Background check and being a gun owner cost me a great job.

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Kingofthehill said:
they are my friends, 2 life long and another for the last 10 years. We shoot together and BBQ with families at least once a month... we help eachother work on our cars/projects... i trust my life with these guys
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If these three people in HR participated with you in these activities at least once a month, then the person making the decision to pass you up didn't need to search the 'net to find out that you own and shoot guns.

People chat casually in office settings about such pastimes (which is then overheard by everyone else in the office, be assured of that) and the fact that you are a gun owner was known to everyone there long before this interview was scheduled.

Loose lips sink ships.
 
There are two classes of people of whom is it not only legal to discriminate against, but encouraged in many places - gun owners and smokers.
 
Had the same thing happen after being hired, at an internet co in 2001. Got called to HR, and the guy was irate that I had a license for almost 30 years at the time.Little did I know they ran such an intence background check, but they never asked that question. He asked me why I needed a gun, I saw this was going noware and told him it was none of his business. He warned me about even having one in my car. I told him scince it was a public parking lot and they didn't own it, if they broke into my car to seach it, "he said they would". I would have him arrested and sue both him and the company, I turned and walked out leaving him yelling that he was calling legal. I told him he could call who ever he liked. Nothing was ever done, but I left shortlly thereafter. It was clear that I had nothing in commen with these robots. The company was owned by Perot, the same one that ran for president. If I were you I would contact an attorney who specializes in this type of crap. They will tell yu at no cost, if it's worth persuing it or not. If you find one who is of high moral character, he may even do it pro bono, although I wouldn't count on it, it does fall under discrimination.
 
Something doesn't add up. The three people in HR are shooters, yet the OP claims he was rejected merely to being a member of a gun forum?

If they are being truthful, I suspect they found something more in those posts than, "Where's a good place to shoot?" or "What can I use to remove copper fouling?"

I think a large medical facility in Texas would have a hell of time finding staff if the criteria for rejection was merely owning a gun.

We aren't getting the full story here.
 
J-

I thought that I might have been too subtle in what I was communicating (#51); seems I wasn't.

There is definitely more to this than meets the eye. :scrutiny:



:)
 
For those scoffing at the notion of being investigated online for a job, there are now firms that specialize in vetting prospective job candidates by running searches for them on the web, and they put all of the information found in a report.

Gizmodo had an article on this a few weeks back.

While I've never hired a firm to do this, any time I've interviewed a prospective candidate for a job, I always ran searches for their name on Google, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Myspace just to see what popped up.
 
We never get the full story

We'd like to think we have all the important facts, but we are all human and our perception is impaired by our beliefs and desires. Our attention span is increasingly abbreviated and we all like to think we are wiser than we are. This applies also to HR folks, who must try to make good calls with limited information and obligations to efficiency and corporate values. Not easy work, and the stakes are very high. A bad hire can wreck the ship.

The takeaway here is that if it ever was anonymous, the internet is becoming far less so. Data mining tools and techniques are becoming much more sophisticated, and we must once again face the reality that we will be judged by our words and actions.

Is that a bad thing?
 
My concern is. If the friends in HR knew protocol. Why would they subject there buddy to this and or quietly warn about the hobby/interest.
 
Doesn't sound like a great job to me. Why would you want to work for someplace you have to hide something that means a great deal to you? I post online under my real name and don't hide the fact that shooting competitively means a great deal to me.

I'll happily go on the record and state publically that if you have a problem with me shooting for competition, recreation, hunting, or the sheer joy of making holes in paper with things that go bang, you can kiss my ass because I'm not changing who I am and what I like to do.
 
Tully M. Pick said:
I'll happily go on the record and state publically that if you have a problem with me shooting for competition, recreation, hunting, or the sheer joy of making holes in paper with things that go bang, you can kiss my ass because I'm not changing who I am and what I like to do.
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touché.........spoken like a true Cheesehead!:D
 
Something doesn't add up. The three people in HR are shooters, yet the OP claims he was rejected merely to being a member of a gun forum?
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i was given the green light here at this facility but legal at their main office flagged my record with a direct link to the post.

i swear on my life this is what i know and have been told by trustworthy friends.
 
Kingofthehill said:
i was given the green light here at this facility but legal at their main office flagged my record with a direct link to the post.

i swear on my life this is what i know and have been told by trustworthy friends.
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Man I feel for you. I had something similar happen to me and know how it feels. Its bad that we have to hide a hobby or become typecast as a paranoid nut that will shoot anyone who doesn't agree with you.

Sent from my LG-P999 using Tapatalk
 
So what does the post say? What it just the post talking about the interview or something else?
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in the 3 page thread about me saying i had an interview and i was excited that it went very well and the pay increase would be very nice, another member brought up the fact that i could get that STI ive been wanting, and i said how maybe i would treat myself to it if i got the job as a new chapter in my life.... the thread turned into questions about which one i was looking into and a new guy asking if it would be a good first gun.

so the company's name in the thread got blasted with a lot of flag words like gun, shooting, ect...
 
I think you just learned a lesson. Do your best to bifurcate your personal life from your professional life.

The more I see Corporate America in action, the more I believe that every man of substance should find a way to earn a living outside of it.
 
All someone has to do is look for your e-mail address online, and a list of places you frequent can come up. If someone's gathering information on you, who you are, it's available on the web. I've been denied work myself for similar reasons. The thing that bothers me the most, is that they can have the wrong person, and never give it a second thought. The internet is a place where anyone can be anybody they choose, and pretend to be someone else, out of spite. I've seen that happen too. It's a funny thing to be the man you are, and have people judge you by what they think is you on the web.
 
This is not a "gun" answer. I hope that the OP can get some solace from this:

First, I do think that "you'se got a raw deal."

Second, as a "counterpoint", let's examine where I am at, as you would balance yourself against this bad employment decision, with the information provided.

1. I'm a Connecticut Yankee, living in the bogs, and among the uneducated sons and daughters of of Huey P. Long. (separate story)

2. I'm a licensed Pagan Priest, and 5-year running 'guest sermon' columnist appearing the regional newspaper, living amongst the largely, Southern Baptist populace.

3. I have a video page online, with my recorded comments, mostly generated during the legal conflict between the V.A., and the Pagan Community over headstones, yet do NOT do the Facebook/MySpace/Twitter thing.

I have been passed over for positions, in the past. I fixed that. I went freelance.
 
Wow, SF, I'm in a VERY similar boat, almost scary similar. Cept I never really investigate why I don't get hired, I don't even think about it. One time I called a company to follow-up the interview to be told I was passed over. After a few nice words with HR I was asked if I would take a different position at the company. Showed up for work 7 days later.
 
I guess a lot of people in the early days of the net used their real names on forum boards.
I did.
No more though.
As far as not getting hired unfortunately Texas is a right to work state that basically gives the employer 120 per cent power in firing or hiring.
You have always heard that the employer can fire you for a just cause or any cause as long as it's not based on race or religion etc.
Be careful what you put to print less those same web bots discover that your HR friend spilled the beans on the why you were not hired and they send him out the door.
 
I dont know if this would make a difference or not but there are a few "famous" people that share my name. A NFL player, a cricket player, and a rugby player. I would think that would help clog up the search a bit
 
Though I am not completely sure I believe they would still be obligated to give you a reason for your being passed over on the position applied for. They may give you a generic answer but you can hire and attorny and can get the real answers, it they are dicriminating against you for simply practicing your legal rights in this "free" country then I would go after for them for everthing they are worth. If one thing is certain we can be walked on for our right and our beliefs. God, guns, and country
 
Again...Since Texas is a right to work state they could hire him and just turn around and fire him.
For whatever reason.
 
I know for a fact that the background investigator who worked on my application knew that I held an FFL (because I had to put it on the form and was asked about it during my interview) and it didn't affect me getting a top secret clearance at all.
 
It is pretty common for employers to do a Google or other search on a prospective hire. I assume your Internet gun-related postings were tasteful in nature. If that was all it took to reject you, that wasn't a job you wanted anyway or would have kept if you did get it, trust me.
 
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