Professional Documents
Culture Documents
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RUNNING HEADER: Employment Application and Background-Check Critique
My last job at Sears Holding the department stores offers electronic employment
applications and background checks. There are four sections in this application devoted to
background investigation. The first section requires standard information: name, address,
preferred name, telephone number and age. The other three sections require specific information
about incidents the applicant may have been involved in that were illegal. Section two inquires
about felonies and misdemeanors (DUI/DWI), guilty pleas or pleas of no contest to a felony or
misdemeanor, or convictions in a military court martial? The applicant is then asked to select
A note is included stated that answering yes is not automatic disqualification from
employment since the nature of the offense and the type of job for which you are applying will
be considered. The information given will be fully verified and if the applicant selects “yes” a
full explanation of the circumstances must be disclosed. There is a section left open for the
incident to be described with names, dates, charges and any jail time that was served. The third
section inquires about current investigations or pending criminal charges including deferred
adjudication that the applicant may face now or in the future. The applicant will select either yes
or no. Section four is a note that is similar to the note in section two. A yes doesn’t mean
automatic disqualification from employment since the nature of the offense and the type of job
for which you are applying will be considered. The information will be verified and if the
answer is “yes” a full description of the circumstances is required. This would include names,
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RUNNING HEADER: Employment Application and Background-Check Critique
dates and charges. The applicant may not be aware of the amount of jail time required if jail
time is required. This is a very strong section in the application that will yield the information
needed concerning the applicant’s background status. The application did not require the
applicant’s social security number which can be considered a weakness in the background
When doing a background check based solely on the questions required above the
employer faces the problem of wrong identity. Wrong identity means there are two possibly
three people alive who have the same name as the person who is applying for the job. The actual
applicant may not have any criminal activities on his/her record; however, the person with the
duplicate name may have committed a felony. The actual applicant marked no and the employer
sees the criminal record and then the actual applicant may not be considered for the job because
the employee now has a doubt of the actual applicant’s honesty. The bad part is the actual
applicant may never know the reason he/she was not hired. The employer could simply say we
are searching for other applicants and you don’t fit at this time.
Application Waivers
After reviewing the application there are no clear cut waivers present, however, there are
considerations for different events. For instance we’ve already examined the notes of
consideration in the background section. There is one more note present located in the
availability to work section. The note states that saying no to overtime, holidays and weekends
will not automatically disqualify you from employment because the job type will be considered
and if you answer “no” give a detailed reasons why. You might say that the employer is waiving
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RUNNING HEADER: Employment Application and Background-Check Critique
their rights to automatically disqualify the applicant based on his/her answer but will take the job
The first page of each application is uniform, however, according to the type of job the
next pages contain questions that are more focused on the job selected. The employer may craft
the applications this way in order to all the general information first and then zero in on the
actual job requirements and qualifications in order to determine if the applicant is the right fit for
the job. The only required revision would be to make the application include a section for the
social security number. The section would be a security box that only displays xs or dots. To
completely protect the identity of the applicant all numbers will be masked. When the
application is viewed by HR personnel then the social security number will be revealed. It must
be noted that upon consideration for the position based on the current information given by the
applicant, the HR personnel may require the social security number at a later time. From simply
Alliance (CVSA)
military court martial and any pleas of guilt or no contest. They are also searching for any
current or future investigations and pending charges against the applicant. The applicants are
required to have a drug test before they are allowed to work for any Sears. Anyone who fails the
test is either disqualified from being hired or if they are current employees then they will face
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RUNNING HEADER: Employment Application and Background-Check Critique
termination. This company requires that all its employee’s work with a level of excellence.
Substance abuse and any types of drug induced impairments will not be tolerated. There is no
(Recruiter.kenexa.com 2010).
Sears don’t required credit report, But background checks can require the interviewing of
previous and current neighbors depending on the type of company and type of job the applicant
is applying to. For instance any job that requires high levels of security clearance or national
security issues would require this type of background check. References are contacted and
reviewed in the background check process. The only thing that would vary from application to
application is the type and number of references required. Some applications accept both
professional and personal references, some only accept professional references and other will
take both types of references but the personal references cannot come from a family member or
The background procedure in place for Sears store department or affiliates. There are
three distinct changes required for the application process. First, a section would be included for
the social security number of the applicants. These numbers would be collected in security
boxes that mask the information with either Xs or dots. The HR personnel will be the only
authorized individuals with access to this information. Second, employee multilevel drug tests
can expose the presence of drugs, alcohol or both in the systems of both new hires and current
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RUNNING HEADER: Employment Application and Background-Check Critique
employees. There are three keys to a drug test: the type of test performed the type of elements to
Urine, saliva and hair are the most commonly tested biological elements to determine the
presence of drugs or alcohol in new hires or current employees. Urine tests are the least
expensive types of tests costing $3 per testing unit. If the applicant has used drugs in the past
week then this test was reveal those results. If the applicant has used drugs for longer periods of
time then they will show up in the test as well. The testing units for urine can be: dips, cassettes
or cups. The dip requires strips to be dipped into the urine samples. Cassettes require pipettes to
extract the urine sample and place it on a testing tray. The last one is the most common urine
samples in cups. A chemical is added to the urine sample in the cup and based on the color
change the employee will either get hired, get fired or maintain his/her current employment
(Uatests.com 2010). These are the only tests that don’t require lab work. The test results can be
obtained on-sight within minutes of the testing procedure. The next test is the saliva test.
These tests cost $14 per unit. This test can detect drug use in a few days and sometimes
within 24 hours. This test will detect the presence of Methamphetamines, Opiates and THC.
The saliva drug tests are oral tests. The applicants are required to perform these tests themselves
under the watchful observation of the HR representative or other HR personnel. The tests are
sent to the lab for results. Alcohol can also be tested through the saliva of an applicant by using
an alcohol screen or a breath test. Of the three methods testing hair is the most expensive at $58
and up. Hair tests can detect traces of substance abuse over a period of more than 90 days.
These tests can also reveal when the drug use occurred. These tests look for Cannabis,
Barbiturates, Methamphetamines, etc. Depending on the budget of the company at least two of
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RUNNING HEADER: Employment Application and Background-Check Critique
the three drug testing methods will be implemented. The present choice would be the urine test
Third implement employment testing which determines if the applicant is the right fit for
both the company and the job. There are nine options and after this brief examination at least
three of the nine options will be used to improve the Gaylord Opryland Hotel application
process. First, assessment centers can be used to determine interpersonal skills, communication
skills, analytical skills and planning/organizing. Positive: reduces business costs. Negative:
requires more labor to implement. Second, biographical data is used to gather information about
leadership, specific job knowledge, creativity, etc. Positive: cost effective to the administrator.
Negative: significant information for developmental feedback not always available. Third,
cognitive ability tests use problems to determine the speed at which an employee can learn and
reason. Positive: cannot be influenced by the test taker. Negative: time consuming to develop
Fourth, integrity tests measure the applicant’s attitude related to honesty, dependability,
mask true answer in order to get hired. Fifth, interviews which allows the HR staff to see and
speak with the applicant in person. Positive: provide a measure of skills such as communication.
Negative: can be costly to train interviewers. Sixth, job knowledge tests which can be multiple
feedback on the training test takers require. Negative: can be costly and time consuming.
Seventh, personality tests reveal levels of tolerance, optimism, extraversion, etc. Positive: no
skilled administrators required. Negative: may cause problems in employee selection (Siop.org
2009).
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RUNNING HEADER: Employment Application and Background-Check Critique
Eighth, physical abilities tests focus on strength and balance. Positives: identifies applicants
physically unable to do the work. Negative: differ in results. Ninth, work samples and
simulations focus on how the applicant behaves during simulations of actual work situations.
Positives: can provide test takers with a realistic preview of the job and the organization. There
are no negatives to this method. The three best possible employment tests are: interviews, work
References
https://recruiter.kenexa.com/gaylord/cc/CCJobDetailAction.ss?command=RedirectCCJobDetail
Siop.org. (2009). Types of Employment Tests. Retrieved Nov 15, 2010, from
http://www.siop.org/workplace/employment%20testing/testtypes.aspx
Uatests.com. (2010). Types of Drug Tests. Retrieved Nov 15, 2010, from
http://www.uatests.com/types-of-drug-tests/