I’m currently filling out the background check paperwork for a job application, and came across this gem, at the very end of the MEDICAL questionnaire:
“If you have not served in any branch of the Armed Forces, state the reason why:”
I still haven’t decided what to put down for a response(I haven’t served, by the way).
I would answer “No medical reason”.
That is rediculous. I could understand if it said, If were rejected for military service for a medical reason, state that reason here. But as worded…that sucks. I would leave it blank or just say I never applied for service.
So … “Because I’m a Commie!!!” isn’t the right answer?
I wasn’t going to post my joke suggestion but since you did one…Here’s what you say.
“Because I’m a flatfooted, morbidly obese, nearsighted homosexual with the IQ of a houseplant.”
Leave it blank. That’s what I do with all stupid job application questions.
Or, as long as we’re posting our joke answers now, “My grades were too high.” And yes - Military-Dopers, that is only a joke!
“I was rejected on psychiatric grounds, and I’m going to kill you.”
Oooooh! I’ve got a good one! Write:
“Well… now it all started two Thanksgivings ago, two years ago on Thanksgiving, when my friend and I went up to visit Alice at the restaurant, but Alice doesn’t live in the restaurant, she lives in the church nearby the restaurant, in the bell-tower, with her husband Ray and Fasha the dog… CONTINUED ON ATTACHMENT.”
What an odd question. There’s a medical section in the app? I didn’t know employers could ask about medical history. Isn’t there a law against that?
At the last place I worked (a factory), our lawyers said we could describe the physical requirements of a job and ask the applicant if they could perform them, and that’s all.
Apps from the 40’s and 50’s are a revelation. I ran across one that asked age, race, marital history, number and ages of children, clubs, religion, hobbies, and relatives.
Here’s a suggestion.
During the draft I could almost see it - but now?
I was asked who my spouse/boyfriend was. “the liquor control commission needs to know”.
Bullshit, dude.
He took the app away so I couldn’t take it too the liquor board and get them fined.
I decided to put:
“I decided to go to college instead.”
I recently (as in a few weeks ago) interviewed for a job in information systems with a large organization. The job involves working indoors, managing a large number of database and application servers, making sure that mission-critical systems stay up, maintaining the security of those systems, etc. Think about the physical requirements of a job like that.
I was given a list of pre-employment requirements (“If we make an offer, blah, blah, blah…”), among which was a physical exam including a TB screen and a doctor’s assessment of my:
heart/lungs
resting pulse/blood pressure
height/weight
genitourinary system
skin
various other body parts
The only thing they ***didn’t ** * want was a drug test.
When I was applying for retail jobs in the mid-1980’s it was still routine for job applications to ask about the applicant’s hobbies and to what organizations the applicant belonged. No qualifiers as to “relevant to the position,” just asking for a list of hobbies and memberships.
You win the thread.
How did that relate to the job requirments? :eek: 
I remember those! Bummed me out that they stopped asking that before I became a Mason. The hodgepodge of letters and numbers I could put on an app now!
I think it was a fuckin’ job.
Darned if I know, although I do like Manatee’s guess.
Seriously - it’s a very large, very old, highly beaurocratic organization. I suspect that (1) they have one set of forms for all employees (encompassing both the folks who deal with clients, who must provide the same information, and the geeks hidden in the basement) and (2) they haven’t been sued since the form was created in 1923, so why change it now?
Bullets cause me to break out in Haemorrhage