Most companies assume that when they post a job notice, they’ll have lots of candidates to screen and select from. That is sometimes the case. When it is the case, or when they assume it’s the case, here’s what they typically do:

As I said, they post a boring job notice that assumes people will be banging down their door. So the notice lists the work duties and the long list of requirements people must have (knowledge, skills, years of experience, etc.). B-O-R-I-N-G!!

And when you are very, very good, and already employed, you probably will be put off by the notice if you even see it and bother to read it.

Then, after they get their list of candidates, they weed out most of them and look for just the gems to hire. Except when the best people are already working and/or there simply aren’t enough candidates to look at, this approach will leave you with a frighteningly small group to interview.

Kind of like someone desperate for companionship who has the awful choice of saying yes to the one and only person who wants to go out with them, or enduring another weekend alone at home watching online movies.

A Better Approach to Finding and Hiring Good People

Here’s a better approach, especially when there aren’t a lot of great people looking for the job you are offering.

In this process, you take a marketing approach. You actively recruit them like their hot. Because they are. So you make your “job notice” an advertisement or sales piece which sells them on the career opportunity this position represents to the right person who can make the cut.

Then you have a more informal discussion with them, perhaps on their territory or Starbucks or some neutral place (or you show off your company and/or products). In this discussion your goal is to further sell the position for the right candidate and also get to know them…what they are looking for in their next career move (remember, they are probably already working so don’t assume they want this job.)

Then if there is mutual interest in going forward, you invite them to come in for the usual interviews.

I hope that makes sense in a tight job market.