Questionable Job Application

Anonymous

May 4,2022 at 3:54AM UTC

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Questionable Job Application

I recently went to an in-person interview in NYC and when I arrived I was asked to fill out a job application. 1st page requested basic demographics (name/address/phone number) but also asked for Father's Name, Mother's Maiden Name, and Date of Birth. I left these blank and let the interviewers know I was not comfortable providing this information. (I held my tongue about the fact that asking DOB violates the Age Discrimination in Employment Act.) Page 2 asked for a listing of prior employment - along with each job's starting and final salary. I did not provide a salary history and again held my tongue about how asking about present or prior salary violates the NY Salary History Ban under Labor Law Section 194-a.

In hindsight I do wish I had pointed out these violations to them. But mostly I'm really curious why they needed my father's name and mother's maiden name? (There was no emergency contact section, so it was not for that.) Anyone else ever see this on a job application?

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AnonymousMay 4,2022 at 6:43AM UTC
Yes, Names only not Bates of birth.
Tomilyn RichardsMay 4,2022 at 12:14PM UTC
This is either a company that is unaware of laws and practices or completely ignorant to what a job application should have. There is no basis for those questions... unless you are applying to the FBI or something!! =)
Holly JacobsMay 4,2022 at 12:53PM UTC
It sounds like a fake job interview for the purpose of gaining your information possibly for nefarious reasons. Identity theft. You may want to report the company to the state labor board. Don't feel like you failed the mensa test, you may have avoided a criminal act.
AnonymousMay 4,2022 at 2:21PM UTC
It was actually a WIC Center that has been around for several decades! (And WIC Centers are Federally funded.) They may have just been oblivious?
AnonymousMay 4,2022 at 10:51PM UTC
If it is a government job and or is a private company that requires a security clearance, then these are questions asked. But they are not stand-alone questions, they are typically filled out directly on an official government form.
For example, when you apply for jobs on USAjobs.gov certain govt agencies are very specific on how to format your resume. For example, you need to show at least 10 years of employment history, the exact start date, end date, salary, direct supervisor of record, phone number, address of employment. If any of those things are omitted, HR will not pass your package on to the hiring mgt team for an interview. But keep in mind for each posting, if these are the requirements, you should see a trend in them stating this specifically in the job bid.
So again, it really depends on who you are apply to.
Google SF-86 form and see pg 46 where informaiton about parents is request on the form.
But you normally wouldn't even be filling this out until a tentative offer was extended to you first (in writing) from a govt job or one that requires a security clearance/background check- but only after you accepted the tentative offer.
After your background/security clearance is approved, then they extend the firm offer.
And again they wouldn't/shouldn't be asking you standalone questions about your parents on an initial job interview or application package. If it is a job that requires clearance in accordance with the SF-86 form- or similar govt form, then you would fill out the forms and depending on the validity of your responses would determine whether you pass the background check and or given a security clearance.
Depending on the clearance level it may require an independent interview, but it is very clear who these people are and they are required to show you credentials for who they are to not raise the type of suspicion you have now. So I would be on guard in your case.
The reason why these kinds of questions would not be asked until after a tentative offer is extended to you is because it costs money and time for whoever is hiring you to run a check. So they would not waist your time and theirs requesting you to fill out the SF-86 form specifically if there was no intention of hiring you as a priority.
So if those steps did not occur and if none of those things addressed was articulated to you, I would be suspicious and try to dig deeper in researching what/where you applied to. If it is from USAjobs.gov or is a gov't job that requires a clearance or background investigation, all these requirements would be explicitly stated in the job announcement and you should see a pattern in the types of information requested for different bids within the same agency for ex.
Not sure if this helps, but good luck.