My Life's an Open Book - Chapter II
Four months ago, I applied for a position as a Correctional Officer I in Somerset County. The correctional facility down there is short staffed since half of the officers were arrested on corruption like charges (trafficking drugs to prisoners, for example) and many others left before getting caught. Long story short (one of the few times I am adept at the shortened version), I applied, took a test, passed the test, and was sent an application package.
I took more than one look at the application package, with lots of hesitation. I even began filling it out. After a couple of weeks, I tabled the application and moved on to other career options.
Fast forward four months to today. I received an email form a correctional officer recruiter asking me to contact him if I wanted to continue the hiring process. He even left open the possibility that maybe missed emails led to my classification as a "failure to respond."
I assured him my lack of response was intentional, not a failure. Below is my response to his request that I contact him if I felt my classification of "failure to respond" was the result of missed emails or I simply wanted to restart the application process or even if I had any questions.
I have a sneaky suspicion that after Mr. XXXX receives this email, the Department of Corrections will be shelling out $39.95 of your tax dollars to recruit me into their department - as a convict.
Update (12/31/18)Mr. XXXX responded with a simple two sentence email thanking me for my interest and providing me with a link to government jobs that didn't require an extensive and thorough background check as a Correctional Officer position required. No "men in Black suits" have come knocking on my door...yet.
Related Links:
My life's an open book - Chapter I
Posted by A Drunk Redneck
I took more than one look at the application package, with lots of hesitation. I even began filling it out. After a couple of weeks, I tabled the application and moved on to other career options.
Fast forward four months to today. I received an email form a correctional officer recruiter asking me to contact him if I wanted to continue the hiring process. He even left open the possibility that maybe missed emails led to my classification as a "failure to respond."
I assured him my lack of response was intentional, not a failure. Below is my response to his request that I contact him if I felt my classification of "failure to respond" was the result of missed emails or I simply wanted to restart the application process or even if I had any questions.
Dear Mr. XXXX,
Thank you for your follow up.
There were several reasons I elected not to follow through with an interview for the position of Correctional Officer I.
First, the application required detailed information of everything about me since I was eighteen and the instructions came with the warning that if I failed to include anything, that would be viewed as deceit and grounds to disqualify me or terminate me if I were already hired. Almost forty years of personal history meant I was bound to miss something - not out of deceit, mind you - and I wouldn't want the omission discovered after I was hired. I'm thinking I'm embarking on a productive career, but my omission of a job as a ditch digger for a cable company (I forget the cable company's name) could send me to the unemployment line.
Second, the Department of Corrections pay background investigators to run a check on me. All they have to do is purchase a report from one of those online Big Data Brokers who are more than happy to tell you more about me than I know about myself - all for the low, low price of $39.95. The background investigators need to do their job; I don't need to do it for them.
Third, the application also required transcripts from my high school and the two colleges I attended. Sealed transcripts cost money and they're not cheap. I don't pay to get hired anywhere and so I will not order them. Besides, if the Department of Corrections' background investigators were doing their job, they would already have those transcripts.
Something I could learn from this job - brevity.
Short, sweet, to the point - John should write
for this Blog.
Fourth, I was extremely uncomfortable with the state aggregating all my personal information (right down to the vehicles I own) and storing it all in one database. The Department of Corrections couldn't make it any easier for someone to steal my identity. Nowhere on your application did the Department of Corrections post a privacy policy that explained the purpose for gathering all this information, where it would be stored, for how long it would be stored, who would have access to the information, what the information could be used for other than an employment decision (if that were the case), and my legal recourse if the information were breached.
My very strong opinions on our rights to privacy clashed with the Department of Corrections' application. While I know there are plenty of people who don't mind a work environment where their lives are open books, I do mind. I decided that perhaps a career move to a Correctional Officer wasn't a compatible move, either for me or the Department of Corrections. But thank you for considering me for the position.
Regards,
(My real name instead of "A Drunk Redneck")
I have a sneaky suspicion that after Mr. XXXX receives this email, the Department of Corrections will be shelling out $39.95 of your tax dollars to recruit me into their department - as a convict.
Update (12/31/18)Mr. XXXX responded with a simple two sentence email thanking me for my interest and providing me with a link to government jobs that didn't require an extensive and thorough background check as a Correctional Officer position required. No "men in Black suits" have come knocking on my door...yet.
Related Links:
My life's an open book - Chapter I
Posted by A Drunk Redneck
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