Online applications: another jobseeker barrier/filter

Even It Up! had a very interesting conversation with a sympathetic supporter yesterday.  He was telling us about his son who is studying to be an engineer, and is currently doing a nightfill job at a Coles supermarket.  In order to get the job, his son had to complete a “one size fits all” online application that included an aptitude test.  Bearing in mind that job was for nightfill (opening boxes and stacking shelves) our supporter was bamboozled at the sort of high level, cognitive questions that were asked, for example:

• What is the square root of X divided by Y times Z?
• If X was travelling to Y at Z km per hour, how long would it take to get there?
• Label the contents of a cell

The son ended up (quite rightly) in the top 97% of applicants, but was only offered a position filling shelves.  Interestingly, other nightfill staff  are studying to be doctors, lawyers, geneticists, robotic engineers etc.  Our supporter contends that Coles hires them because they are reliable and they want the work (which is fine), but wants to know why smart people are not channelled into more appropriate “knowledge” work within the company?

He also asks the question why more unskilled people aren’t applying for these sorts of  manual/service-type jobs, and he came up with the “because they have to apply online” answer.  Immediately, those who are not cognitively up to scratch (in the eyes of the organisation), or don’t have internet access, or whose first language is not English, are filtered out by the technology.   It’s discrimination, but in a very covert manner, because overt discrimination (as we all know) is illegal.

Barriers, obstacles, filters, discrimination: the job market is in a less than satisfactory state.  And yet the government (and opposition) keeps talking jobs, jobs, jobs.  Clearly, no one has had the conversation with business.