Ask a Manager

{ 39 comments… read them below }

1. Anonymous* September 17, 2011 at 9:13 pm

   “They just want you to submit your application using the instructions they provided.” Key piece of advice there! If it says apply online – don’t stop by to drop off your resume. Don’t fax your resume to the generic fax number you find online. Don’t call and ask the best way to submit your resume. Follow what it tells you to do in the ad. Other tactics WILL make you stand out, but NOT in the way you think (or want)!
   1. Bob* October 23, 2012 at 10:02 am

      This is crucial. As a small business owner I recently ran an ad on Craigslist. I was looking for part time help and I run a coin and hobby shop. I was really concerned about 2 things. 1) potential employees stealing inventory and 2) potential employees thinking that coin or hobby knowledge would help them get the job. Because of this I was very careful to run a blind ad so I could screen my applicants. One of the “skills” that I had listed was attention to detail. The Craigslist ad requested that a resume should be emailed to my gmail email address which was different than my aol craigslist account address. I had several applicants submit their resume by replying to the Craigslist ad and thus sending it to a different email address than what was requested. Now submitting their resume by not following exact directions did not automatically disqualify them, but it did tell me about their attention to detail. I am not asking you to judge my process I’m only explaining it to help you find work. The only question I was willing to answer was whether my ad was legitimate. Have some faith in the process. Remember the employer is taking tremendous risk because finding the wrong person will cost them dearly.
2. shawn* September 17, 2011 at 11:16 pm

   I agree with AAM. Candidates fairly regularly email or call me asking for “more information” regarding an opening. They don’t have any specific questions (and should you really have any before you even apply?) , they just want “more information.” Uhhh, like what? The most pertinent information is in the job posting. Everything else will be discussed with candidates we feel are the best fit as part of the selection process. I suspect it’s just a way to get some sort of initial response or connection developed, but it just annoys me and comes off as superficial (it’s not like your decision to apply hinges on this “more information”). Just apply if you are at all interested in the position.
3. Mark* September 18, 2011 at 12:14 am

   Thank you so much AAM, I’m certainly glad you chose to answer my question – it seemed like a good idea at the time, but now I will definitely avoid taking this approach.

   I am curious though, what about blind ads that come off as potential scams – would this primary email be advisable? I am concerned about sending out any more personal info save for my name.

   In fact, what should I look for in an ad to qualify it as legitimate? A lot of ads I’ve come across feature no info on the company beside a very generic description and a list of requirements.

   Thank you again!
   1. Ask a Manager* Post authorSeptember 18, 2011 at 12:59 am

      Here’s a post that covers scam ads (read the comments there as well):
      https://www.askamanager.org/2011/03/phantom-jobs-confidential-searches-and-job-scams.html

      I still wouldn’t use this approach with ads that might be scams, because (a) if they are, you’re not interested anyway, and (b) if they’re not, you’re going to turn them off for all the reasons in my original answer above.
      1. Mark* September 18, 2011 at 10:23 am

         That was so very useful! Thank you – thanks to your post and the comments, I have a better idea of how to approach Craigslist and similar job boards.
      2. Orson* September 19, 2011 at 8:44 am

         I actually found my current job (held since Dec. of last year) through Craigslist, and It’s been a very good one. My tactic for Craigslist came down to sending a polite e-mail requesting that the company confirm themselves and the job, and expressing that I was very interested in the position described, was interested in applying, and would love to move forward, but that I would like to verify the integrity of the positing before submitting a document that contained the level of personal information a resume does.

         This actually worked well. With a very few exceptions, the legitimate companies understood very well not wanting to blindly submit a document including elements of personal history, and full address and phone information, which would provide enough information for identity theft to be much easier for a scammer to pull off.

         One of the problems with Craigslist is that even if you do your research on the named company, you can’t be sure the person posting is actually from that company. It is all too easy for a scammer to refer to a legitimate company and even a legitimate job listing on the company website when creating an ad there to solicit personal information via resumes. You really need to verify that the person on the other end of that posting is legitimate as well.
         1. rlgreen* September 19, 2011 at 4:40 pm

            Orson — I’m glad you spoke up, because this has been my experience as well. There are so many scam ads — worded in ways that do not raise red flags — that even employers are aware of the problem. I’ve handled it the way you have, with success.

            Except of course, I’m still unemployed. But I have had polite replies from employers when asking for verification of the job posting.
   2. Natalie* September 18, 2011 at 10:38 pm

      As far as what to look for, the two things I’ve noticed are a higher-than-market salary (think $50K + for a basic receptionist job) and absolutely nothing that hints at the location. Regular job ads in my local Craigslist will often mention the neighborhood or area of town they are in, while the scam ones will not. That allows them to post the same ad in multiple cities.
      1. Beth* October 23, 2012 at 10:17 am

         But when you see an address, look it up before you reply to the ad. I ran across one scam ad advertising government jobs available. They listed a street address (along with a suite #) that I didn’t recognize so I looked it up. It didn’t exist. Googled some more and found out they use that same generic street address to advertise on craigslist in a dozen or more major cities in the U.S.
4. Henning Makholm* September 18, 2011 at 8:58 am

   Over here, it appears to be practically boilerplate to end a job ad with “Call (hiring manager’s name) at (direct phone number) if you need more information about the position”. I’ve never been able to think of a question it would feel appropriate to call with, though — except for the one time I recognized the hiring manager as an former coworker who I was sure would remember me too, but the rules are obviously different then.
5. Anon.* September 18, 2011 at 9:28 am

   Basic, pertinent info to include in in a job post incudes location. This little fact is very important and, especially on Craigslist, is often missing or vague. I live in a suburb of NYC and my county is 500 square miles… I work on one end of the county close to the city or at the northern end which is less populated and less public transportation (and I live on the northern end now after a lifetime of living with trains and buses close by. Job searching is much more difficult w/o good public transporation!) When there is a vague ‘Westchester County’ as the location it begs for an email to ask location. When they put the even more vague “Hudson Valley’ (Albany to NYC) its even worse! Makes me think scam and/or stupidity on the part of the company – or that they are fishing (especially if they require salary history or requirements)

   Frustrating!!
   1. Esra* September 18, 2011 at 9:54 pm

      This is a HUGE pet peeve of mine. I live in Toronto and it’s the same issue. When they list ‘Toronto Area’ that could mean anything from walking distance to more than an hour on transit. Sometimes you can suss it out from their web site, but that isn’t always the case, and you never know for sure.
6. Laura* September 18, 2011 at 10:58 am

   When I was job hunting recently, I automatically ignored any job posting on Craigslist that seemed like it might be a scam. I also didn’t apply to any job where I didn’t know what company it was for. I know that there are legitimate reasons for companies to not include their name in a job posting, but on Craigslist, I think it’s just too risky. Plus, if I don’t know the company, I don’t know if I’d like to work there.
7. Neil* September 18, 2011 at 11:14 am

   Hey there AAM. Long time reader. First time commenter.

   I will say that a similar approach to what the “asker” is suggesting works significantly better when you’re trying to get in at a smaller company and you’re not responding to a specific job post.

   After several months of complete non-activity in response to applying for specific job openings during a period of unemployment, I changed course and researched *smaller* companies that I felt I would be a good fit for.

   I e-mailed a handful of those companies each week and asked if I could have the name of their hiring manager. I explained that I wanted to submit to them a cover letter and a resume, and I wanted to personalize it. I let them know that if this wasn’t going to be possible for privacy reasons, I completely understood. I wrote that I didn’t know if they had any opportunities at the present time, but if things changed, I would be interested in consideration. My cover letter would explain why I was interested in the company.

   I estimated that the response rate to those e-mails was approximately 50 percent, and more than half of those supplied me with the name and e-mail, several extremely pleasantly.

   After going four months and receiving *one* interview by filling out applications, by using this tactic, I was getting invited to one interview a week. I was hired at one of these companies a month later, with no job posting on the site.

   It should be qualified that at no point did I ever contact a company with more than 50 employees, and I operated primarily in the marketing industry.

   Also, at the risk of tooting my own horn, I generally write cover letters better than your average bear as well. I’m basing this on the cover letters I have seen come in since my subsequent hire. That likely impacted my success rate.

   I would agree with AAM’s response in this particular case. However, a constant theme that I pick up from AAM’s blog is “if you’re unemployed, don’t annoy the hiring manager.” This proclamation generally welcomed with “here here” from oft-annoyed hiring managers.

   That said — I worked in sales for seven years prior to switching to marketing. While on one hand, you should absolutely take every step you can to ensure you’re not annoying your prospect, on the other hand, if you’re a good salesman, you’re *going* to annoy some prospects. It just happens. If you’re not annoying *anybody*, you’re probably not making sales.

   From a job-seeker’s perspective, they are essentially looking to close one B2B sale — themself to a prospective employer. To be successful in doing so in this environment, this requires a strong, strategic, *proactive* approach.

   To that end, I sort of wish AAM’s responses sometimes went a little above and beyond the scope of the original question. At a certain point, it’s not helpful to answer people’s how-to questions about prospecting for gold in California; they need to be told that it’s unlikely they will make money doing so. Similarly, supplying advice about how to deal with the minutiae when responding to a posted job application probably isn’t going to be significantly meaningful in the quest for employment.

   I certainly hope this doesn’t come off as bitchy. I love this blog and have learned so much from it over my years of reading it.
   1. Ask a Manager* Post authorSeptember 18, 2011 at 1:06 pm

      I agree that if you’re contacting a company where you’re not applying for a posted opening, this approach can make sense. But I definitely wouldn’t do it when you do intend to apply for a posted opening (for the reasons I gave originally).

      I don’t agree, though, that applying to posted openings is like panning for gold — I regularly hire people who applied to a posted opening (without an inside connection), and I regularly hear from people who got hired that way too. Of course, it tends to be EASIER to get hired by working connections, but sometimes people do work their connections and nothing comes of it.
      1. Neil* September 18, 2011 at 3:45 pm

         That’s a little bit of a statistically fallacious counter-argument.

         The fact that people work their connections and nothing comes of it doesn’t diminish it’s superior statistical effectiveness.

         There are plenty of people that smoke cigarettes their entire lives and live to 100 without significant health complications. The existence of those individuals does not invalidate the overwhelming likelihood that you significantly endanger your health by regularly smoking.

         The fact that you hire people via online job postings and that you’ve heard from plenty of people who have been hired that way is not sufficiently capable of supporting what is and what isn’t an effective job-hunting technique. Similarly, if you smoked and your friends smoked and none of you had lung cancer, that doesn’t mean you’re not incurring significantly greater risk of endangering your health.

         In reality, statistical studies suggest that saying networking “tends to be easier” somewhat understates the actual difference from a job-hunter’s perspective.

         Richard Bolles’ “What Color is Your Parachute” states that of job-seekers who fill out positions online as their only method of job pursuit have, at best, a 10 percent success rate (unfortunately, I only read the book from the library, so my citation isn’t perfect – http://comerecommended.com/blog/2011/06/09/5-least-effective-job-search-methods-1051/)

         Conversely, simply knocking on the door of an employer you’re interested in yields a 47 percent success rate. Simply networking through family and friends alone yields an 80 percent success rate (http://comerecommended.com/blog/2011/06/14/5-most-effective-job-search-methods/)

         You yourself, a week ago, said that you routinely choose receive 300+ applicants for most positions (https://www.askamanager.org/2011/09/must-employers-spend-time-rejecting-candidates-who-werent-even-interviewed.html) Simply put, as a job seeker, you have to beat out over 300 candidates to earn a position.

         You don’t have to be a mathematician to understand that this is, from a job-seeker’s perspective, a “low-yield” proposition. The only way to overcome these odds is to make it a numbers game — simply apply to every opening you can find.

         Of course, to actually do that, probably means that you’re applying to jobs for which you have no chance, which perpetuates the deluge of applicants that HR managers such as yourself receive, which perpetuates the need to redouble your efforts in pursuit of the numbers game, and so on and so on.

         I don’t believe you’re actually saying that job-seekers should *only* apply via online postings or that alternative job-hunting means aren’t more effective than replying to posting. And of course, your mileage will vary based on all sorts of things such as industry, desired position, regional economic conditions, et cetera et cetera.

         If you or someone has studies that suggest otherwise and supporting logic, I’m all ears. But I don’t think in the face of the studies I’ve seen and the numbers job-seekers are up against by your own admission, “prospecting for gold” is an inaccurate analogy.

         Which of course circles back to your advice and my original comment. I believe your advice to this particular individual was accurate. Don’t e-mail the hiring manager in this particular context.

         I just think that, ultimately, readers who ask questions like this aren’t interested in the specific answer as much as they’re interested “will this help me get hired?” I think it would be helpful for the job-seekers reading this site to know there’s a forest beyond the trees.

         Maybe you should conduct a multiple-choice poll on your site that asks how your readers got their job?
      2. Ask a Manager* Post authorSeptember 18, 2011 at 3:59 pm

         With all due respect to Richard Bolles (“What Color Is My Parachute”), I tend to think that you shouldn’t take advice on how to get a job from someone who hasn’t spent much time actually hiring recently (if I recall correctly, he first wrote that book in 1989). And there’s no way that just knocking on the door of an employer you’re interested in working in gets a 47 percent success rate today.

         Now, sure, when you apply to an ad, you have to beat out 300 candidates. But if you have a well-written resume that focuses on your accomplishments (not just responsibilities) and a personalized cover letter that speaks to why you’d excel at the job (not just summarizes your resume), and assuming you’re actually well-qualified for the position you’re applying for, your chances go way up — because at least 260 of those 300 applicants haven’t done those things. And that’s a conservative estimate; it’s usually more like 285. So when you do those things, you narrow the pool dramatically. That’s why it works; few other candidates are doing it.

         I’m not saying it’s not better to use your network — it absolutely is, and that’s the first thing I recommend to friends who are job hunting. But not everyone’s network comes through for them every time, so it’s not enough of a strategy on its own.

         You’re right, of course, that the answer to someone’s immediate question is often much broader than what they’re asking. But I’m assuming readers help themselves by reading other posts on this site, not just the one featuring their own question. They’ve got the tools right here to gather a fuller picture, without me having to repeat the same thing in every post I publish.

         Last, I’m not claiming that what I recommend here is science or that I have any stats to back it up. I don’t. I recommend what I see work. People can take it or leave it — but the people who take it regularly write to me to tell me that it worked for them. But yeah, if you want studies, I’m not the blog for you.
8. Meaghan* September 18, 2011 at 2:32 pm

   I agree that this isn’t a good idea, so what I’m about to say is a moot point, but you probably shouldn’t send grammatically incorrect messages to hiring managers – it should be “to whom I should address the cover letter.” Dangling prepositions drive me insane.
9. kevin* September 18, 2011 at 3:55 pm

   I think people who work in any Human Resources Department are lazy. Furthermore, I believe that a big part of America’s economy fail due to people not being able to find jobs starts at Human Resources. Here is how: Let us say I apply online, which most jobs require now, and my application is received by a computer generated system which is overlooked by people who work in Human Resources. Those computers or people go through the application and resume if submitted and highlight certain key words or phrases and that’s how applications are determined if they are worthy enough for interview material. Now, here’s my problem with this. Those Human Resources people may not know jack squat about someone’s work history. There might be some real relevant experience shown in the resume but is overlooked because the computer or Human Resources individual is not familiar with a certain area of prior work experience. So, that application is going to be kicked aside and a generated email will be sent out to inform you that your application will be kept on file. Now how is possible that someone has 8 years of experience in the exact same career field that they are applying for and receive an email saying that they did not meet the qualifications. Well, this is a problem. There are thousands upon thousands of people with substantial work experience that are being denied everyday due to this FACT. If people are so blind to see this, then there is a much bigger problem in America than what we thought. People, yes may be lazy and not want to work, but for the ones who try the Human Resources Department is hurting the job hunting for Americans. What ever happened to walk-in-applying? What happened to managers actually interviewing everyone for a fair chance to get the job? What Happened To Equality?
   1. Ask a Manager* Post authorSeptember 18, 2011 at 4:02 pm

      I’m not in HR, but come on, it’s silly to say that all people in an industry are lazy. Are there incompetent HR people? Of course, just like there are incompetent people in every industry. There are also good ones. Ultimately, it’s hiring managers who bear the responsibility for the quality of their hires, not HR.

      And I’m not sure that there was ever a time when managers interviewed everyone who applied for a job. It’s not realistic to interview hundreds of applicants for one role; you interview the ones who seem most strongly matched with what you’re seeking. That means that lots and lots of well-qualified people will get rejected. That’s just math, not inequality.
      1. rlgreen* September 19, 2011 at 4:55 pm

         I agree that Kevin’s generalization about HR people was overstated, but I also understand his frustration. It has happened to me dozens of times. I often apply for a job for which I meet and exceed every stated or implied skill or experience, and one of two things happens: no reply at all, or a letter that says I didn’t meet the qualifications set out. When this happens again and again, it’s hard not to get frustrated and angry. Especially because there is no way to ask the HR people for feedback on what you could have done better. Precisely, I fear, for the reasons Kevin has proposed.

         My personal pet peeve has nothing to do with arcane grammatical rules. It has to do with the line I see on almost every job advertisement: ‘Due to the great numbers of applications we receive, we will only contact you if you are selected for an interview.’

         Not only is this rude and dismissive, but it also raises a question I would love to ask: Why not hire a couple more people in your HR department, if you can’t even manage to send out form letters? To complain that you are overworked to people who are out of work is adding insult to injury.
   2. Anonymous* September 19, 2011 at 6:41 pm

      The hiring process is broken. As long as there are more candidates for positions than there are positions, there is no motivation to get the process fixed.
      1. Ask a Manager* Post authorSeptember 19, 2011 at 6:44 pm

         I’m not convinced that it is. The hiring process exists to help employers hire the best person for the job. If employers feel they’re not getting that result, then it’s broken. But it sounds like you’re probably speaking more from frustration on the candidate side.

         Now, I do agree that lots of employers are rude and inconsiderate during the hiring process. But that’s about rude employers, not an inherent problem with the process.
10. Sergey Gorbatov* September 19, 2011 at 9:18 am

    I am pondering over an idea to use the questions about the job as an attention-grabber. Obviously, the paragraph that you’ve drafted won’t do – I myself have an urge to hit “delete” right away. Yet, asking specific to-the-point questions might interest the employer. This will only happen if (1) you limit your questions to two or maximum three; (2) the questions demonstrate your professional skills, e.g. you ask an in-depth question introducing one or two relevant terms unknown to an outsider, and (3) your resume’s attached, your interest is clearly shown and your introductory e-mail is brief (no longer than one paragraph and a half). I think this trick will make a recruiter open your resume, and the rest is really a matter of matching your skills with the job requirements.
11. shawn* September 19, 2011 at 4:18 pm

    To add to my initial comment, I also receive an inordinate amount of emails and phone calls from people who want to tell me that they are interested in a specific position… instead of just applying. They saw the position online, and instead of applying, they want to call. They have no questions. There is no real conversation. It’s such a waste of time. I often wonder what goes through their heads when they pick up the phone for no apparent reason.
    1. Anonymous* September 19, 2011 at 6:39 pm

       They’re trying to establish a “personal” / “inside” connection.
12. shawn* September 19, 2011 at 10:44 pm

    But it doesn’t work when you have nothing to say. Most of the time they say “I saw the Widget Maker position posted online.” *crickets* That’s all they will say. Sometimes they will add “and I’m really interested,” and then the *crickets* continue. That doesn’t establish a helpful connection.
13. John Hunter* September 20, 2011 at 3:24 am

    Asking for more information during the interviewing and hiring process is wise however. I am amazed how little people often ask. Partially this is because I am the type that worries about all sorts of unseen risks (I am not a grass is greener elsewhere type of person). To the extent you don’t worry and won’t be bothered by what you find, great. But often it seems to me people could avoid annoyances if they just learned more about the job before taking it . If you have been without a job for awhile, in this economy, I understand almost anything may be preferable to no job.
    1. ObservantOne* September 20, 2011 at 9:55 am

       I find that HR and the interviewer explain the job so thoroughly that I then have no questions to ask. That makes me look disinterested when I actually am interested.
       1. Anonymous* September 24, 2011 at 10:30 pm

          I often have that problem too. Before an interview, I carefully prepare a list of questions I want to ask, but usually by the end of the interview, all of them have been answered and I can’t think of any new ones.
14. Karl Sakas* September 21, 2011 at 2:02 pm

    When a candidate calls to ask a question that’s in the job posting or easily available on our website (e.g., when were we founded? how many employees do we have), that’s a mark against them — I assume they’re lazy (or at least, they aren’t resourceful). But if they ask a question that’s material, I’ll usually answer it, and I may update the job posting with the info. For my company — contacting us is not an automatic “no,” but think before you call.
15. Linnie Mae* July 5, 2012 at 11:54 am

    My reading of the initial question is: “If the company name isn’t included in the job posting, how should I ask them?” In my experience, if it’s a blind ad on Craigslist or other big job board, ignore it. It’s a spam and scam operation, don’t waste your time.

    Used to be you could spot the frauds because they advertised wildly generous salaries and other perks. Now they’re disguising them as regular office jobs or impersonating government agencies who have thousands of stimulus jobs just waiting for you. (Stimulusjobs.net I’m lookin’ at you, you scammers!)

    There are too many reputable job boards now where employers identify themselves to bother with blind ads at all.
16. PS Mkhize* September 7, 2012 at 3:58 pm

    All these comments are so insightful & will really help me to improve my job search. What seems to be evident from this discussion, is that there is no one-size-fits-all glove for job hunting. You have to be pragmatic about it. Now I know what I’ve been doing right & what I need to fix. It’s nice to here what HR people think ’cause from job ads, they always sound so removed from reality, like they want perfect people. Everybody wants to employ straight “A” graduates but they forget they themselves are not & majority of the population is just “Bs” to “Ds”. And I just wish HR managers would worry less about how cover letters are written & concetrate more on the content of the resume & the person’s character in the interview and less on what s/he’s wearing. That would greatly seive out the fakers who just google “dress for success” candidates with no passion for the job. But thanks to all you guys!
17. Anonymous* November 15, 2012 at 10:02 pm

    Sending out a generalised “Please give me more information” letter probably doesn’t help, for the reasons stated. But the opening reason is interesting (and pertinent). “They don’t want to spend time answering questions about the job when they don’t even know yet if you’d be a strong candidate. If you are, they’ll answer your questions if they invite you for an interview”. From a manager’s perspective, this is important, because hiring is generally only one of their responsibilities.
    However, extending this reasoning to asking specific question (as the answer seems to do) is fraught with problems. The candidates that are in the 15 rather than 285 are the ones that have such questions, so they are more likely to be the ones that manager is wanting to interview. And, based on the answers, they are just as likely to self-eliminate – wasting less time for the manager (especially as these candidates are more likely to get to the interview stage). A candidate that is in that 15 the manager would consider also doesn’t want to waste time applying for positions that they don’t quite fit – it takes a lot of energy to apply in an in-depth manner, and rebuffs to questions tend to push these candidates away from applying, or towards joining the scattergun approach that the majority of the 285 are trying. And that simply perpetuates the amount of chaff the managers have to wade through to get to their better candidates.
18. Alok Tiwari* May 11, 2013 at 4:04 pm

    Hello Alison Green,
    Although this post is too old. But the point raised is always fresh thus I am making my comment here.

    First sharing my own experience
    Around 7 years ago I got a mail from a good company called meta cubes based in Jaipur Rajasthan India. They were asking for system admin post. As my profile closely matches to required profile. I immediately replied to said company. and shortly after replying the profile. They said I need to face the interview on xyz date.
    I take a leave from my current company and reached Jaipur which is 150 KM away from my work location. When the interview started they said they need technical writers.
    This is some thing that literally annoyed.
    If they had written clearly about job profile. why should I wasted my entire day to reach Jaipur? I had a very good opinion about that company. That ruined within seconds.
    Clearly this is something the company HR either didn’t read my resume properly or its intentional bad practice. What ever I wasted my entire day for a fake job call.

    Anyway what I learned is
    “Don’t rely on spam even though it comes from good company. Always cross check did the hr guy/girl actually read the profile properly or simply making spam. ”
    Asking questions is not crime. This will save time & efforts for both parties. Broadcasting information is ok. but communication is far better.

    Sorry its against your views but my experience is shared with world to understand the difference between views and ground level reality.
    Hope this is useful to some one…
19. Andrea* May 17, 2013 at 6:07 pm

    I think this is total B.S. So… you are supposed to apply to jobs, go to an interview, etc. before even knowing the location? Suppose you live in a large city (as I do). It is critical that the jobs I apply to be relatively close to me. The employer should at least include basic information, such as an address instead of waiting until the interview to tell me. It is much more of a waste of their time to interview a candidate who is ultimately not interested (because of location) then to tell the applicant up front.
    1. karen_o* January 31, 2014 at 3:20 am

       I agree.
       So many advertised jobs online are totally ANONYMOUS!
       They expect you to submit very personal information like your current employer/client list and salary history/rates, and you don’t know who, what or where they are. They give you a brief paragraph about what they want, no info on pay, no info on who they are, sometimes no indicator of where they are (or it’s vague), and then they want a ton of info from you.

       I’ve seen job descriptions perfect for me, but then I wonder if it could be one of my current clients (one of whom I think “fishes” to see if my rates are fair). I can imagine employed people seeking new work may be paranoid of sending their resume to their current employer!

       The hiring process should not be this much in the court of the employer…. they are not doing you a favor in hiring you. It’s a TRADE – work for money. This should be more akin to dating, where you both are screening one another for compatibility & each needs to impress the other. Employers are making it harder on themselves because high quality people will not be desperate enough to play such an uneven game.
       1. Linnie Mae* January 31, 2014 at 10:04 am

          I couldn’t agree more, karen_o! When I see anonymous and totally vague job specs that require me to send a lot of personal information, my first thought is “scam”. When I’ve answered any of those with a resume, all I’ve gotten out of it is tons of email spam.

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