Failure in "effective listening" or failure in "following directions"???

I was applying for a job and the recruiter asked me for the last 5 of my SSN number and out of habit I gave him the last 4. That got to thinking obviously I know the last 5 of my SSN but I gave him the last 4. Would this be classified as a failure in "effective listening" or failure in "following directions" what?

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Comments

tjh87

Failure as in SERIOUSLY over-thinking this one.

cknapp78

Agreed with tjh87 on this one. If they disqualify you for something as ridiculous as this (highly doubtful) then the job wasn't worth it in the first place.

Just as an aside...be very careful handing out even a part of your social security number to any recruiter until you get to the final phase of interviewing and even then, make sure the number is provided to them on some form of legit form like an application, employment offer, etc..

Having been a consultant for so many years, I noticed that for the most part, the only recruiters asking for SSN's up front are the offshore recruiters...I am always very hesitant in those situations.

Corey

BGraves

Haha agree with tjh87

403Forbidden

Most of the time you are asked for your last four, the last five? I've been asked that once and had to say the numbers out in my head to figure out which one to start with haha. We even had a laugh at how it was unusual for the last five but she said "It helps make sure applicants are paying attention." So with that person I think it was more of a "Can you pay attention to what I say?" than a disqualifying factor. That same HR lady wanted me to spell out certain things like "Ping" "CMD" and such things using the phonetic alphabet so it was an odd interview but was fun.

cyberguypr

There's a term within the IT industry for the event the OP describes: "honest mistake".

ccnxjr

How about failure in privacy?
For what purpose will those digits be used?
Usually those go on HR or Payroll forms.
Will the recruiter be conducting a criminal/credit background check?
Those should all be on forms with Privacy Act notifications.

While the law doesn't state explicitly that they can't ask for it, you should know the purpose it's being used for.
I'd have a bit more confidence if it was on a standard company form, rather than a post it note.
Is it company policy or the recruiters own personal method.

That aside, it's an honest mistake that really shouldn't matter.

About7Narwhal

If you don't get a job because something as small as that, then you didn't want to work with them anyway. I cannot imagine how hard day to day tasks would be should you accidentally misspell a word or any other very common "human" mistakes.

To answer your question though, I assume you provided the last 4 out of habit which would mean you did not clearly listen to what was asked of you. Perhaps you saw SSN on a form and just assumed it was 4. I know it is what I would do.