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I think I’ve seen it all (Or at least I hope)
By Bethany J. Royer
Mother of the Munchkins

I’m on the hunt for a job. In fact, I have been for quite some time now and thought I’d seen and heard pretty much everything in terms of job interviews, through my own experiences and that of others.

There have been, unfortunately, many a horror story such as an interviewer who asked a friend of mine how much of her life had she screwed up to have only finished college in her thirties. If she hadn’t been so desperate for a job, after a year of searching, she more than likely would have done what anyone else would have done after such a comment; walked out.

However, trooper that she is, hung in there and still did not get hired.

Or how about a friend who was asked during an interview if she planned to have kids anytime soon?

Likewise, I’ve had some interesting moments, though far too few and in-between. And what I’ve come to realize in my first job hunt in four years is that things have changed. Many companies perform initial job interviews over the phone, much to my dismay since I abhor phones, and like to hand out tests. The latter has proven especially humiliating since one potential employer managed to frame-work my less than stellar math capabilities.

I honestly could care less how many people got on the train at noon, and how many got off at Albuquerque to grab a Starbucks before they returned and was on the train for two more hours, so how many poodles were in the caboose?

Do I really need to know how many poodles are in the caboose in order to work at a software company?

I even had a job interview where the process went so smooth I became over-confident, an assured shoe-in, until politics crept into the conversation.

I knew then I hadn’t a stones throw chance.

You don’t talk politics at an interview anymore than you would at Thanksgiving dinner with your Republican uncle and Democratic grandmother and far-leaning liberal cousin and I-just-want-to-watch-the-game father.

It can get ugly.

As I said, I pretty much thought I’d seen and heard it all until I noticed an article about SunCoke Energy, a subsidiary of Sunoco Inc.

SunCoke manufactures coke, a coal byproduct used to make steel, and the company has been in the news a lot in relation to job openings in Middletown.

Of course, with the job market being as arduous as it has been it is little surprise to read about the avalanche of applicants to the company. The latest report is 650 applicants for exactly 59 jobs.

While the enormous number of applicants in comparison to job openings speaks volumes as to the unemployed numbers out there what is far more important and troublesome seems to have been overlooked.

SunCoke is charging applicants $47 for behavioral assessment tests.

In short, applicants must pay to see if they qualify for a job.

It rather reminds me of some big-box stores where they charge for membership. You pay them so as to shop their store for milk, bread and a large screen television.

There’s no argument that the job market is fierce and competitive, that employers are overwhelmed with applications. That the process to weed through potential employees has to be equally problematic and costly, but to charge potential employees for a chance at employment seems like a step in a very bad direction.

With so many jobs that require drug screening, background checks and even credit checks at what point do companies decide they no longer wish to burden the cost of such evaluations and ask for money upfront from job seekers?

This has always been a huge no-no for any work-at-home job seekers; the first rule of a WAHJ is to never, ever pay to work.

So what happens if SunCoke practices become not only a norm but encompasses far more than a series of evaluations? Will we have to fork over money for the credit check, the drug screen, the background check, the health assessment, and the hourly wage of the person who interviews us?

For folks who find themselves living a hand-to-mouth existence and in desperate need of a job, any job in too many cases, to charge folks for assessments to see whether they are committed, punctual, and the like to a job is yet another stress factor to add to the already over-stressed unemployed.

    The thing that bothers me the most is to hear people say it is worth the risk to pay whatever it takes to get a job.

    Have we really come to this and is it really, truly worth it?

    I’m afraid to find out.

The mother of two munchkins, Bethany J. Royer is an independent contractor and writer currently studying psychology with Florida Institute of Technology.  She is actively seeking a publisher for her post-apocalyptic novel and blogs prolifically at motherofthemunchkins.blogspot.com and can be reached at themotherofthemunchkins@yahoo.com.


 
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