Bizarro George Costanza?

Am I the only who thinks that this is a sign from god? Listen dude, if you keep jumping through hoops then yeah, you'll get your job but that manager isnt going to forget how "eager" you were to work there.

"Hey William, vomit on eisles 4 and 7. And when you're done with that you have to take care of underware returns, dont forget your gloves."

@Wormfather is Wormfather: I concur.. some things just happen for a reason.

Sounds like someone is going through a lot of trouble to avoid a drug test.

@gmoney: Are you thinking of Costanza's Play Now experience, or Kramer at Brant, Leeland?

I think for anti-discrimination things they have to at least keep his application on record for a certain time. If he can prove somehow he filled it out maybe with a witness I think they can get into trouble.

@sodomanaz: Retaking a drug test, I should say.

@Gokuhouse: I think you are crossing two different things here. He was already employed by Target, but he was only seasonal.

@Wormfather is Wormfather: Yeah, but you never know somebody's circumstances. Maybe he's extremely grateful to have this job.

Don't they give you a slip when you do your test like telling you where to go? I have a lot paperwork from jobs I have applied for. Does William have ANY paperwork from Target? I admit I have never applied to Target itself, so I'm not sure what the hiring process entails, but I would think he should have some paperwork from going through whatever process they have for hiring such as appointment times.

Who interviewed you? Call that person up. Surely you have caught the name of someone you were dealing with and have mail or email records.

The drug testing company would have provided the candidate with paperwork upon completion of the test. This paperwork would have included a unique number that matches his drug test sample.

I think he imagined the entire application and hiring process. How do two companies lose all data on an individual? Did he recently go to a comedy hypnotist show?

I had something like this happen to me once. Got a job offer on thursday, called back friday to accept it. Was told the person who this job reported to had been fired along with every boss above him in the department.... They call back the next week let me know i can still have the job. Great! i turn in my notice and move to the new town. Only to find out once i start that they goofed and didn't have the position funded. So no pay...

Funny how fast they find the money when you start talking to a lawyer.

@shorty63136: Seriously. I have a cousin that was looking for work (retail, fast food, anything) for about 6 months. If this had happened to her she probably would have cried.

I'm not sure why his first instinct, when told that Target had no record of hiring him, was to contact the outside contractor and not the person who interviewed him. My first move would have been to call the person who offered me the job and ask them for help. At least having someone on the inside who vouches for you would be helpful in getting things moving. And certainly there must be some correspondence he has saved. And I have never heard of someone taking a drug test without being given some sort of "receipt". This seems a bit odd to me.

@rpm773:

The job with the Penske File

Target has OP's SSN and DNA and will create an army of seasonal workers.

Seriously though, I'd be more than a little concerned if any company "lost" my hiring record bearing my SSN. Or maybe this was an elaborate scam to get his SSN, and the person he was dealing with prior isn't even related to Target?

@Git Em SteveDave loves this guy-->: I've not worked for Target, but based on my experiences with various big retail stores during seasonal hiring, it's entirely possible he wouldn't have much in the way of paperwork that he got to keep. At Toys R Us, for example, the only proof I got to keep that I was hired was given to me on my very first scheduled day--my timecard and nametag.

And I sincerely doubt the manager that hired me initially would have remembered me, for that matter.

@Git Em SteveDave loves this guy-->: Yeah that makes sense. Seems like he would have at least SOMETHING Target-related to show he had in fact applied.

O_O

Drug test?

You have to pass a drug test to work at Target? Is this some sort of crazy American thing? In Canada, I don't know a single person who had to do a drug test for any sort of job, ever.

Target? Bet he was hired to ensure that the truck containing shopping carts had a closed door. (Next consumerist posting)

I walked into a Target the other day... but I missed.

@sodomanaz: What I'm talking about was the lack of his application even being present at Target. He could say they were discriminating him and threw his application in the garbage.

I think the Bob's interviewed him and after realizing their mistake they "fixed the glitch".

@Mary:

Yep, where is the request form for the drug test? Where is HIS form from the drug testing company saying he had completed his test?

@pinkpuppet:

Same here. I did two holidays at TRU and I disappeared from the schedule one February. No one even bothered to tell me that I'd been fired. Holiday help is the lowest form of retail slave. At least they let me keep my nametag....

This exact thing happened to me when I applied during high school. Since I just wanted some extra cash and was busy with school, I eventually gave up contacting people.

Now I'm out of college and just got a job at Target's pharmacy, where they again lost half my paperwork. They called me a month into my job and asked me "if I ever applied" and "if I was officially hired." Luckily all I had to do was sign a couple of disclosure forms that were missing. I don't know what they do with their paperwork, but they need to stop and slap themselves.

Sounds like the good ole "I accidentally hired the wrong person, so let's make it all disappear" trick

I'm sure that if someone applied via the internet, or in a computerized way that they block out the SSN except the last four, but I'm not sure exactly how Target's application process operates.

@Ashground: Yup, you have to pass a drug test for MANY different jobs before they hire you. Complete rubbish, imo. I don't care if you have an ongoing cocaine dependency as long as you show up no high, do your work, and then leave. IMO, it's an invasion of privacy, esp. since more clearly dangerous drugs are out of your system w/in a few days while something harmless like pot remains for a month.

I thought it was hilarious that I didn't need a drug test to do childcare, but when I applied to Blockbuster they requested it...

@Ashground: Oh man, I need to move to Canada.

They drug test for everything down here. Not literally everything, but yeah many "menial" jobs require drug testing. Employers often get discounts on health care if they test.

I'm an engineer, and I've been tested several times. I feel lucky I haven't had to take a hair test yet.

It's a huge, for-profit industry, and one of the big reasons our drug laws remain crushingly draconian.

@Ashground: yes, it is sad that lots of retail employers ask for drug tests. they drug test at blockbuster too and I say you'd have to be high to endure working there.

@tmlfan81: He should have told them how much he loved Michael Bolton.

I worked at Target for like 2 weeks.

You apply by sitting at a computer kiosk in the corner, usually either on the way out of the store or over near customer service. It takes about 10 minutes, and then you have to call in to some bat-phone thing to finish it up. It's all electronic. Which means that unless the server that handles the applications barfed (which would mean they lost a lot more than HIS records) there's a copy of his app somewhere, but someone is being lazy.

If he survived that and actually had a sit-down interview with a manager, that person would have a printout of the application data, which they'd have to have lost as well.

I would recommend finding the manager who interviewed you and speaking with them to get the mess sorted out.

If they give you too much more trouble, go look somewhere else for a job, and return your red shirt and khakis to the store.

@Wormfather is Wormfather: /agree. It's just like dating: don't be with someone who doesn't want you.

I know this isn't the point of the story or anything, but I need to say, DRUG TESTING IS EVIL!!!

It's unconstitutional (unlawful search and seizure) and completely ineffective (a drug test is really a weed test).

Pee for enjoyment, not for employment.

@Corporate-Shill: That's what I was thinking, too--the company that did the drug test should've given him a form with an identification number on it so he could prove he went in for his sample. Every time I've taken a drug test for a job, I've had to bring that test paperwork in to the company later--I get a copy, they get a copy, they use my ID number to get results.

I'm also wondering if their phone system being down could be related. If one system's down, usually a bunch of them are--at least in big box stores they are, IME.

William, they just wanted to watch you pee.

@Ashground: I know. How strange is that? Even for my government job, we don't have drug tests...just security clearnace forms that you have to fill out.

@Ashground: "In Canada, I don't know a single person who had to do a drug test for any sort of job, ever."

I've had to pass a drug test for every job in my adult life.

@Rhayader: just move to Canada. No drug tests here, unless you want to be a cop or something.

@Ashground: I would guess the rate of people with missing fingers is higher in Canada.

@Rhayader: I don't know about you, but I haven't had good experiences working with pot-heads or addicts of any sort.

1. EECB (It is retail after all, and the muckety mucks are probably expecting it.)

2. Does that pretty young thang with the dark hair in the front row of the photo have to pee?

@Ashground: The great thing about my job is that they used the oral swab, which detects usage of most major substances in the past 72 hours. They also had a two to three tier application process which included a "oh hey come in on (a few days later) so we can sign the paperwork and do your drug test, so it wasn't real hard to get clean for it (just stop for three days).

Piss tests suck and make everyone paranoid and nervous.

My first job out of college was seasonal help for a major ny dept store, (now closed).

LOL we all knew we were being fired on Christmas Eve, so we delighted in telling customers all sorts of crazy information.....

Joke was on me though, *I* got hired as a perm employee!!

Seasonal help is the bottom of the retail food chain....can you imagine being at the bottom of THAT food chain? YIKES!

@Oranges w/ Cheese: i don't knwo about you but i have had better experience with potheads than i have alcoholics. drinking being legal, i find it harder to work with legal addicts as opposed to illicit ones because they think they can get away with it.

My sister is an office manager at a temp place. The poor bastards have to pay for there own piss test to get a job. They take 75$ out of their 1st check and they own the machine and it takes 5 minutes right there at the office. What a scam

target most likely doesn't owe him anything. i mean sure, it'd be courteous to find out what the hell happened, but most states are "at will" for employment meaning neither the employee or the employer needs to give more notice than "goodbye" for termination of employment if there isn't a contract involved.