Career Cube Blog

Watch out for those that use cute catchphrases like “Internet savvy” and “hiring (fill in the blank) superstars” or wants you to “unselfishly invest your talents.”  If you have been in the workforce and held at least one job out of college, you should NOT be applying to jobs with these alarming catchphrases.  The term “savvy” and “superstars” in a description are appealing to your emotional side.  Everyone wants to be thought of as savvy or a superstar, it sounds cool, it sounds hip, you want that-and hiring managers know that.  They’re appealing to a broad audience.  The phrase “unselfishly invest your talents” translates into-”you’ll be working crazy hours and not getting paid nearly enough, so get over it.”  Not my first choice of a job.

Job postings that are overeager, and vague also serve companies or  (temp agencies) one of two ways:  First, they are good bait to attract ambitious, young, hard working candidates who are desperate for a shot in the real world.  Second, they can provide a wealth of resumes for a headhunter to build their database.  It’s expensive for them to place numerous ads for the different jobs they’re representing, so they can post one vague catch-all posting (knowing that people who are under-and over-qualified will respond) further beefing up their database.  You get your hopes up thinking it might be a real job, they have no intention of calling you because they don’t have a job for you.

Also be aware that there are companies out there that are hiring for multiple positions, but the ad will read as if they’re filling one position.  These are typically Financial Services advisors, help desk or call center employees, sales or Insurance brokers, among others.  Nothing against these jobs at all, but be aware that they’re probably looking to bring in quite a few people and put them through an intensive training process that serves to weed out people who aren’t suited to the position.

And third, do NOT send your resume through one of those “resume distribution” services.  I have it on reliable authority that those resume services are nothing more than Spam to the recruiters. And yes, back when I was looking for a job about 7 years ago, I did pay for one to send out my resume.  I was a little concerned when after they sent it out, I got numerous email bouncebacks from individual recruiters with their out of office messages.  The whole process just seemed so transparent-the company just had a database of email addresses of recruiters that they had compiled, I sent my resume to them, they blind copied everyone and hit send.  I’m sure that there are a few people who have success with this (SPAM emails would stop if people stopped buying things), but it’s based on the chance that the recruiter who gets your resume has a position they’re looking to fill and you’re a perfect candidate.  You can calculate the odds, but they ain’t too good.  Don’t waste your money.  You’re better off researching recruiting firms who hire in your industry and contacting them directly.

In summary, only apply to jobs that provide you with a detailed description of their expectations for you-without a lot of hype.  If you do want to take a chance on the questionable ones, feel free, but again, it’s a Hail Mary application, so try not to take it too seriously if you don’t hear back from them.

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