ben4345

I got turned down for work because I do not have transportation?!?

WTF

chandltp

You got to the interview didn't you? What question did they ask and how did you answer it?

ben4345

I didn't even get the interview part.

In any case, how do you propose I should answer that if I do get asked?

FWIW, I once showed up for work, employer realized I was riding a bicycle to work. When he found out, he let me go that day.

OldsCOOL

Tell them you will surely never miss work because your car is in the shop or needs to be taken in for repair that day.

SkippyX

Wow. That really sucks.

That's one really good thing about my employer. They're really good about me bicycling to work. They allow me to bring my bike into the shop. They don't mind me hanging my sweat soaked riding gear up in my work area to dry off.

The outfit I work for is about to change hands. The new owners and the old owners were in yesterday. We had a bit of a ceremony and the company bought all of us lunch. One of the directors in the new outfit found out I bicycle commute (40 mile r/t). He recently lost over 100 lbs. He and I hung out and talked bicycling for about a half an hour. He was really interested in how I routed my commute to avoid being killed. He told me he was interested in dusting off his old bicycle and using it as a commuter.

I might have just made a friend in the head office!

Velo Dog

When they ask if you have transportation, say yes, then shut up. Don't volunteer that it's a bicycle. Don't wear Lycra to the interview. Leave your helmet outside.
This won't work if you have to carry a 400-pound sample case on the job...

chandltp

Tell them you have reliable transportation if they ask. If they ask if you have a car, that's a different story. I'm not sure anyone I've worked for cared how I got there.

Why did your employer let you go for riding a bike to work?

fietsbob

'Bill of Rights' is suspended on the job..

BlazingPedals

Was a car required for the job? If not, it shouldn't be an issue. I bicycle-commuted for years and could get to work even on days when all my car-driving co-workers were snowed in.

ahsposo 

In Portland?

Ratzinger

I live in a different country than you...but I can't imagine that this could be even remotely legal. Unless you need a car as part of your job (delivery driver, home-visit nurse etc...) then how could someone legally fire you for not having a car?

hueyhoolihan

just lie.

remember, if you are convinced that they will not hire you if you ride a bike, you've got nothing to lose by lying to them about owning a car. i also suggest lying on your resume too. same logic applies.

you've got nothing to lose in either case. if they never find out, you're golden , and so what if they find out? they fire you and you don't have a job that you wouldn't have had even IF you had told them the truth. see?

enigmaT120

That makes way too much sense. I must be tired.

apollored

Tell them next time that your transport to work:

Gets you there faster and on time.

Alert and ready to work

Happy

Not grumpy because you had to sit in traffic for ages and a smiling because
you could get round all those cones and roadworks.

Even if public transport is up the spout you can get to work and if it is a Public Holiday
you can still get to work when there are no buses/trains/trams or whatever you have over there.

Healthier and fitter and less likely to call to take lots of sick days off.

Win x 6

And 97% less likely to get wet going to work

chevychic55

Could you borrow a car or rent one for the interview? I know you have been fired for not having a car in the past but I highly doubt that would happen again. Seems like an anomaly.

dscheidt

Car ownership, or lack there of, is not a protected category, unlike, say, race, sex, or religion. Employers are free to hire or fire their employees for any other reason, or none at all, unless there's a contractual agreement not to, as in the case of a union collective bargaining agreement. They can decide they don't care to employee people who don't drive, they can decide the dont' care to employ people who like the Green Bay Packers, or just about anything else.

Nachoman

Was the job for pizza delivery?

ahsposo 

Yeah. What's the job?

Just kinda curious.

Machka 

Another one who wonders what the job was.

I also wonder whether the OP read the job description before applying for the job.

Just a guess, but I wonder if the job description stated that a motorised vehicle (car) is required for the job. Some jobs do required that the employee have a car so that the employee can drive out to the job sites or visit clients. Employees are then reimbursed for vehicle expenses.

If the OP didn't read the job description, the reason he was turned down for the job might have been because he showed evidence that he couldn't read.

Savagewolf

I hate to be a bad guy, but I'm skeptical that someone didn't get the job because they ride a bike. The only reasons I could see for that being true are such as what Machka mentioned where some car use is needed at times, or they assumed you didn't have a drivers license that is sometimes needed, or that you are expected to dress/appear in a certain way that is more difficult for cyclists to do (aka suit and tie and the company has no shower room). If it's not for one of these reasons, which if it was probably had some sort of clue in the job posting/style of job, then I would think that they are just being nice and not telling the OP the real reason.

Machka 

We are missing a whole lot of details to this story.

A couple more ...
-- How far away does the OP live from the place of employment?
-- Is there alternate transportation to the place of employment?

I worked for a company that was located 35 km away from where I lived, out in the country. And there was no public transportation out there. One of the questions I was asked in the interview was whether or not I had reliable transportation. A perfectly reasonable question because they want to know if the potential employee can get there regularly, or if it is going to be difficult to get there.

Cycling 70 km/day year round through a Canadian prairie winter would not have been doable.


And in this case the OP did not even have an interview. So how does he know he was turned down because of transportation?

ratdog

I was going to say the same thing. You can't be turned down for the job before you even interview since you were only turned down for an interview. Even then, I interview people for my company and I can tell you that with all the hundreds of applicants for each position, all it takes is something as dumb as walking in with sun glasses on your head for an interview to get bounced (actually happened). There is a good chance the OP was dinged for other reasons.

ben4345

Sorry, I was half asleep and irrationally upset. When I made this thread.
I got turn down for a job via temp agency today, claiming it was hard to place me because I didn't have transportation. The job I had that I got let go from was a custom metal and carpentry shop, they made proto type store set ups for nike and other large corps.

Machka 

I can see the temp agency's point of view. Without a car, you're limited to places that are close to where you live, or that have decent public transportation, and places that don't require any sort of driving as a part of the job.


I'm all for commuting by bicycle, but sometimes it is rather limiting.

Retro Grouch 

It was probably 20 years ago that my son lost his driver's license. The next morning he got up and skateboarded 3 miles to the bus stop and another mile from where he got off of the bus to his work. After he did that for a week or so I started driving him to the bus stop. He never missed a single day of work due to transportation. That's when I learned how strong his work ethic was and how much character he had. What could have been a disgrace turned out to be an achievement that made his father proud.