I had interviewed with a representative of Ford Motor Company for a summer position with their Powertrain Operations division. A few weeks later I was contacted (via telephone) by a Recruiting and Placement representative, Ms. Kiana M. Rose, about flying to Detroit the following Friday/Saturday for a plant tour and second-round interviews. No mention was made at that time of any physicals or drug testing to be conducted.

Upon arriving in Detroit late Friday night (11:00 or so) the other two MIT students and I were met by a Ford representative, whereupon we were given information packets about Ford in general, Powertrain Operations, and a schedule and other information regarding the following day (see attached documents for the latter). On the way to the hotel, we found out that Ford is among the 23% of companies employing 500 or more people who routinely give job applicants drug tests, i.e. that we would be tested the next morning. The rationale was that a large number of offers were going to be made based on these interviews; it was apparently in Ford's financial interest to test us,[1] while we were already there, rather than flying us out again later in the term. The other interviewees, those within convenient driving range, would be tested later, negative results being a condition of employment.

As far as the testing procedure was concerned, written consent was required, and given, before taking the test; it was implicitly clear that refusal would terminate the interviewing process.

What happened next:

The actual testing appeared to be approximately based upon HHS (Health and Human Services) Guidelines for drug testing of federal employees:[2] The sample was taken in a private bathroom, with all the water shut off except the commode; I do not recall if blueing agents had been added to the water. I was required to present a photo ID after the sample was collected, rather than upon arrival to the test site; I was allowed to wash my hands only after the sample was collected, its temperature had been taken, and all the paperwork had been completed. Regarding confidentiality of results, I vaguely remember reading some disclaimer on the consent form about `only those with a need to know' being given the results -- although what that really means is unclear to me.

While I suppose the night before -- seven hours or so -- might be called advance notice by some, as a matter of courtesy and openness I would much rather have known about the testing when I accepted the plant trip. I feel as if Ford wanted to spring this on us, being `high-risk college students,' after all. Rather humorously, from my perspective, Ford's tight schedule for the day was blown to shreds when four people were unable to urinate on command; they wound up waiting until repeated trips to a water fountain gave them sufficient motivation. Perhaps if we had been notified in a more appropriate and timely fashion than the night before, when we were all tired from a long day, we could have been more prepared. Indeed, I wonder if any of us had not been told about the test at all, at least not until that morning?

As far as learning more about Ford's operations (presumably one purpose of a plant trip), the time dedicated to the physicals and drug tests meant that we -- the out-of-towners -- missed out on touring some of Powertrain Operation's facilities with the rest of the group. Instead, we had the dubious pleasure of a cursory van tour of the various Ford buildings in Dearborn. Other than a generally bad taste in my mouth, my conclusions are:

1) I wish we had studied Biological Testing of Workers about two weeks earlier in 2.95J; and

2) my decision to accept another job offer became that much easier through Ford's rather impolite handling of this issue.

[2] Rothstein, p. 702.