What Can Be Asked on an Employment Application?
The Fair Credit Reporting Act outlines and helps regulate how information---credit history in particular---can be used to conduct background checks on potential employees. Under federal law, applicants must be informed of any such research practices. However, it can also be useful to know what the most commonly asked questions on an employment application are in order to be well-prepared in any situation with potential employers.
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The Basics
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Employers will ask for your full legal name, date of birth, address, phone number, and citizenship status. These are asked for identification and contact purposes, and to verify that you are legally authorized to work in the United States.
Employment History
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This section will likely make up the bulk of an application for employment. Here, you will be asked to list your most recent jobs---usually the last 3 or 4---and will be asked to list such information as how long you were with each employer, your role(s) and duties, and reasons for leaving. You may also be asked to provide contact information for supervisors or other authorities under whom you worked at each of these positions.
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References
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Here, you will be required to provide roughly 2 to 4 professional references. These should be former supervisors, colleagues, or others familiar with your work, preferably whom you have known for some time.
Availability and Expected Salary
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You will be asked to indicate when you are available for work, either by filling in specific time slots for each day of the week, or checking off times of day such as "mornings" or "evenings." Also, your interviewer may ask you to write down an expected salary range.
Background Check/Drug Screen Consent
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Several employers conduct background checks on potential employees, and many also require a drug screen as a condition of employment. In both cases, the employer must notify the applicant of any investigative methods they might use, and inform the applicant of their rights. According to the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, the most common aspects of a potential employee's history that is revealed in a background check are driving records, criminal records, credit history, educational information, and court records.
What cannot be asked on an employment application
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There are certain personal questions that an employer is never allowed to ask an applicant. These include any queries that may indicate demographic information such as religion, marital status, sexual orientation, nationality, health information and military status.
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