Quoted: .

You can say THAT again.

Quoted: I'm sorry, but we have decided not to hire you. I'm afraid your background is simply too clean.

[pointy-haired boss]Yeah, something just ain't right.  We're concerned you won't fit in, here.[/pointy-haired boss]

Quoted: for the record I have no CRIMINAL or traffic violations since I turned 18.  I am now 25.  And I only had 1 ticket when I first got my lisence and that was it.  Nothing else is on my record because nothing else is on my record.

I run background investigations all the time. Some are for Top Secret clearance. What did you do as a minor that you did not disclose? For DoD I don't care if you were 10yrs and that judge told you stay out of trouble and this will be exponged, it never goes away and comes up everytime with a check. But, this is for the Military, not a retail store!

I do think this is a little extreme for a civilian store job, but it is their right, you signed the authorization. Furthermore, you did not contract with anyone. My consent form I use is an official Defense Dept form, but it further states under the Privacy Protection that I am obligated to turn over to Law Enforcement officials any open investigations I find or warrants to paraphrase.

Chalk it up to a bad experience in a time where privacy unfortunately is diminishing. The sheeple are still running the country.

Quoted: Quoted: for the record I have no CRIMINAL or traffic violations since I turned 18.  I am now 25.  And I only had 1 ticket when I first got my lisence and that was it.  Nothing else is on my record because nothing else is on my record. ........... but it is their right, you signed the authorization. Furthermore, you did not contract with anyone. My consent form I use is an official Defense Dept form,............

Well that's real nice, but that's YOUR form,  and can you really conclude what Lowe's rights are without seeing the form HE signed?   I agree it's probably not a contract per say, but it does carry not only rights, but responsibilities (like not exceeding their authorization, for instance).  It would be very interesting to see what the wording is.  Though it's likely very broad and one-sided, we could get better perspective if we knew the exact verbage.

Quoted: When I worked for a casino I had to do a background check. My biggest crime was a warning from the Highway patrol for speeding. The woman conducting the check told me I had a boring life. I smiled and agreed, boring is sometimes good. Getting away with shit and not getting caught is better, but I didn't tell her that.

Now Gus you can't tell me you don't break the rules and not get caught. I take it you are a conductor/brakeman. If that is you on your avatar you don't have the proper personal safety equipment like gloves, ear plugs, boots, lantern, radio and proper high security switch keys. You are also occupying the top of car which is a big no-no and I bet you just dropped that car and got on it while moving. Did you do the proper test on that staff hand brake? Is that a haz mat car like IH or explosive 1.1 you just dropped?  

You'll likely find that the wording is almost identical.  I think they have gnomes that right these and sombody copies it.  Case law is pretty standard in what you can and can't do.  Most applications include the following -

1.  That the term of employment is not guaranteed,  and either party can terminate employment at any time .

2.  That no notice from either party is required.

3.  That all information provided is true, accurate and correct. Falsification of any information is subject to discipline up to and including termination.

4.  That you give permission to contact any listed employer, reference, or others

5.  The application is not a contract of employment.

6. (Defense Contractors) That employment may be subject to obtaining and maintaining ANY required security clearance.  (Aside  - and when it was taking 2 years to get even basic clearances  and investigations completed that was a real pain, you can only have so much busy work for  new grad engineers to do waiting)

7.  That you will provide acceptable evidence of legal right to work in the United States.

8.  Possibly a statement on physical ability or accomodations needed.

Pretty damn straightforward.  The application is a legal document and while it isn't a contract for services it can be a contract.  

I'll give you another  interesting view.  With very few exceptions these days an efficient HR group doesn't check personal references, outside the hiring company.  I might call references if I'm trying to get an interview set up and I can't get in touch with you.  The Hiring Managers may check professional references to see if you can do the job, but  in the almost 20 years I  worked in HR, Admin and Program Management, I only ran across one candidate who listed a reference who gave him a negative report.  Personal references ain't worth poop, who lists somebody that isn't going to give them an up-check?  With few exceptions I was too busy to check.  The hiring manager needs to determine if you can do the job, unless it is a warm body type job.  Then HR picks and if you can't handle it , management and HR dumps you.

Notice I said EFFICIENT HR, if you get the standard cover their butt bureaucrats, they worry more about dotting i's crossing t's.  Add piles of bureaucracy to ensure nobody ever gets found fault.  If the law doesn't require it and the company doesn't require it for a damn good reason, I don't do it.  It costs money and time.

You get into any kind of technical or professional company , 90% of the applicants aren't going to meet the requirements.  You get to a meat market like a Lowes 90% meet the requirements.

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: I was calm the whole time and never rose my tone or voice to him.  I still wanted the job. GO TO COLLEGE College is OVER-RATED I have a degree and it got me SQUAT In a lot of fields, you have to have a degree and know somebody. An example: I know two guys with identical degrees from the same institution. Equal skill. One is making 100K a year working on maintaining the network infrastructure for the FBI. The other guy is still trying to find a full time job and is working with us as an intern. The difference? Guy A was "mentored" by someone who is in the field and established, and was thus fast-tracked to success. Guy B didn't have any networking and thus can't find a job. Who you know is darn important these days.

Thats one thing I have seen over the years, its no longer what you know its more who you know