Job interview - are they serious?

[MitchT]

OH has a job interview on Monday. They've asked her to bring originals and copies of the following documents:

Birth certificate
Passport
Driving licence
Recent utility bill
Proof of being able to work in the UK

WTF?

I could understand them needing a bit of ID, her NI number and her P45 if she actually got the job, but this is just a first interview FFS! Is this really normal? Do prospective employers just take the piss because they know there are lots more people needing jobs than there are vacancies? With the amount of nervousness that surrounds identity theft these days can they really expect people to want to hand over copies of sensitive personal documents, especially at such an early stage in the recruitment process?

[fido]

MitchT said:

Recent utility bill

Had similar but they also accepted an 'Offer Letter' as proof of address .. so i waited for the Offer Letter to arrive and scanned the letter back to them! TBH it's been an odd year/quarter and i can't figure out if HR departments have been told from 'above' to do every possible check .. you know just in case.

[Deva Link]

I guess it'll mainly so they can show they have a process for checking they don't employ someone who isn't supposed to be working here. Big penalties for firms that get caught like this, and embarrasing if they're in the public eye.

[Podie]

I was asked to bring two forms of ID (one photo) from that list when I was applying back in 2010.

[eltawater]

The HR bods like it about as much as you do, but unfortunately the threat of up to two years in prison for the culpable scapegoat means that they have to follow those guidelines.

see here:

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/business-sponsor...

[Podie]

Actually, once offered the job I had to produce the original certificates for all professional memberships and qualifications on my CV.

[TinyCappo]

Its a task you have been asked to find all these things and bring them to the interview. Because if I have to interview say 10 people for a role if only 4 can be arsed to pull together every bit of information i have asked for (which if your an organised person shouldnt take more than say 15-20 minutes to put together) unless one of the others has some amazing qualities above and beyond whats being asked for. Why would I even going consider hiring them if they cant do what I ask in the first place.

[MitchT]

eltawater said:

The HR bods like it about as much as you do, but unfortunately the threat of up to two years in prison for the culpable scapegoat means that they have to follow those guidelines.

see here:

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/business-sponsor...

Interesting. I wonder how this is weighed against a person's desire to keep their private details private. What would happen if someone from the company stole your ID, emptied your bank account, spent thousands of pounds on a credit card obtained in your name and left the country... and then your bank said you'd been negligent because you handed that information over in the first place so the expense was your problem to deal with?

[singlecoil]

MitchT said:

What would happen if someone from the company stole your ID, emptied your bank account, spent thousands of pounds on a credit card obtained in your name and left the country... and then your bank said you'd been negligent because you handed that information over in the first place so the expense was your problem to deal with?

How would they even know which was your bank, let alone the security details needed to access the acount?

[Zad]

It is potentially a great scam for anyone harvesting personal details for fake passports, illegal immigration, money laundering, scam bank loans, hare hire/theft....

[MitchT]

singlecoil said:

How would they even know which was your bank, let alone the security details needed to access the acount?

People seem to manage it with less details than they're asking for. Also I guess someone at work would have to know your bank details so they could pay you!

[singlecoil]

MitchT said:

singlecoil said:

How would they even know which was your bank, let alone the security details needed to access the acount?

People seem to manage it with less details than they're asking for. Also I guess someone at work would have to know your bank details so they could pay you!

Well, I daresay they do manage it, but how? And knowing someone's bank account number is a hell of a long way from being able to get money from it.

[Rollcage]

TinyCappo said:

Its a task you have been asked to find all these things and bring them to the interview. Because if I have to interview say 10 people for a role if only 4 can be arsed to pull together every bit of information i have asked for (which if your an organised person shouldnt take more than say 15-20 minutes to put together) unless one of the others has some amazing qualities above and beyond whats being asked for. Why would I even going consider hiring them if they cant do what I ask in the first place.

So as somebody who has no valid passport and is not the responsible bill payer where I live, I'll fail your little "test" and thus not be considered?

[TinyCappo]

Nope if you tell me i dont have a passport (its not a legal requirement to have one) However if the company is multinational and the person I am hiring may need to travel overseas its a big plus point to getting hired having one.

WRT to no utility bill that not an issue either as long as you tell me that you dont have any in your name. I meant the above post more for people who just dont bring it because they couldnt be arsed.

[Deva Link]

Zad said:

hare hire/theft....

Is there much activity in the hare hire market? Keeping track of them must be quite tricky, epecially when coupled with rampant identity theft.

[Zad]

Deva Link said:

Zad said:

hare hire/theft....

Is there much activity in the hare hire market? Keeping track of them must be quite tricky, epecially when coupled with rampant identity theft.

Hell yes. When was the last time you saw a hare? They get bundled into the back of a stolen hire car and driven away! It's an outrage, I tell you.

[bucksmanuk]

Podie said:

Actually, once offered the job I had to produce the original certificates for all professional memberships and qualifications on my CV.

There are loads of people with false academic achievements on their CVs. I know of one guy who had a high quality forged engineering degree done in London. Cost him £2,000 in todays money. Immediately left the country for lucrative foreign lands contracting.

[mph1977]

Deva Link said:

I guess it'll mainly so they can show they have a process for checking they don't employ someone who isn't supposed to be working here. Big penalties for firms that get caught like this, and embarrasing if they're in the public eye.

exactly , iirc it's something like 50 k per illegal worker.

[mph1977]

bucksmanuk said:

Podie said:

Actually, once offered the job I had to produce the original certificates for all professional memberships and qualifications on my CV.

There are loads of people with false academic achievements on their CVs. I know of one guy who had a high quality forged engineering degree done in London. Cost him £2,000 in todays money. Immediately left the country for lucrative foreign lands contracting.

there have been a number of Ambulance service personnel sacked for embellishing O level results etc , despite having been employed by the service for many years without issue , and if they were paramedics reported to the HPC and struck off .

[Who me ?]

I can quote one side effect of all this.My son .He was born in an African country, that has gained independence from the UK.At birth ,I got him several copies of his birth certificate,which have all vanished. He's registered on my (and wife's ) passport which gives us all "right to reside in UK" ,and has been accepted by the job centre .But first hurdle when he applies for a job is passport/birth cert etc. Strangely enough ten years ago he applied for the Army and was accepted pending interview,they'd accepted his UK status .
He can't get a birth cert ,with the present regime in power, and although FO recognise he was born where/when we say, and has been added to our (at the time valid passports) , they won't help him .I could send an application with the fee, but ,honestly I feel it's a waste of money. One of our daughters corresponds with one of her friends out there.She's asked if her pal can help. Answer is that it might put her in danger to try and get a birth cert for someone without an African name. Consulate say that we could send off application, but advise against it.The chances of the application(and fee) getting there are slim .