Does ones' address within Metro-Atlanta play a role in job opportunies (Alpharetta: employment, buy)

[atlantagreg30127]

In the places where I've worked, they do consider applicant location if there's a larger pool of applicants simply because where I work sometimes requires "on call" people who need to come in on short notice. We're in Cobb and if you live in Gwinnett, chances are you're going to lose out to someone who's in Cobb or Paulding simply due to their location. That's specific to our type of needs however, and not everyone needs that on their checklist.

To be completely honest, the biggest thing that gets you nixed from a lot of companies (or placed below others) is if you have young children. I have worked for a variety of businesses in all of my years, and have had both female and male bosses, and nearly every time they have (quietly) indicated they don't like hiring people who have young children because those people tend to be out of work quite a bit having to juggle the kid's school problems, illnesses, etc. Is that legal? Well... but it happens... more than most may assume. So let's say there was a job in the Perimeter Mall area, and you had three young kids and lived 1 mile away. A single childless woman who lives 25 miles away who is otherwise similarly qualified for the job also applies for it. At least regarding the people I've worked for, they would most likely contact the other woman first.

Moral of the story: So long as you don't live a huge distance from a job location, that shouldn't be an extreme issue (unless it's a position that requires you get to work with short notice quickly). But I would make sure you completely avoid discussions about children, religion, politics, etc if they come up. They're not supposed to ask you personal questions like that in an interview, but, some will try to sneak these things in, in a chit-chatty kind of way if you seem to be hitting it off with them on a personal level (especially when you have male-to-male or female-to-female interviews). You'd be amazed how easy it is to go "off the official record" during an interview without even realizing you're doing it or giving away personal life info.

[jcoffy]

Originally Posted by researchnerd

I suspect hiring managers do take location into consideration, especially if they have 200 applicants for 1 position. However, I know for a fact that it's not necessarily a dealbreaker - I've been hired twice for a job 50 miles away from home.

I do agree physical address is a big concern to getting a call for the interview. Even there if someone has the same potential than you he or she will get the first call. Last year I had a job interview in Atlanta at Emory healthcare they droped me because they have found someone in place. In a booming economic isn't matter for now it's.

[jcoffy]

Originally Posted by DawgPark

I'm in the middle of a hiring process right now and location of the applicant certainly does matter to me. Granted, we are a small biz, not a major HR dept.
But, I have had many employees driving an hour thru traffic to get to my business and I simply will never do it again.

That being said, as long as the applicant lives within 20-30 minutes, I don't care what their address is.

That being said, are you ready to hire someone from out of state.

[neil0311]

Originally Posted by atlantagreg30127

To be completely honest, the biggest thing that gets you nixed from a lot of companies (or placed below others) is if you have young children. I have worked for a variety of businesses in all of my years, and have had both female and male bosses, and nearly every time they have (quietly) indicated they don't like hiring people who have young children because those people tend to be out of work quite a bit having to juggle the kid's school problems, illnesses, etc. Is that legal? Well... but it happens... more than most may assume. So let's say there was a job in the Perimeter Mall area, and you had three young kids and lived 1 mile away. A single childless woman who lives 25 miles away who is otherwise similarly qualified for the job also applies for it. At least regarding the people I've worked for, they would most likely contact the other woman first.

What you are describing is illegal. Doing something like that, if it can be proven, is grounds for a discrimination lawsuit. If the person is female and/or black and/or over 40 years old, then add more fuel to the fire. Personally, I've never considered whether someone has children when considering hiring them. How would you even know unless you ask them whether or not they have children, and that's illegal. Maybe I'm just the rare guy who follows the law and hires the most qualified candidate on merit...sounds like it.

Also, in my company many people work from home and are located all over the country in virtual teams, so locations aren't important. I recognize that's probably not the case for all companies.

[DawgPark]

Originally Posted by neil0311

What you are describing is illegal. Doing something like that, if it can be proven, is grounds for a discrimination lawsuit. If the person is female and/or black and/or over 40 years old, then add more fuel to the fire. Personally, I've never considered whether someone has children when considering hiring them. How would you even know unless you ask them whether or not they have children, and that's illegal.

Also, in my company many people work from home and are located all over the country in virtual teams, so locations aren't important. I recognize that's probably not the case for all companies.

You can't ask and you don't have to. Mothers with young children will often mention their little ones within 30-60 seconds of conversation.

And sure, if you're working from home, who cares? But, those of us in businesses that serve the public depend on our employees to show up for work.

[DawgPark]

Originally Posted by jcoffy

That being said, are you ready to hire someone from out of state.

Perhaps, you misread my post. I won't even hire anyone over 30 minutes away.

Lawrenceville, Cumming, and Canton are out of state to me.

[noah]

Yes. Some employers more then others are picky about how far their employees commute. At my work we lost a long term top performer because of this and have another for who it is an issue so now when they consider candidates it is an issue.

[residinghere2007]

I agree that the location can play a part in regards to how far the person lives from the workplace where they applied.

I am also in the process of weeding through applicants. I got over 100 applicants for one position and I weeded a lot of them out after looking at qualifications by seeing how close they live to our office. I don't want someone getting stuck in traffic and me having to do their work (I am hiring someone to take on some of my own job responsibilities that I don't have the time to do anymore). I prefer for someone to live ITP since it is a downtown location and the closer the more likely I called them in for interviews. The furthest away that I considered lived in Decatur.

ETA: I am one of only 2 people in my office who lives near our workplace and it is a pain that all my office co-workers have to call me to get things for them or check into something at the office due to them being in traffic for over an hour in the morning. One of our workers lives in Cumming and she gets stuck in traffic for 3 hours sometimes.

[erick295]

Originally Posted by neil0311

What you are describing is illegal. Doing something like that, if it can be proven, is grounds for a discrimination lawsuit.

I really doubt that. I'm no lawyer but I don't know of any laws that prohibit discrimination based on whether someone has children or not. Only inherent traits like disabilities, age, ethnicity, and sexual orientation are covered by those laws (I guess you could say religion isn't inherent, but that would be the only exception). Having children is a lifestyle choice.

[Onthemove2014]

This thread is why we need TSPLOST.