Do blind ads work against your hiring goals?
By Fred Sandsmark
Imagine this scenario: You're an employer with a critical job to fill.
You painstakingly analyze your needs and justify the job to your
management. You craft a job description and have it approved. You buy
an ad in the Sunday Sacramento Bee that carefully spells out the
position and describes the candidate you seek. You get hundreds of
responses; most of them are disappointing.
But one resume stands out. The applicant has the combination of
skills and experience you seek, and he understands the job and the
industry. You definitely want to know more about him, but there's a
problem: there's no name at the top of the resume. No address, either.
All you see is a fax number. As you put the application on the reject
pile, you wonder: Who is this person? Why won't he give his name? What
is he trying to hide?
The people on the other side of the fence -- job seekers -- ask the
same questions every week when they find blind help-wanted ads in the
classifieds. What is this company? Why won't it give its name? What is
it trying to hide?
The best job applicants go through the same process that the best
employers do: they painstakingly analyze their skills and abilities.
They craft a resume and show it to friends, colleagues, and counselors.
They read hundreds of ads, but respond to the ones that call for their
combination of skills and experience. And they want to know as much
about potential employers as they can learn.
Eliminate the worst, not the best
An employer who wants to pick the best candidate from a stack of
applications eliminates the worst ones first. But an employer who runs
a blind ad does just the opposite: he penalizes the best applicants,
those who are ambitious and willing to do their homework. The helpful
web site of the Creative Job Search Staff at the Minnesota Workforce
Center System advises that a job seeker shouldn't even apply to a
company he hasn't researched: "Before you apply for a job at a
particular company, you should learn as much about that company as you
can."
They contend that this research is helpful for the employer as well as
the potential employee: "When you research an industry, company, or
occupation, you gain the information you need to make a good decision
about the direction of your job search. You get to decide whether to
apply for a job at a specific company based on facts, not on feelings.
... The information you gain while conducting this research will also
impress the prospective employer during the interview. It says you are
serious about your job search." Isn't that the applicant you want to
interview -- one who's as serious about the job as you are?
More information equals better interviews
Job seekers know that the chance of getting an interview
increases dramatically when they research an employer and tailor an
application to the employer's needs. But applicants who have done their
homework also improve the interview itself.
When an applicant has done his homework, the interviewer doesn't
have to answer a dozen basic questions about the company; instead, he
can learn about the applicant and engage him in creative discussion
about his experience, background, and attitude. A candidate who already
knows about a company, the industry, and the competition won't waste an
interviewer's valuable time. And when the interviewer asks if the
candidate has any questions, he will actually have some -- and they'll
be pertinent and insightful.
Blind ads raise questions about the employer
When I was a job seeker, I didn't respond to blind ads, even the
most tempting ones. Think back to that imaginary resume with no name:
if you had a "wrong attitude" rubber stamp, you would ink it up.
Applicants do the same thing with blind ads. They wonder, "If this
company won't give its name, what problems does it have? Is it a place
I'd really want to work?" When an employer runs a blind ad, he makes
the work environment an issue. For the employer-employee relationship
to be a mutually-beneficial partnership, it needs to start out fairly
and honestly.
Avoiding unwanted applicants
I understand one rationale behind blind ads: an employer doesn't
want to be bothered by phone calls and walk-ins. If that's the case,
simply include "No calls or walk-ins, please" in all ads. If applicants
phone or visit to ask about the job, politely ask for their names --
then assure them that they won't be considered for the job because they
can't follow simple instructions. You've culled some losers already.
But there's a fine line here: if applicants call and ask for
information -- literature about your products, your web site address, a
copy of your annual report -- provide it happily. Because when you do,
you are encouraging applicants who are taking an active part in the
hiring process, not littering your desk with throwaway resumes.
Next time you plan to place a blind ad, see if these benefits
match your hiring goals: encouraging quality applicants, improving
interviews, and promoting fairness and honesty in the workplace. Then
include your company name in the ad.
This opinion article first appeared in the Sacramento Bee business section, August 10, 1997
Copyright © 1997, 2006 Fred Sandsmark / Marble Publishing
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