Monday, January 09, 2006

Who is an Applicant?

Lisa Harpe of Peopleclick has a good article on just who is a job applicant. This may seem obvious until you consider questions such as:

"If someone hands a resume to one of your executives at a cocktail party, is that person an applicant?"

"If someone applies for a job that you haven't advertised, is that person an applicant?"

"If someone who is obviously unqualified applies for a job, is that person an applicant?"

An excerpt:


"It is important for an employer to know who qualifies as an applicant for two reasons. First, only an applicant may make a case of discrimination in hiring. Second, an employer must be able to identify the gender and race of all applicants to evaluate whether its hiring practices have an adverse impact on women or minorities. Federal regulations require employers to solicit race and gender information on all applicants and to maintain the records required to show the impact of all selection procedures on women and minorities. . Understanding the definition of an applicant can help employers minimize risk and protect themselves from costly audit defense."

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