Every once in awhile, someone asks me for help, but I can’t really help them.
A perfect example of it happened this morning.
A woman I know logged in to the State of Florida’s employment site at jobs.myflorida.com, to apply for a specific clerical position with the state.
There she spent a few hours manually entering all of the data from her resume into a myriad of boxes on many different screens.
When she got finally got to the last screen, she re-entered her password to confirm who she was, and clicked on the “Submit” button.
The screen cleared and a message appeared, saying
We’re sorry but we can’t comply with your request right now. Please try again later.
So she waited awhile, then logged back in to the system, found her unsubmitted application, and checked to make sure that it was all there.
When she got to the last screen again, she re-entered her password and clicked on the “Submit” button again.
The screen cleared and a message appeared, saying
Not Found
The requested URL /null was not found on this server.
So she waited awhile and tried again.
Not Found
The requested URL /null was not found on this server.
So she found a telephone number for support and called it.
She explained to them exactly what had happened.
Then they walked her through the entire process again, step-by-step.
And when she clicked on the “Submit” button, the same message appeared that said:
Not Found
The requested URL /null was not found on this server.
That’s when the support person told her that the State of Florida’s employment Web site does not support the Firefox browser that she uses — along with millions of other people.
It turns out that the State of Florida’s employment Web site doesn’t support very many browsers at all.
In fact, it only supports Microsoft’s Internet Explorer browser — and only Version 7 or older.
Don’t even try to use the latest IE Version 8 that was replaced Version 7 eight months ago.
And don’t try to use Firefox. Or Opera. Or any of the other browsers that millions of people all over the world use that aren’t Internet Explorer — Version 7 or older.
Does the State of Florida’s employment Web site warn its users that they won’t be allowed to submit their job applications unless they’re using Microsoft Internet Explorer — Version 7 or older?
No.
It makes thousands of people waste their time filling out screenfuls of online boxes, and then, when they’re finally finished, it refuses to accept their completed applications unless they’re using IE 7 or older.
And even then, it doesn’t give them any clues as to why it failed to accept their applications.
After she hung up from talking to the support person, my friend called me and told me the whole story of what had happened.
I suggested that she should call the state’s support people back and ask if someone there could simply login to her account and click on the “Submit” button from their computer, so that her completed application could finally be accepted by the State of Florida’s Web site.
So she called them back and spoke to a different support person.
She explained to them exactly what had happened.
And they walked her through the entire process — all over again — step-by-step.
And when she got to the last screen and clicked on the “Submit” button, the same message appeared that said:
Not Found
The requested URL /null was not found on this server.
That’s when the support person again confirmed that the State of Florida’s employment Web site only supports Microsoft’s Internet Explorer Version 7 or older.
And no one at the State of Florida’s employment Web site will click on the “Submit” button for her.
“For security reasons.”
I find it obscenely ironic that they claim to be concerned about security, while they’re forcing everyone to use the notoriously insecure Internet Explorer, instead of one of its much-more-secure competitors.
Anyway, my incredibly patient and tenacious friend is planning to go to another friend’s house, where she hopes that they’re still using an old version of Internet Explorer, so that she’ll be able to click on the “Submit” button from their computer, and finally get her application accepted.
To apply for one specific clerical job with the State of Florida.
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