A Word on Bogus Help Want Ads and the Search Committee Process

Bogus help wanted ads are a very common occurrence for a variety of reasons.  Unfortunately it’s impossible to detect whether or not a help wanted ad is bogus.

Employers and human resource departments can be unconscionable, posting ads that are more of a resume collection endeavor just in case they may need someone in the future, and who knows when that might be in the future. Or they already have a solid candidate that they are ready to hire, and, in order to look like they are following affirmative action rules, they post an ad with a note on the bottom saying that they encourage applications from minorities and the disabled when, in fact, they have no intention of hiring any of the candidates that happen to send in their application because they have a solid in-house candidate at the ready.

In other situations, a job may have already been filled but the advertisement was not taken down. Or, a job recruiter may be asking for salary requirements with a fake job in order to get an understanding of a particular job marketplace. 

Job seekers are at the mercy of bogus help-wanted-advertisements. In addition to these ads, however, is the hiring of people through the search-by-committee process, whereby there is a hiring manager who manages a group of people who review all the resumes and cover letters that come pouring in. The nasty thing about search committees is that you as the job candidate has no idea who the hiring manager is nor who is on the committee, let alone what kind of credentials and true understanding of the position requirements these committee members may or may not have.  

This is all very sad because these bogus ads take up the time of vulnerable job seekers who go through the trouble of writing new cover letters and/or changing their resume to reflect certain aspects of a help wanted advertisement.  What’s even sadder is that I don’t see a fix in sight. How do we prevent the proliferation of such ads? The only thing I can say is that perhaps there needs to be some new laws created about help wanted ads and hiring processes, in general – mandates or some kind of monitoring from state and/or local non-profits  or the Department of Labor that exposes employers for such commonly found  and fraudulent practices. 

If you feel that you have been a victim of applying for a bogus ad or if you have some experience participating on search committees and can provide some insight on how it all worked out, please comment here or comment privately to me directly via email at glorenzo@edpath.com.