Job Listing Fraud?

I've noticed an interesting trend develop from companies who are in the catbird's seat for hiring the "perfect fit." This trend is to use faux open requisitions in an effort to collect resumes for potential future expansion. This staffing strategy makes sense given the 11% + recorded unemployment rate in the Bay Area. Obviously the HR teams receive a large volume of resumes and are under no obligation to respond to any submission or actually hire anyone for the supposed job. To use a sales term, I'd call this process "seeding" for future growth. As the economy expands, these companies will have a stable of talent to choose from. However, this process could have unintended consequences by creating a talent pool that may no longer be active when the job is actually open. Additionally, from the job hunter's point of view, this tactic could be called job listing fraud.

An unemployed colleague of mine provided a solid data point to support this point of view. A recently "uncloaked" (Star Trek fans?) stealth start up had posted several job requisitions including one for legal council. My colleague applied for the legal position and later learned from an internal that there was no intention of filling the position. "Why did you post the job then?" she asked. "Well, we wanted to collect resumes in case we need more legal support if certain deals materialize in the next six months."

This strategy on the surface makes sense. However, the unintended consequence could be a collection of outdated resume submissions. Candidates may have found a job, altered their list of target companies to work for or have adjusted their career focus. The HR team will be tasked to go through this stable of resumes and weed out these submissions through follow up emails and phone calls...which is a time consuming process. I think the more efficient process would be to post a job requisition only when the hire is really needed. The resumes submitted will be the most current and relevant work force.

The job hunter may view the faux job listing strategy as a form of fraud. Job seekers will feel taken advantage of after investing the time and energy to apply for a position and to do the necessary LinkeIn networking...to only learn the job was not "real." The opportunity costs are real as job applicants may have missed the window to apply for another job posting with real opportunity. Remember, in this environment those who apply the quickest and can garner an internal referral will increase their chances of being seriously considered.

The lesson learned from a job hunter's perspective is to verify the status of the requisition and then make the decision on how to prioritize. Verifying status may be tricky, but this is where the network comes in. If you don't have a contact, an alternative is to send a brief enquiry email response to the job posting. I've found that when asked, HR representatives have responded quickly to verify a job posting. However, be careful with this process. If the position is a great fit, it may be worth a cover letter and resume submission as quickly as possible to maximize opportunity for a response.

The lesson for hiring companies, I believe, is to be more transparent in their hiring processes so potential candidates can apply with eyes wide open. An HR solution is to create an "active jobs" section and a "future hiring needs" section on the "Jobs" page. This designation enables potential candidates to make a decision to actively apply or to seed for future opportunities...following the same strategy of the hiring company.

Keep the marketing skills current

This past Sunday Business section of the San Jose Mercury News had two great write ups by Patrick May that offered great advice and comparisons and contrasts of the current down turn to the far less in scope dot-com bust. Both articles struck a cord with me because I am a veteran of the dot-com bust and I'm now working my way through the current economic and industry shift...and will survive yet again. I encourage all who are denizens of this crazy valley to click the links and read Patrick's prose. Nice work.

I was struck by the "advice" offered by Martin Hendess in the "Tips/Advice from layoff veterans" article:

"Martin Hendess, 39: "I'm personally at a bit of a disadvantage because I have a broader marketing background, yet companies today are looking for very specific skills. And if you don't have 10 out of the 10 items on their checklist, they can easily move on to the next candidate because there's such a huge pool."

As a fellow marketing professional, I echo this perspective and would like to add a few possible solutions. Like Martin, I have a general marketing background that was sought after during the early days of the Internet revolution. My MBA concentration was in Marketing Management to boot. There has been a strong shift in desirability for marketing professionals to be more specialized and almost more tactical in skills. However, I think there is still demand for professionals who have the depth and experience to understand marketing at the strategic level and have a point of view for how these new specialized skills support a marketing strategy. What the market is telling us generalist is to become familiar with and learn the new technologies and processes to interact with consumers...which is becoming more 1:1.

The best education on these new marketing tools comes from reading the latest marketing blogs, talking to those in the field and actually jumping in to do it. Remember, these specialized skills were not main stream 5+ years ago and the text books being used in MBA elective courses are now out of date. Independent real time learning is the key.

Learn the new marketing skills and find a project to apply and perfect the knowledge. I am applying my acquired knowledge of building customer communities and how to harness the power of blogging to help a friend build a consumer facing business. Developing a plan and learning by trial and error has taught me a great deal about marketing to the social web.

The big win after this exercise is that I can add this skill set to my resume and will have tangible results to demonstrate effectiveness. I can not only bring social media marketing skills to the party, but can also provide a perspective on how these new skills fit within the larger plan...a perspective gained only through 12 + years of marketing experience.