Your mother? Seriously?

I hired a guy.

Shocker, right? I tried to come up with something new to start this post, but when you hire people for a living, it’s hard to reinvent the introductory wheel on a weekly basis.

I hired a guy for a position that is notoriously difficult to fill for several reasons:

1. The location is not easily accessible by public transportation. i.e. You can’t get there on the bus unless you’re willing to ride for 2.5 hours and walk for another 34 minutes on top of it.

2. The supervisor requires specific experience to run a particular machine, so the available pool of applicants is trimmed pretty significantly from the get-go.

3. The pay isn't all that superb despite the above two issues.

You get the gist.

But, at long last, I filled the position. Cue a robust celebration. Horns trumpet, confetti sprays wildly.

To keep the ball rolling, I have him go through the hiring paperwork and drug screen while we wait for his background check results to come back.

Then, a Fail. He failed the background check. I failed at filling my position.

Cue the end of the celebration. Horns peter out in the background, wilted confetti drifts down to the floor.

Failing a background check generates a formal notification that the applicant in question is ineligible to work for our company. I further notify my client that the candidate is ineligible to continue the process, DNU his file, and move on with my futile attempts to find someone else.

Two days later, I pick up a call. A woman identifies herself as the (failed) applicant’s mother:

Upset Mother (we'll designate her as UM going forward): My son applied for a job and got a notification that he is ineligible to work for your company.

Me: Ok.

UM: Why?

Me: Unfortunately, I am unable to divulge the details of that to anyone other than him.

UM: Well, I'm his mother.

Me: Well, I am still unable to divulge the confidential details of why he is ineligible to be employed by us.

UM: Well, I want to know why he can't work for you.

Me: Since I can’t tell you, I suggest you ask him. I am fairly certain he knows why since he has not called to discuss the matter in more detail or ask for a reconsideration.

UM: He won't tell me.

Me: And neither will I. 

She was unhappy. I didn't care.

After the upset mother ended the call in a huff, I decided to take a quick peek and see how old this (failed) candidate was to have his mother calling to discuss the reason as to why he was ineligible to work for us. Forty-four. The man was forty-four years old, and his mother was calling to see why he failed his background check...