Mike Elsheikh, owner of a Chicago hair salon, claims business has never been better since he changed its name to Obama’s Hair Design. For years, the salon had operated under the name Ossama’s, but business took a marked drop after the September 11 terrorist attacks.

“A lot of customers stopped coming after September 11,” said Elsheikh. Now that the salon has been renamed in honor of the new President, customers have been arriving in droves.

“It makes a lot of sense to me to name it Obama’s rather than Ossama’s,” said the salon owner. “Plus, Obama’s gonna get Osama.”

There’s no harm in learning more about someone before bringing them into your department, but applicants for this position might be surprised at how in-depth the interview questions are.

With president-elect Barack Obama taking over office next January, it’s fair to say there’s a large pool of applicants who are looking to join his administration. Jobs are open to just about anyone — but anyone who wants to sign on must first complete a 7-page application with a total of 63 questions.

Doesn’t sound so bad? It’s not only educational background and references the applicants need to fill in. On top of the standard fare, candidates must:

• identify any affiliation they or their family members have had with Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae or any other institutions that have received a government bailout
• include any e-mail messages they’ve sent (at any time in their life) that could embarrass or otherwise reflect poorly on the president-elect
• list any aliases they’ve used on the Internet
• reveal their MySpace, Facebook, LinkedIn and other online profiles for review
• divulge whether they or their family members own a firearm, and
• include all resumes the applicants have used within the past 10 years.

The final question on the application requests candidates to: “Please provide any other information, including information about other members of your family, that could suggest a conflict of interest or be a possible source of embarrassment to you, your family or the President-elect.”

Given the positions available, do you think the application’s thoroughness is justified? Have you ever completed a job application that asked for too much up-front information? Share your thoughts below in the comments section.