Question of the Day

[James Barrow]

>>Jim Barrow said:
>Joe Malin wrote:
>
>>A recruiter recently asked me if I thought the commute to the client
>>company was too far for me to drive.
>
>I do not know any law prohibiting an employer from asking you about your
>commute. 

Okay, in the scenario that I posted, the total mileage was way out of my
range (120 miles round trip), but I'm wondering what to say when it isn't.
Like I said, I've been driving at least 80 miles per day for years.  If I
find the perfect job that's 50 miles away, and a recruiter deems that too
far, how would I tactfully do a little arm-twisting to get him/her to send
my resume to the client anyway?

>>Another recruiter asked me during an interview if I was planning any
>>travel in the near future.
>
>I am confused. You say that the recruiter asked you this during the
>interview, but then you refer to a hiring manager. Was it the same person?
>A company can ask you to identify anything that would prevent you from
>doing the work as stated in the job description. Inability to do the work
>required, even if reasonable accessibility is provided, is a legal reason
>to refuse employment.

Oh man, you're getting closer to the 'sensitive' issues (for the record, a
recruiter asked me this.  And, for the record, I was going into the job
corp-to-corp, which means I would have worked for the recruiter).  Okay, so
a recruiter asks me if I have any travel plans and that's okay, but it's not
okay to ask any question related to child birth or time off for child birth?

>>Whenever I actively look for a job, I invariably talk to a recruiter who
>>goes through my job history in great detail.  This includes asking me what
>>my salary was for every job on my resume.
>
>The recruiter was trying to gauge what salary/fee/rate you would ask for.
>That's not necessarily to get you hired for the cheapest amount, but to
>avoid going through the pain of interviewing you and making an offer if you
>are expecting much more than they can offer.

Sorry, Joe, I can't buy this one.  After a little research it seems that the
recruiter was simply turning the tables to try to get me in at the lowest
rate.  If I use your logic, then the recruiter could have asked me this:
"The job pays $X to $XXX.  Does that meet your salary requirements?"  What
he was doing was actually going through the pain of interviewing me; he just
tacked the salary history question to the end of each position that I've
held.