per hour because he came from out of area and that was the equivalent wage to my $20, or is he getting in over his head? I would probably think it's the latter even if he came from somewhere else--unless he's moving from, say, rural West Virginia to Manhattan, the odds of an equivalent wage being half what mine is are low.

Person C, I REALLY have to look hard at...this woman is volunteering for a 50-percent pay cut. I can understand a few of the reasons you might do so--less stressful work environment, moved from New York City, she just got married to a guy who makes $20 per hour so she no longer has to kill herself...still, it's a concern. If I hire someone from this area who's stepping down from a $30/hour position to a $20/hour position, I'm thinking one of three things: she's going to start looking for another job the minute she gets that first paycheck, she's going to skim the till, or she's going to stay long enough to copy my customer database.

Person B had a financially-similar position in his last job, so I don't have to worry so much. He'll have about the same paycheck in my company as he did in his old one. If he's going from one $20 job to another one, $20 is probably enough money for him.

[lukasahero]

14. Exactly. eom

[Orrex]

16. But the reasons you cited are almost entirely arbitrary and almost entirely unknowable

The very fact that--as you point out--the circumstances can vary so widely is all the proof I need that this is simply a way to justify screening out people that HR (or whoever) has decided that they don't want to hire.

It's much like pulling a credit score on a potential hire; the information is almost completely irrelevant because the circumstances are almost entirely unknowable, unless the interviewer actually steps up and asks the question, rather than sneakily buying the information behind the scenes.

I'm certainly not saying that every applicant is equally suited to every job, but in a job market like what we have today, these tactic seem like nothing more than a way to exclude people, rather than a way to truly find the best candidate for the job.

[baldguy]

15. So you don't try to rise above your station.

Who the hell do you think you are?

[lifesbeautifulmagic]

18. I guess the way the job market is these days, we should be thankful

they aren't asking for "processing fees", "credit check fees" and notarized reference checks.