EDITOR'S POST

What is a 'req' and how is it advertised?

Q. What is a 'req' and how is it advertised?

A. For someone to be hired, a hiring manager somewhere first has to decide that a position is open and that someone has to be hired. This happens because someone has left (resigned, was fired, promoted, transferred, passed away) or because increased workload necessitates increasing the head count. In most fields, it's extremely unlikely that a manager would first come across an impressive resume and then consider creating a new slot or replacing one of the existing employees. The "hidden" job market (reqs that aren't formally open until the right candidate comes along) is a myth.

Once the decision to hire someone is made, the employer writes a "requirement", or "req" for short, which lists the qualifications (skills, education, personal traits) required of and desired in a candidate. A decision is usually made at this time about the pay range.

Studies show that many (perhaps most) open reqs are filled through informal networking. Employers ask their friends, who ask their friends, and eventually suitable candidates are found. An attempt is made to promote or transfer one of the current employees to fill the new req.

Some employers advertise their reqs by placing them in newspapers, on Usenet, etc. Most give their names in the ads. Some place anonymous ads with a P.O. box number for responses (so-called "blind ads"), to avoid unwanted phone calls and even personal visits from job seekers. Advertising reqs has the disadvantage that the employer will find not only qualified candidates but also be inundated with resumes from unqualified candidates, typically, recent college graduates.

Some people "carpet-mail" their resumes in response to every ad, figuring that even though they clearly don't match this req, the advertiser may have other open reqs. On the Internet, indiscriminate e-mailing of resumes wastes everyone's time and borders net-abuse. Job ads also allow competitors to know vacancy information, turn-over rate, position's salary and other information the company may not want revealed. It's estimated that only 10-20% of reqs are advertised directly.

Employers interested in hiring entry-level candidates typically send their reqs to the placement offices of reputable colleges, who make them available to their students and alumni. Hundreds of colleges participate in JobTrak, which posts such reqs on WWW (www.jobtrak.com, password required). If a college doesn't participate in JobTrak, its placement office probably has plenty of entry-level reqs sent to it anyway.

Employers interested in more advanced candidates sometimes send their reqs to selected third party recruiters, who in turn advertise in newspapers, on Usenet, etc, and match the reqs with their internal databases of resumes. It's not unusual for several recruiters simultaneously to advertise for the same req. Most blind ads are placed by recruiters. Recruiters who receive the reqs also use networking to find candidates. Some promise a portion of their fee ("finder's fee") for pointing them to the right candidate. Many are willing to co-operate with other recruiters and split their fees.

Given a choice between a suitable candidate found through networking and a comparable candidate submitted by a contingency recruiter, most employers would prefer to hire the former to avoid paying a substantial fee. It's estimated that only 5-10% of jobs are filled through recruiters.

Out of a pile of resumes, the employers identify a few candidates to bring in for an interview. After one or more rounds of interviews, a job offer is made to the best candidate. If she declines, the offer is made to the second best candidate. If she also declines, the employer may choose to sweeten the offer to the first candidate, make an offer to the third best candidate, invite more people for interviews, or solicit more resumes.

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