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Placed a Help Wanted ad on Craigslist.com:


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In the Help Wanted ad, I described the company (briefly) and the job duties and listed the requirements (education & experience levels).

 

I also asked for a cover letter including salary requirements.

 

So far, I have received about 20 resumes, and only 1 of the 20 listed their salary range.

 

Suffering succotash! is wrong with people? If you can't even read the ad & respond accordingly, how do you expect to land a job?

 

Is a resume, cover letter and salary requirements too much to ask for? :D

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In the Help Wanted ad, I described the company (briefly) and the job duties and listed the requirements (education & experience levels).

 

I also asked for a cover letter including salary requirements.

 

So far, I have received about 20 resumes, and only 1 of the 20 listed their salary range.

 

Suffering succotash! is wrong with people? If you can't even read the ad & respond accordingly, how do you expect to land a job?

 

Is a resume, cover letter and salary requirements too much to ask for? :D

 

It's amazing. I'm looking for an admin and inside sales right now and have requested resumes and cover letters. About half send the cover but most of them say "I see you have an opening. Here is my resume. I want a job." Not really the point of a cover letter folks.

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Job seekers are frequently given advice to ignore the salary-requirement question, as it is seen as a screen-out question as putting yourself too high or too low initially. Plus I had been advised to avoid that question until at least a second interview.

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Job seekers are frequently given advice to ignore the salary-requirement question, as it is seen as a screen-out question as putting yourself too high or too low initially.

 

Bad advice! It is one of the first "screen-outs", because if I ask for salary requirements, I won't even consider resumes without them.

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Bad advice! It is one of the first "screen-outs", because if I ask for salary requirements, I won't even consider resumes without them.

 

Exactly.

 

My thinking is that if you can't comply with a simple request you either don't really want this particular job (you basically want ANY job) or you feel you are "above" complying, in which case I've gotta think you would make a sh!tty employee. In either case, I'm not going to respond to anyone that doesn't take the time/effort to comply.

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When looking for a job, I wouldn't respond to ads that wouldn't list the salary range for the position. Like BJ said, much advice out there is to never put salary requirements in with a cover letter or on the resume as you may under price yourself for the position or price yourself out of it. For the right opportunity, I'd certainly take a lower salary than I ideally was looking for, but if I said my requirements was a minimum $50K salary and as the hiring company you were only going to offer $40K, I wouldn't get considered even if I'd work my range that low for salary depending on other factors.

 

If BJ and I have been given the same advice, and 19 of the 20 respondents also ignored it, I'd venture a guess that it is common place to not give that information when just submitting a resume. Now, if you had asked for salary history, that is a different question.

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Exactly.

 

My thinking is that if you can't comply with a simple request you either don't really want this particular job (you basically want ANY job) or you feel you are "above" complying, in which case I've gotta think you would make a sh!tty employee. In either case, I'm not going to respond to anyone that doesn't take the time/effort to comply.

 

well, that's one way of looking at it. another is, if you're trolling for quality applicants with a free ad on craigslist that doesn't even list the salary for the position, you probably shouldn't be surprised at getting crappy resumes. your ad should state at least a range you're contemplating, and you shouldn't be asking them to discuss it further until toward the end of the first interview at the earliest. the good applicants who can follow simple directions are the ones who are going to skip right over your poorly conceived ad. no offense. :D

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well, that's one way of looking at it. another is, if you're trolling for quality applicants with a free ad on craigslist that doesn't even list the salary for the position, you probably shouldn't be surprised at getting crappy resumes. your ad should state at least a range you're contemplating, and you shouldn't be asking them to discuss it further until toward the end of the first interview at the earliest. the good applicants who can follow simple directions are the ones who are going to skip right over your poorly conceived ad. no offense. :D

 

Well, first off, employment ads on Craigslist.com are not free. Ads for merchandise, etc are free. But not job ads - that's how Craigslist makes their money.

 

Second, I agree to some extent that my ad could be more precise, however I am, in fact, "trolling" in the hopes of finding a quality applicant without paying a hefty fee to a recruiter. We paid $7500 to find the current person in the position and she is leaving after 5 months and we just spent $7500 for basically nothing.

 

If I find someone via this ad, great. But I definitely will NOT be hiring, or even interviewing anyone who did not comply with the requests in my ad.

 

Also, I can tell by the cover letters and resumes that 95% of the respondents don't even take the time to customize their replies. For example, the cover letters that are attached are titled "Generic Cover Letteer" or "Accounting Cover Letter" indicating that they have several "canned" letters. Some are even addressed to a previous company e..g. "Dear Hiring Manager at ABC, Inc." And people wonder why they don't hear back.

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Well, first off, employment ads on Craigslist.com are not free. Ads for merchandise, etc are free. But not job ads - that's how Craigslist makes their money.

 

Second, I agree to some extent that my ad could be more precise, however I am, in fact, "trolling" in the hopes of finding a quality applicant without paying a hefty fee to a recruiter. We paid $7500 to find the current person in the position and she is leaving after 5 months and we just spent $7500 for basically nothing.

 

If I find someone via this ad, great. But I definitely will NOT be hiring, or even interviewing anyone who did not comply with the requests in my ad.

 

Also, I can tell by the cover letters and resumes that 95% of the respondents don't even take the time to customize their replies. For example, the cover letters that are attached are titled "Generic Cover Letteer" or "Accounting Cover Letter" indicating that they have several "canned" letters. Some are even addressed to a previous company e..g. "Dear Hiring Manager at ABC, Inc." And people wonder why they don't hear back.

 

so, try putting some basic salary guidelines in the ad, and remove the part where you ask them to do something most good advisors would tell them to avoid. you'll probably get better applicants.

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Was your ad as well written as this one was?

 

i am a whole sale broaker that is looking to simpley push up my numbers so i am offering this to the public this is the best deal you can find compare and save tons it is a 35ounce plush and comes in 6 difrent nutral colors call keith with aney questions 612 363 7490
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Well, first off, employment ads on Craigslist.com are not free. Ads for merchandise, etc are free. But not job ads - that's how Craigslist makes their money.

The only thing Craigs List is any good for is finding IT employees, in my experience.

 

Second, I agree to some extent that my ad could be more precise, however I am, in fact, "trolling" in the hopes of finding a quality applicant without paying a hefty fee to a recruiter. We paid $7500 to find the current person in the position and she is leaving after 5 months and we just spent $7500 for basically nothing.

Thats the price of doing business.

 

If I find someone via this ad, great. But I definitely will NOT be hiring, or even interviewing anyone who did not comply with the requests in my ad.

Your requests are silly. What info is contained in a cover letter anyway? "Mr.Hiring Manager. I am submitting my resume...blah blah blah". I skip right over the cover letter when people send them to me. And as far as salary requirement is concerned, would you be okay if they answered "Your best offer"? That is what I've been trained to say in an interview. In an ideal world you are looking for an employee that is interested in the job, not the paycheck.

 

Also, I can tell by the cover letters and resumes that 95% of the respondents don't even take the time to customize their replies. For example, the cover letters that are attached are titled "Generic Cover Letteer" or "Accounting Cover Letter" indicating that they have several "canned" letters. Some are even addressed to a previous company e..g. "Dear Hiring Manager at ABC, Inc." And people wonder why they don't hear back.

 

What do you want, an essay on how cool it would be to work for you? The employment market is very competitive right now and there is no shortage of jobs to be had. There is a reason employees are called "Human Capital". You need to change your attitude toward talent aquisition or you will end up with lots of short timers like your recruiter experience.

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Regarding the fee you paid, did you have any sort of performance guarantee written in to the contract, such as the fee is reimbursed or partially reimbursed if the employee is fired with cause or leaves of their own accord within a certain time period? If not, that is something to consider. Or consider a temp to hire position using an agency like AccountTemps or Volt so at least you essentially get a trial period with the employee at a minimal cost to you before deciding to hire them or not.

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I'll take the job. Here are my requirements:

 

1) $75K

2) 5 weeks vacation

3) 401K match up to 8%

4) completely paid for medical plan, no premiums or deductibles

5) unlimited internet access to the Huddle and other sports/news sites at work

 

When can I start?

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Regarding the fee you paid, did you have any sort of performance guarantee written in to the contract, such as the fee is reimbursed or partially reimbursed if the employee is fired with cause or leaves of their own accord within a certain time period? If not, that is something to consider. Or consider a temp to hire position using an agency like AccountTemps or Volt so at least you essentially get a trial period with the employee at a minimal cost to you before deciding to hire them or not.

 

Usually recruiting contracts have a replacement guarantee for 30-90 days. That means if the employee leaves for any reason up to whatever the contract states the recruiting company will replace the candidate at no cost. Almost no contracts will offer a refund.

 

The temp-to-perm suggestion is a great way to evaluate a prospective employee before you commit to a permanant hire.

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We generally do not request salary requirements on resumes, but we do not provide a salary range either. We wait until the end of the first interview, and if the applicant is promising, we will let them know what benefits the job offers, but ask them to get back to us with their salary requirements. We tell them flat out, they have on chance, if they are too high for us, we will not hire them, but we want them to be honest about what they think they need, because we don't want hire them and then have them still looking for a job. We tell them if they are going to work here they have to be happy, and we have to be happy, if either one of us isn't then the relationship will not last long. This has worked well for us in the past, as we have a very little turnover.

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I'll take the job. Here are my requirements:

 

1) $75K

2) 5 weeks vacation

3) 401K match up to 8%

4) completely paid for medical plan, no premiums or deductibles

5) unlimited internet access to the Huddle and other sports/news sites at work

 

When can I start?

I'll take 65K

3 weeks vacation

401K match to 5%

I will gladly pay monthly premiums

same

 

:D

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When looking for a job, I wouldn't respond to ads that wouldn't list the salary range for the position. Like BJ said, much advice out there is to never put salary requirements in with a cover letter or on the resume as you may under price yourself for the position or price yourself out of it. For the right opportunity, I'd certainly take a lower salary than I ideally was looking for, but if I said my requirements was a minimum $50K salary and as the hiring company you were only going to offer $40K, I wouldn't get considered even if I'd work my range that low for salary depending on other factors.

 

If BJ and I have been given the same advice, and 19 of the 20 respondents also ignored it, I'd venture a guess that it is common place to not give that information when just submitting a resume. Now, if you had asked for salary history, that is a different question.

 

OK, so you don't respond to ads that don't list a salary range - that's cool, it's your choice. Yet you expect employers to look at a resume without a desired salary range, when it was specifically asked for? I must be missing something.

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Well, first off, employment ads on Craigslist.com are not free. Ads for merchandise, etc are free. But not job ads - that's how Craigslist makes their money.

 

Not true.....Craigslist charges for employment ads in a few select markets, 7 I think.....but in most, employment ads are free....they are free in Austin.

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If I were looking for a job, I would expect the employer to be the one to give a salary range for the position in question... not the other way around.

 

This is the age-old question. Current wisdom is that the first one to mention a $ amount gives up a significant amount of leverage if it comes down to actually salary negociations. I think a great deal depends on the market. If it is an employer's market, it would be much easier to require that applicants give you a range...if it is an employee's market, it is easier for applicants to ignore the request (although I would never completely ignore a spicific request such as that, if nothing else I would as the olde BS "compensation is one of only several things I am looking for in a positions, if I am a good match for the position, I am sure that we will be able to come to an agreement that is fair for all concerned" blah blah blah).

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Craigslist value for employment ads other than IT, depends on the market. In a market like Austin, Craigslist is very widely used, and can be a valuable resourse for many job types. I am a CPA/Controller, and I found my current position on Craigslist./

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I never fill in salary history. It is none of their business unless they hire me. Also, I have been blessed with some extremely high paying jobs. Most of the time the person hiring has never made half of what I made working for Enron.

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Regarding the fee you paid, did you have any sort of performance guarantee written in to the contract, such as the fee is reimbursed or partially reimbursed if the employee is fired with cause or leaves of their own accord within a certain time period? If not, that is something to consider. Or consider a temp to hire position using an agency like AccountTemps or Volt so at least you essentially get a trial period with the employee at a minimal cost to you before deciding to hire them or not.

 

+1, I've used local contingency firms and force them to agree on paper to re-fill the position for free if the candidate leaves within 1 year. I believe the search firm makes the candidate agree to re-imburse the fee to them if they quit within a certain time frame. The fees I'm dealing with are 25-35% of gross, though.

 

'Course, I've also gotten so sick of dealing with them that I'm going to try Careerbuilder or Monster next.

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In response to DemonKinght's post - I think cover letters are a vastly underutilized tool. A good cover letter can explain a lot of things that a resume does not, the most important being why a person is a good fit for a specific job. Showing some initiative in researching a company and specifially talking about how past experience pertains to the job description (or what the job seems to be) means a lot to me. A resume should be filled with facts - a cover letter lets you tell a story as to why those facts are important to the position, as well as things that you can't put on a resume. So yeah, in a way, it is an essay on how awesome one is. But I don't think most people look at it that way and you tend to see a lot of really crappy cover letters.

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