Do you think the job postings of some companies are so specific and narrow they get few if any responses?

Question

I am a job hunter and notice that some postings in the paper or internet are ridiculously specific. Like, "Seeking human resources manager that has experinence in EEO, unemployment insurance, workers comp and has a christian music industry background and speaks mongolian and has 13-20 years of charity based expreience in Thailand." OK, that was made up. But you get the point.

Answer 1

We have a lot of regulations form our wonderful government that require us to specifically define what an "applicant" is and is not - and those regulations require us to write more and more specific ads to be able to comply with the reporting requirements.

Frankly, though, if you are 75% qualified for the position you apply for - or make a convincing argument for why I should consider you, you will probably merit a call at least.

The flip side is that somejobs DO have such narrow or specific acceptable requirements that we have to write ads like you describe above to get candidates.

It makes our hair hurt sometimes when we get the specs from our hiring managers and realize that we're after what is referred to as "purple squirrels" in the recruiting business.

Answer 2

Hi there, they do that on purpose to make sure they get the top potential candidates. Just make sure on your resume that after you see some of the qualifications that you put the words in your resume so that it pops up in their searches. I do hate some companies though that are all over the internet and they never respond back to you if you put in a resume. I vowed if I ever own a company to at least respond back with a letter to potential candidates saying why we weren't interviewing them, or why we didn't hire them. I HATED not getting any kind of response when I was looking for a job. Try Craigslist if you haven't already, that is where I found my present job, i've been here 6 months now. =) http://www.craigslist.com

Answer 3

When job ads are extremely specific it usually means that the person for the post has already been selected but the job has to be advertised because of company policy or that the person appointed is from another country and requires a work permit.

Answer 4

Yes. I know that for sure because one staffing agency Apple One claimed to have some positions based on my work experience. The executive manager of the San Francisco branch knew that my position at the Federal Reserve Bank was ending because while I was working, I overheard my former supervisor 's supervisor Robin (she's the big boss lady) that she wanted to tell me when I asked for a reference check from my new supervisor. She wanted to know what company will I be working at. She said she was working on it. She never found it. She told me to interview which my position is only through agencies. Also, one time I read on craigslist that ws seeking someone who can type 90 wpm. No way.

Answer 5

When I was one of the people reading through the hundreds of applications and resumes we would get for different jobs, we realized that we needed to be much more specific in our job ads so that only qualified, or nearly qualified, people applied. When the job ads are specific, each applicant can get the attention s/he deserves and it is more likely that a good applicant won't be overlooked.

Answer 6

Well that is how they insure a qualified candidate, they will still get unqualified people applying because they figure it is worth a shot.

Answer 7

you can't get what you want unless you ask for it.
my guess is they're describing exactly what they want/need.
if they don't get that person they may widen their search area.