I think some HR people perhaps are used to industries where they are free to act imperiously, and candidates bow in trembling obeisance to their authority. The worst thing, I think, is to ask a candidate to fill out such an application before the interview has even begun. It makes a very bad first impression, and conveys the message that you won't even talk to them before they jump through the hoops. That may leave the candidate stewing throughout the whole interview. They can have the candidate look over the application and sign it at the end, if it must have a legally bind ing signature.
Candidates have better things to do than fill out tedious applications.
He closes by offering some simple, but very sound, advice on how to check out a prospective employer's reputation. X 365 days a year, then treated an employee with contempt right in front of me. To cap it all off he then showed me a dangerously infected spider bite on his arm. But I'm still at work today, Son. My advic e is, ask around, but don't just ask people who are working there.