ATTENTION APPLICANTS: You do NOT have a Constitutional Right to a Job

[GoDirectly2Jail]

So, a little over an hour ago I'm getting in to work and sitting down at my desk, when one of the secretaries transfers a call to me.

Now before I go further, let me give a little background. I am responsible for shepherding all our applications through the hiring process. I run the criminal and driving histories on them, review the applications for discrepencies / omissions before deciding to pass them on to a panel interview, which is all just the tippy-tip of the iceberg of the whole process.

The call that is transferred to me is from one of these applicants, and he wants to know what his status is. While his name sounds familiar, I don't remember whether he was passed through or not, so I pull his folder. It is there that I read that he was convicted of misdemeanor assault, which is a downgrade from the charge at arrest, which was felonious assault.

Because of those charges, he did not move forward to an interview.

When I get on the phone and explain that due to his criminal history he would not be a good fit for our agency, he starts getting belligerent, saying, "So, because I was hit in the head with a brick, I'M not a good fit?!" To which I replied that I was not going to debate the merits of his arrest with him, and that he would not be moving forward in our hiring process.

Then he starts demanding to speak to a supervisor, that he was calling from the FBI and that we would be hearing from his lawyer. It was at that point that I ended the call.

The moral of the story is that whatever you do, don't try to bully the people that hold your hiring decision in their hand. Needless to say, I made a note in the hiring computer that he was to never be hired in any capacity for any future vacancy.

Attention applicants. This well written post was not intended as a sticky but do to it being VERY appropriate for LE applicants , I decided to put it here. Read and heed. MCSAP.