legal ways to turn down applicants

[stormkroe]

My company has been inundated with applicants ever since I posted job offers on the job bank of Canada, about 7 new resumes per hour. I haven't seen one single person that I would hire to mow my lawn. I obviously can't go on record that the didn't get a position because they are stupid, so I was wondering if anyone knows what is allowed. I rarely have to use my lawyers, and they're mainly just there to keep me running legally (or if I have to chase money) so I don't think they're 'up' on this.
Thanks guys.

 

[sdifox]

just because they applied doesn't mean they even need to be acknowledged.

 

[Eureka]

What happened to the whole "applicant not qualified for the position" or "not the right match" approach?

However, IANAL, and this is probably one thing you should consult a lawyer on.

 

[lxskllr]

If you're cool, you'll send a generic rejection letter. If you're like most, do nothing.

 

[Humpy]

My company has been inundated with applicants ever since I posted job offers on the job bank of Canada, about 7 new resumes per hour. I haven't seen one single person that I would hire to mow my lawn. I obviously can't go on record that the didn't get a position because they are stupid, so I was wondering if anyone knows what is allowed. I rarely have to use my lawyers, and they're mainly just there to keep me running legally (or if I have to chase money) so I don't think they're 'up' on this.
Thanks guys.

Jeez... you sure are picky about your yard maintenance.

 

[stormkroe]

The thing is, I'm trying to get a positive LMO (labor market opinion) from human resources, canada, to be able to offer jobs to foreign workes (i.e. friends/family in the U.S.). Part of the process is that I have to show that the jobs were offers to Canadian citizens/residents and I was unable to fill the positions with them. Somehow I think "I offered it to Canadians but they were all too stupid" wouldn't get me a positive. I don't think Canadians are stupid, btw my kids are all Canadians, it's just that all the smart/hard-working ones have jobs already.

 

[AreaCode707]

Did not meet the core requirements.

Making up your mind in advance that you want to hire foreign workers is exactly what you're not supposed to do. You're actively displaying prejudicial hiring rather than hiring on the merits of the candidates presented, based on your description above. Serious legal no-no.

 

[sdifox]

The thing is, I'm trying to get a positive LMO (labor market opinion) from human resources, canada, to be able to offer jobs to foreign workes (i.e. friends/family in the U.S.). Part of the process is that I have to show that the jobs were offers to Canadian citizens/residents and I was unable to fill the positions with them. Somehow I think "I offered it to Canadians but they were all too stupid" wouldn't get me a positive. I don't think Canadians are stupid, btw my kids are all Canadians, it's just that all the smart/hard-working ones have jobs already.

lulz, that is just bull. There are plenty of people qualified for whatever job you are offering, you just have nepotism in mind.

 

[bbhaag]

If you're cool, you'll send a generic rejection letter. If you're like most, do nothing.

Well that's not really fair. I'm a small business owner that needs to fill about 10-15 positions for a 5 month period. I usually get about 250 apps or more applying for the job. It's not really cost or time effective for me to send each applicant a nice little note saying sorry you didn't make the grade.

I still consider myself cool though.

 

[AreaCode707]

Well that's not really fair. I'm a small business owner that needs to fill about 10-15 positions for a 5 month period. I usually get about 250 apps or more applying for the job. It's not really cost or time effective for me to send each applicant a nice little note saying sorry you didn't make the grade.

I still consider myself cool though.

Go get yourself a free applicant tracking system like ANTS or CATS or iKrut and then you can mass disposition all applicants in a few clicks and send an appropriate email notification informing them that they are no longer in the running. Makes it easier to post jobs and track your hiring activity too.

 

[lxskllr]

Well that's not really fair. I'm a small business owner that needs to fill about 10-15 positions for a 5 month period. I usually get about 250 apps or more applying for the job. It's not really cost or time effective for me to send each applicant a nice little note saying sorry you didn't make the grade.

I still consider myself cool though.

That can be easily automated. You only have to do it for one, and the rest get rejected also.

 

[zokudu]

My company has been inundated with applicants ever since I posted job offers on the job bank of Canada, about 7 new resumes per hour. I haven't seen one single person that I would hire to mow my lawn. I obviously can't go on record that the didn't get a position because they are stupid, so I was wondering if anyone knows what is allowed. I rarely have to use my lawyers, and they're mainly just there to keep me running legally (or if I have to chase money) so I don't think they're 'up' on this.
Thanks guys.

The thing is, I'm trying to get a positive LMO (labor market opinion) from human resources, canada, to be able to offer jobs to foreign workes (i.e. friends/family in the U.S.). Part of the process is that I have to show that the jobs were offers to Canadian citizens/residents and I was unable to fill the positions with them. Somehow I think "I offered it to Canadians but they were all too stupid" wouldn't get me a positive. I don't think Canadians are stupid, btw my kids are all Canadians, it's just that all the smart/hard-working ones have jobs already.

 

[postmortemIA]

let me add, if you are not finding any domestic applicants, you are not offering competitive compensation (or you are not specifying it).
Suppose I have job at Good, Known & Stable Co with decent benefits and salary. Small shop has job opening but not saying what is the compensation. Will I bother to apply? Hell no.

 

[bbhaag]

Go get yourself a free applicant tracking system like ANTS or CATS or iKrut and then you can mass disposition all applicants in a few clicks and send an appropriate email notification informing them that they are no longer in the running. Makes it easier to post jobs and track your hiring activity too.

Well who's going to manually enter all those email address into those programs? Not me and I'm certainly not going to pay someone to do it. All of my apps are walk-ins. My business does not have the means or incentive to do what you are suggesting.

 

[olds]

Well who's going to manually enter all those email address into those programs? Not me and I'm certainly not going to pay someone to do it. All of my apps are walk-ins. My business does not have the means or incentive to do what you are suggesting.

Spend less time in the newsgroups uploading binaries.

 

[stormkroe]

lulz, that is just bull. There are plenty of people qualified for whatever job you are offering, you just have nepotism in mind.

You obviously don't know how trades work in Canada. Salaries are heavily regulated, and I have to pay someone based on their 'trade year'.
Tell me if you would be interested in hiring Oil field journeymen at $38 per hour that have absolutely NO idea how to wire a house, automate a school, etc. Everyone so far has been oil field or grocery store equivalent.
As far as nepotism, while there are several people I would LOVE to hire from the U.S. that I worked with in the past, it's based on knowing their work ethic, job experience, and trust that they won't screw me over. Also, I have no relatives other than my immediate family in Canada, yet all my employees are Canadian.

 

[bbhaag]

Spend less time in the newsgroups uploading binaries.

Hell no. Were would guys like you get all your free shit then?

EDIT:It's funny you mention that though. I just got done posting a nice discussion about the latest episode of Top Gear US. I'm about to post another discussion about it in hd. Care to join in?

 

[stormkroe]

let me add, if you are not finding any domestic applicants, you are not offering competitive compensation (or you are not specifying it).
Suppose I have job at Good, Known & Stable Co with decent benefits and salary. Small shop has job opening but not saying what is the compensation. Will I bother to apply? Hell no.

There are minimums that have to be offered in these jobs, and they all have to be disclosed in the ad. I landed my offer firmly in the middle of going rates.
Things are VERY different here than they are in the states right now. There is so much work here that the Can.gov is opening the floodgates to immigrants because there is a huge labor shortage.
I'm finding out that it must be a specific kind of shortage (shortage of qualified people).

 

[sdifox]

You obviously don't know how trades work in Canada. Salaries are heavily regulated, and I have to pay someone based on their 'trade year'.
Tell me if you would be interested in hiring Oil field journeymen at $38 per hour that have absolutely NO idea how to wire a house, automate a school, etc. Everyone so far has been oil field or grocery store equivalent.
As far as nepotism, while there are several people I would LOVE to hire from the U.S. that I worked with in the past, it's based on knowing their work ethic, job experience, and trust that they won't screw me over. Also, I have no relatives other than my immediate family in Canada, yet all my employees are Canadian.

Why would an oil field journeyman need to know how to wire a house and or automate a school? Or are you talking about oil field journeyman electrician?

 

[stormkroe]

Why would an oil field journeyman need to know how to wire a house and or automate a school? Or are you talking about oil field journeyman electrician?

Sorry for being unclear, this concept is VERY well understood in my industry and I may have been less detailed than I should have.
My example is, a journeyman electrician HAS to be payed journeyman rate (which is between $35 and $41 per hour in my quarter of Alberta) regardless of anything else. This means that an oil-field electrician must make that rate even though he has absolutely no idea whatsoever how to wire a automotive repair shop or a grocery store. The same thing applies for a construction electrician going into the oil field.
I don't know how the shortage is on the oil patch end, but in the building sector it's CRIPPLING. I'm subbing most of my company right now to another large international because they can't find qualified people either.
Take a look on the job bank and see how many openings for electrician there are in Alberta.

 

[WHAMPOM]

My company has been inundated with applicants ever since I posted job offers on the job bank of Canada, about 7 new resumes per hour. I haven't seen one single person that I would hire to mow my lawn. I obviously can't go on record that the didn't get a position because they are stupid, so I was wondering if anyone knows what is allowed. I rarely have to use my lawyers, and they're mainly just there to keep me running legally (or if I have to chase money) so I don't think they're 'up' on this.
Thanks guys.

You contact the ones that meet the job standards and you want to interview.
K.I.S.S. Don't over think the issue.

 

[AreaCode707]

Well who's going to manually enter all those email address into those programs? Not me and I'm certainly not going to pay someone to do it. All of my apps are walk-ins. My business does not have the means or incentive to do what you are suggesting.

What industry are you in? Walk in applicants have become less and less standard, to the point that a walk in is likely displaying a lack of business savvy. There are some industries that are exceptions to this rule, but that has tended to be the trend.

 

[Baked]

Dear Applicant:

You're too ugly to be applying for this position in the first place. Please stop wasting my time. Thank you.

Sincerely,
Baked

 

[grrl]

When I was hiring I sent a standard boilerplate rejection letter to all *qualified* applicants. The vast majority of applicants were international so communications were all electronic. To send out the necessary rejections a clipboard extender is your friend.