Filling out a job application is not bad, in and of itself. But I agree that filling it out in an interview is just tacky. What, are we looking to witness penmanship? Or keyboarding skills? No, fill it out beforehand, submit a resume, and if you get an interview, let the prior paperwork and the interview be the basis for a hiring decision.
Back in October, I was offered a job outright, without an interview. It came on the strength of somebody whom I had worked for before, and did a good job for, for years, and didn’t seem bad, on its face. Note that the job required a law degree, and a license to practice law, both of which I have.
Problem No. 1: I was given only one day to review the contract. In it, I was urged to get “independent legal advice,” but since I’m a lawyer, that wasn’t necessary. Still, there were a number of places where the contract ran contrary to local provincial employment rules. But if I wasn’t a lawyer, and didn’t know local employment law, how could I arrange to meet with one, who could review it, within 24 hours?
Problem No. 2: Buried within the fine print, was the pay. Without getting into details, the hourly rate was less than one-third what I’d get from Legal Aid, and ~90% less than I make in my private practice. And that fact was buried, at paragraph 96, on page 3, in a five-page contract. In small print, as the rest of the contract was. Oh, and I wasn’t allowed to privately practice if I accepted the job. Of course, this company was not willing to subsidize the annual cost of my law license nor my professional insurance, and was giving me no way to make money on the side that could help towards the cost of those.
So I had a job in hand, that would pay me poorly and not let me practice the skills that I am licensed for on the side? No. Thank. You.
I should note that about every hour after they extended the offer, I was bombarded by e-mails asking for my SIN (like an SSN, for our American friends, and needed for tax purposes) from my “onboarding coordinator,” (seriously, when a hiring manager calls themselves that, isn’t that a signal of some kind?) who assured me that “everybody is excited to be working with you,” and other such happy-crappy. Again, I said a flat “No,” and never heard from them again. I kind of wish I had received an enquiry as to why I declined the offer, and I would have answered with why some of their practices, as outlined in the contract were illegal; as well as telling them that the pay they were offering was an insult.
Maybe a hijack, but I had to get this off my chest and this thread kinda-sorta fit. Thanks for listening, and we can go back to the thread topic.