Finding a job is hard enough, but now a jobseeker on TikTok is claiming that some companies are trying to weed out “undesirable” job applicants by asking unethical questions.
On Jan. 22, McKenna Maureen (@fatgirlfab) posted a short clip of a job application she was filling out and asked in the caption, “Should I be worried?”
In the 12-second clip, McKenna shows her laptop screen as she scrolls through a list of questions the company is asking. She theorizes, “New way of weeding out the undesirables.”
As she zooms in, the questions become clearer. One asks what the job applicant identifies as and then offers “Gen Z,” “Millennial,” “Gen X,” “Boomer,” and “I prefer not to disclose” as options. The second question asks what ethnicity the applicant identifies as and is followed by a number of different races to choose from.
The video then cuts to another part of the job application with a different set of questions. One asks, “Do you identify as neurodivergent?”
“Love that,” McKenna says. “But also, I’m scared to click ‘Yes.'”
The video received 2,739 views as of this story’s publication, and a number of viewers jumped into the comments section to let McKenna know that the questions the company was asking were highly problematic.
“These questions are ILLEGAL,” read the most-liked comment. This thought was echoed by two others, one of whom rhetorically asked, “Is that legal? Lol.”
@fatgirlfab Should i be worried. #jobhunting ♬ original sound – McKenna Maureen
According to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), companies are advised against asking job applicants questions “about personal characteristics that are protected by law, such as race, color, religion, sex, national origin or age,” as these “may discourage some individuals from applying, may be viewed suspiciously by some applicants, and may be considered evidence of intent to discriminate by the EEOC.”
Although the application McKenna showed viewers didn’t explicitly ask for her age, as one astute commenter pointed out, the questions felt “like a weird work around of illegal questions and ageism.”
One commenter also added, “Uhhhh…I work in HR and if that’s an application, that’s really not allowed,” to which McKenna responded in agreement, saying, “Hahahaha it is….” Another person suggested that the TikToker may “want to contact [the Department] of Labor and [her] state’s Attorney General’s office.”
“If it’s a job application say no to the neurodivergent question,” advised someone else, adding, “Don’t disclose any disabilities until after you’re hired!”
In an article titled, “Recruiters reveal whether autism should be declared in a job application or cover letter,” a number of expert recruiters consulted by The Advertiser also agree that it’s best practice for jobseekers on the autism spectrum to disclose it “once the employer expresses interest in proceeding with [their] application to the next step.” Although McKenna never specifies her type of neurodivergence, the advice from this article could also be applied to her situation.
The Daily Dot has reached out to McKenna for further information via Instagram direct message.
