Want To Transform the Lives of Low Literate Adults?
Rethink the online job application.
Workforce solutions. We’re all over it. We have some wonderful new adult learning initiatives with aspirations, such as the amazing adult literacy XPRIZE, which so many of us were happy to see. Seven million dollars is being offered to transform the lives of low literacy adults by the Barbara Bush Foundation competition, presented by the Dollar General Literacy Foundation. As an adult educator, this was music to my ears — even more so to the hundreds of hard working program directors in my city who have dedicated their lives to helping adults find homes, pass the GED, learn literacy skills, and get to work.
Dollar General Literacy Foundation….I love Dollar General Stores. Sounds like a great place for a low literate adult who is entering the workforce to get a job.
Now, let’s see what it’s like to apply for a job at Dollar General.
Ok. I want to be a general warehouse worker. This would be a great way to get my foot in the door, to prove what a hard worker I can be, and have security for my family. I will be loyal and dedicated. I know this is a great opportunity.
Follow the pathway from the job application link. Take a look at the application process. Pick the type of job you want to do. Now choose where you want to do it. Now create an account with a username and password. Now go back to your email to confirm your email address. Now put in your personal information. Now go back to the page of the job you wanted. Now fill in a multi-page electronic application. THIS — this online job application — is a problem. It is a huge barrier to entry. After the GED, after the literacy training, after people have learned to use Microsoft Office Suite and browse the web and do searches. Online job applications are in a league of their own.
It’s not just Dollar General, it is not just 7–11. It is any of the places that would provide ideal opportunities for low literate adults to learn on the job skills, to get to work.
I was honored to speak at the annual meeting of the Philadelphia Technology Learning Collaborative today. Much of the discussion was focused on the best ways to use our city’s 50 public computer centers as resources for learning. I gave a presentation about adult online learning, I sat on a panel. And then I hosted a breakout session about workforce training for adults. I used the “fishbowl” method of facilitation, where the whole room sits in a very big circle and three chairs sit in the middle. Two people sit in two of those chairs and a third sits empty, open for anyone to take and join in the discussion.
The two people in the chairs start the discussion. My intent was to discuss necessary adult literacies — what I call new literacies. Technology, digital, information, media — all literacies. The people in the audience repeatedly took the third chair. I can attach files, I can upload pictures, I use email, I can do all sorts of things on computers. But these job applications, I don’t understand. They make me put in a username and password, and create an account? Do I have an account already? That’s just the beginning. One person after another took the chair to share either their own experience, or their experience helping people at public computer centers fill out job applications. Three hours was not an unusual amount of time cited to assist with one application.
Job application literacy? Really?
At Wawa, a convenience store with Philadelphia roots where they make fantastic sandwiches, sandwich construction is a technological wonder. Go to the screen, press on pictures of what you want on your sandwich, and it magically appears moments later. This company was the one most often cited when people shared their difficult application experiences. Our beloved Wawa.
Want to put people to work? Do you really want to help low literate adults? Change the application procedure.
This is not a filter you need for the types of jobs where people get started, work hard, and prove their value. This is a barrier to keep them away.
Want to be a hero, Wawa, 7–11, Dollar General or any of the companies who make this the first step toward employment? Re-think your online application.
