AOT: Application Questions Need A Revamp

 Ok, if you’ve read my article about the application process needing rework, then you likely know where tho is going.  If you haven’t read it yet, keep scrolling.  It’s worth the read!

Ok, so application questions.  I don’t mean name and email, though I do actually have concerns with those things being visible before you’re selected.  Why? Because if we’re really going to select the best candidate, keeping personal info hidden helps to reduce any bias, subconscious or otherwise.  

And that’s where all these additional questions don’t make any sense to me.  Why am I picking my gender, race (and sometimes answering this questions multiple ways), veteran and disability status?  If you’re saying, “because discrimination,” I challenge that because most forms now allow you to opt-out of answering them with a “decline to self-identify”.  Years ago declining to answer wasn’t an option.  Now it is.  For all these questions.  So if I can decline all the questions, why am I answering them at all?  At this point, the most unbiased way to handle this is to not ask them at all.  If you need interview accommodations then that comes up when they request the interview.  If you’re extended the offer and need accommodations, then that comes up after the offer has been extended.  It just makes no sense for me to pick “decline to self-identify identify” for all these questions. Again, if that’s an option, then don’t make me answer them.  You can ascertain some of that from my name alone - which is also not ok, and why I think they should be masked until the interview is extended.  

I also don’t know why my education matters.  Maybe for entry positions, it’s a quick differentiator, but once you have 2-3 years experience under your belt, why does it matter?  So many jobs can be taught, and the interview process should be ascertaining if you’re capable of the learning and thought process required.  Otherwise it’s on my resume.

I will say some of these companies are better about not asking you to re-parse your uploaded resume.  And for that I’m grateful.  And I have heard some people are uploading their resumes in a format that create an image instead of a searchable format - but that’s on the company for allowing you to upload in that format in the first place.

Still a long way to go.  Best of luck to all applicants.

HH&R: cleaning with Hydrogen Peroxide or Vinega

 Note: NEVER MIX THE TWO.  It created an acid that is harmful.  Again, NEVER MIX THE TWO.

That said, using one or the other to clean is PHENOMENAL.  It’s safe, healthy, has no toxic chemicals for scent nor leaves any residue.  It kills topical bacteria and mould.  It sanitized.  It brightens.  It’s amazing.

Recently we were cleaning a rental property for the new tenants.  We’d had a good amount of renovation done inside so there was your standard “Reno debris” like dust or dirt.  But we’d also received the house in a condition that made us wonder if it had ever been cleaned, not just topically wiped down.  My husband went through 8 bottles of vinegar to get the gunk out of the washing machine.  (We had to totally replace the dryer vent pipe.  So gross).  He used multiple bottles of hydrogen peroxide on the shower that we hadn’t redone and by the time he was done I said “omg the tile had a blue hue to it?! No way! So pretty”.  And the grout was almost white again!  The floorboards and tile had no residue on them after two rounds of a vinegar and water mixture cleaning, and everything just finally felt and looked clean again.  

I joke that most people’s basic level of cleaning gets them to about 40-60% and they’re happy to hire a cleaning service to get it to 70-80%.  My husband and my level of clean is 70-80% so it’s just on us (and let’s be honest, on him bc he loves it and is sooooo good at it) to get it to 90-95%.  So when it starts at 20% clean and we get it to 80-95%, the reward is wonderful.  

And all because hydrogen peroxide and vinegar exist.  Never mix them, but separately, they are amazing!