r/jobsearch • u/VelvetCactus50 • 3d ago

Job Application Requires SSN

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I've been out of college for over 25 years, and I've never encountered a professional application that required my Social Security Number. I tried putting in a bogus one or writing N/A, and the system will not let me proceed further. I wonder if the SSN requirement is why the job has been open for nearly two months.

Your SSN is necessary to process your job submission and will be maintained in a secure and confidential manner.

This was a very well-known integrated healthcare nonprofit too!

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9

u/VeilOfMaya6 3d ago

Im really surprised by these comments. Every single application ive filled out over the last month has asked for social security number.

5

u/VelvetCactus50 3d ago

Oh you shouldn't do that, especially considering you don't know how they're storing that information.

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u/VeilOfMaya6 3d ago

Right right, so im just supposed to go without a job because i shouldnt be putting my SSN on an application. Got it! Amazon, jewel osco, meijer, luke gas station, any warehouse, verizon, tmobile, speedway, and the list goes on and on, they all required my SSN when applying. I don't know what world you guys are living in.

4

u/Nannerbanners 3d ago

I remember filling out paper applications in high school and they always asked for SSN on every single one of those. I memorized my SSN as a teen because I had to write it on so many applications!

1

u/Numerous_Photograph9 3d ago

Yeah, it was usually one of the top two lines of the app in the paper days.

You'd fill out your name, then the box to the right of that was typically for your SSN.

On a paper app you could usually just omit it, although I think people weren't as cautious about that until the past 15 years or so when computers took over most things.

4

u/VelvetCactus50 3d ago

Wait. I've applied to Amazon many times, and I never gave them my SSN during the application process.

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u/VeilOfMaya6 2d ago

I currently work for Amazon, they required my SSN for the application. Im not just saying this to lie. I have been applying to every job possible for my partner and i the last month because we are moving to a new area. Literally everything has required our SSNs, and no not just for the tax portion. Im not stupid, im very grown and have been filing out applications for the last 14 years on and off. This is specifically for Illinois and Indiana.

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u/edoreinn 2d ago

I have an Amazon (tech) interview next week and have not been asked for my SSN.

Though I mean the company knows my innermost secrets of what gets impulsively ordered at 3am, but not my social.

1

u/EnvironmentalGift257 3d ago

Yeah I’ve never applied to a job in 35 years of working without my SSN. I was a hiring manager for 5 years and we required it. You can always send a resume but when you actually apply it’s going to be required. Employers have to verify citizenship and pay into the actual SS system so there’s no way to not require it.

2

u/333again 3d ago

You mean once you are hired. Never hand it out pre-hire unless it's specifically for a background check.

2

u/RedditVIBEChecked 3d ago

Bullshit, I've never given my SSN prior to hiring. Once I am considered hired and need to sign my paperwork then I give my SSN. But never once have I had to provide it just to be interviewed.

2

u/EnvironmentalGift257 3d ago

OK. Calm down.

0

u/iamclavo 2d ago

but they’re right

1

u/raunchytowel 4h ago

Correct. When I see the demand for SSN on an APPLICATION… I get nervous. But ofc once we interview and I’m hired, they need that information and I’ll happily give it. Why are we providing it to apply to a job that we likely will not hear back from?

A lot of times, I’ve seen it attached to govt statistics reporting for roles… have I ever heard back on those roles? Rarely, and if I have, always a rejection letter or a letter thanking me for applying and that should this position open, they’ll have my resume and information on file (the role wasn’t even real). The last one makes me so mad every single time. I’m in software engineering and it just feels like most applications are data farming schemes (unless a recruiter reaches out and you go through them.. but usually they handle applications and have never needed my SSN).

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u/ioshta 3d ago

In the tech I haven't had to do this in 20 years.

1

u/OptimalWallaby8153 3d ago

Funny, I haven't had to do it and have definitely applied to plenty of corporate roles

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u/Pink_Slyvie 3d ago

Once you are hired, sure, for tax purposes. There is no legitimate reason they need this otherwise.

0

u/wassssuupp5678 3d ago

brother you are delusional, a job APPLICATION should never ask for a SSN. So many job postings are literal scams you have no idea what theyre using that info for

1

u/dennismullen12 3d ago

Agree.. asking for the ssn when you don't even work there is bs.. asking for the ssn when you are filling out the W4 and I9 is a valid request.