Application form and personal details, how much information is too much information?

rizzodun

My wife recently downloaded an application form from a company website that does homecare/healthcare.

I had a look through it and was surprised by the amount of personal details they want completed on the application form.

Some examples:
PPS Number
Passport Number and Issue date
Driving License Number & expiry date
Car insurance policy number & expiry date
Nct expiry date
Full complete employment history with any gaps explained (depending on age this could be quite a task, what about that paper round or market veg stall when they were young?)
Do you smoke
Do you drink, and if so how much do you drink per week
Complete detailed medical history

And of course the statement at the end that all is true and nothing has been omitted.

Now, I understand that the company may have to make sure the candidate is trustworthy and genuine given that they will be working with vulnerable people, but isn't that a bit of overkill and a bit too much to be giving a company at the point of application, I understand that the likes of insurance details etc may be needed should the candidate be successful at interview stage but that's a lot of information for a company to hold when they might not even call you back, there is also now notification that I can see that the information will be kept confidential and private.

So, anyone have any thoughts on this? Is this just the way things are?

garhjw

Is this info for Garda vetting? Seems like a lot of info for a standard application. I've never had to provide more than the usual...l PPS number etc

rizzodun

I'm sure there could be Garda vetting, but no, this is their standard application form, no guarantee of even an interview from this.

davo10

This is all standard for healthcare positions, she is being trusted with the care of the weakest and most vulnerable of society. When things go wrong and complaints are made, it is too late then for the employer to start looking into the backround of the care worker. The car licence and state of the car are important as travel is an integral part of her daily work and while traveling to homes she is working for the company and is therefore their responcilbility.

rizzodun

davo10 wrote: »

This is all standard for healthcare positions, she is being trusted with the care of the weakest and most vulnerable of society. When things go wrong and complaints are made, it is too late then for the employer to start looking into the backround of the care worker. The car licence and state of the car are important as travel is an integral part of her daily work and while traveling to homes she is working for the company and is therefore their responcilbility.

I fully agree about the trust issue etc, but, this was simply an application form, no guarantee of job interview, being asked to supply this at the interview stage or final stage before employment would be more reasonable I would have thought.

Jim2007

rizzodun wrote: »

I fully agree about the trust issue etc, but, this was simply an application form, no guarantee of job interview, being asked to supply this at the interview stage or final stage before employment would be more reasonable I would have thought.

I guess they don't intend to was their time on people who can't meet their basic requirements... no point in getting to the end only to discover that the person selected should have been excluded on the first filter.

MrWalsh

rizzodun wrote: »

Some examples:
PPS Number
Passport Number and Issue date
Driving License Number & expiry date
Car insurance policy number & expiry date
Nct expiry date
Full complete employment history with any gaps explained (depending on age this could be quite a task, what about that paper round or market veg stall when they were young?)
Do you smoke
Do you drink, and if so how much do you drink per week
Complete detailed medical history

I can understand them looking for the identification documents, past employment history and perhaps the drivers license if the job includes driving - but the ones Ive put a strike through they have no way of checking so she could put anything down.

rizzodun

To be honest, I myself wouldn't be too willing to give the details above to a (potentially) faceless organisation over the internet with no guaranteed reply, there isn't anything mentioned on the document or website about how they treat your data.
As mentioned, they cannot check the car insurance details or NCT, so why even ask for it?

I know it will be said if she doesn't like it then don't apply, but still wondering if people think this much detail is necessary on an application form?

rizzodun

Jim2007 wrote: »

I guess they don't intend to was their time on people who can't meet their basic requirements... no point in getting to the end only to discover that the person selected should have been excluded on the first filter.

Yes, but a simple question on the form of:
Do you have full, clean driving license?
Do you have your own car?
Are you entitled to work in the EU?

Should surely be enough to decide if it's worth continuing.

cerastes

davo10 wrote: »

This is all standard for healthcare positions, she is being trusted with the care of the weakest and most vulnerable of society. When things go wrong and complaints are made, it is too late then for the employer to start looking into the backround of the care worker. The car licence and state of the car are important as travel is an integral part of her daily work and while traveling to homes she is working for the company and is therefore their responcilbility.

Jim2007 wrote: »

I guess they don't intend to was their time on people who can't meet their basic requirements... no point in getting to the end only to discover that the person selected should have been excluded on the first filter.

rizzodun wrote: »

To be honest, I myself wouldn't be too willing to give the details above to a (potentially) faceless organisation over the internet with no guaranteed reply, there isn't anything mentioned on the document or website about how they treat your data.
As mentioned, they cannot check the car insurance details or NCT, so why even ask for it?

I know it will be said if she doesn't like it then don't apply, but still wondering if people think this much detail is necessary on an application form?

Information crossed off by another poster is too much to ask for.

rizzodun

cerastes wrote: »

Information crossed off by another poster is too much to ask for.

So you think PPS number, passport number and expiry and driving license number and expiry are acceptable? Do you think they ring the Revenue/Gardai before deciding whether to offer you an interview?