Potential Employers & Recruiters Requesting Personal Information Way Too Soon
When searching for jobs, during the application phase, even before being contacted for an interview, I have had potential employers and recruiters request personal information such as my full Social Security number, my full birth date, my home address and other personal information. Over the past several years this is happening a lot more frequently with recruiters and human resource departments requesting this information and often times, a web page for applying for a job requesting this information. I politely decline because I refuse to give out this information when the employer has no right to this information until you are actually hired. I get mixed reactions from the employers and recruiters, from surprise to telling me that they cannot move forward with my application without the information. Is this happening to anyone else? How do you handle this situation?
Definitely don't give them your social! They don't need that until you're actually hired. But isn't the rest of that part of a normal application? I feel like I'm used to seeing those on there.
Sadly there are people out there who prey on the vulnerable. Watch out for scams. Other people have a poorly developed sense of privacy or respect for their potential co-workers. Keep the way they act in mind when deciding whether you want the job. Some of the questions they ask may even be illegal, such as marital status. In the U.S., I don't think they are allowed to ask your age, so your full birthdate may be an illegal question in some places. (I'm not a lawyer, so I may be wrong about that.) They could ask if you are old enough to legally hold certain jobs (Some potentially dangerous jobs have a legal, minimum age.), but not your age. (Of course they can often guess based on other dates in your education and employment history.) And then there are people who have good reasons for their requests, but misguided in the timing or exactly what they request. For instance, they may ask for your home address in order to mail you an offer letter or to judge how quickly you could come into the office in an emergency (never mind that you aren't always at home when not at work).
For whatever reason, yes, it's happening to others and so often that you'll see articles about it on job search sites. (I like some of the articles from Human Workplace - https://www.linkedin.com/company/2787403 )
When you're talking or emailing, there are some ways around answering questions you consider overly personal. For instance, if they ask for your salary history, tell them the salary you expect based on the type of job for which you are applying. The on-line forms are trickier since they sometimes require certain entries before you can submit them. When deciding how to handle the situation, consider how much you trust the company or recruiter. Perhaps ask why they need to know that or even say that you'll give them that information later in the process, but you'd prefer to discuss the position ad your qualifications first. It's a difficult situation. Good luck!