Page 41 - Journal of Strategic Marketing Magazine - April 2019
P. 41
ADVICE FOR GRADUATES
Watch that space! Recruitment ads
can be misleading
Young graduates and professionals are often bamboozled by misleading recruitment
advertising. Jennilee Peremore-Oliver reveals what to look for in prospective employers – and
their ads – to ensure you’re not taken for a costly ride.
H aving viewed hundreds of job
advertisements published by
recruiters and human resources
practitioners, I often question how much
thought was given to it before clicking
‘publish’. Based on how much these job
ads reveal about many of the recruiting
companies’ (rather questionable)
corporate culture, I am sure they would
have rather left it concealed.
This might be bad news for the
recruiting company, but it is great
news for seasoned professionals with a
keen eye for bad employers. They can
dodge these bullets at the very irst
stage of seeking employment – the job
advertisement. Sadly, young graduates
or professionals with minimal
work experience fall prey to these they advertise that the company is 2. Requesting salary history and
companies, because they are eager for “looking for a digital/marketing/PR/ expectation
the experience. content manager”. Digital is not the Many job seekers don’t know that
With South Africa’s unemployment same as marketing, and marketing is employers don’t have the right to ask
rate at 27.5 percent, many job seekers not the same as public relations, and for their salary history, and those that
are competing for a handful of roles, PR is not the same as digital. Other do know and who exercise their right
and self-seeking employers use this practices include an impossible list of to keep their salary history private are
national crisis to their advantage to duties, which is more than ive pages passed over for the job regardless of
exploit job seekers. long, or listing only what the company whether they are the best candidate.
This article is aimed at young requires from the employee but There are companies that hire young
graduates and professionals to help excluding what the company offers graduates with great potential to excel
them identify a company with a poor employees. and give them a very low entry salary,
corporate culture at the initial stages of This creates the impression that the either as an intern or junior employee,
the recruitment process. recruiting company aims to exhaust its and then only provide them with a
employees without any consideration nominal annual increase when they
1. The impossible list of duties and or concern for their employees’ quality become permanently employed at the
expectations of life, and that the company does company.
This can include advertising multiple not view employment as a reciprocal Asking for a salary history or
different roles as one. For example, relationship. expectation reveals to candidates that
Strategic Marketing - p39
Watch that space! Recruitment ads
can be misleading
Young graduates and professionals are often bamboozled by misleading recruitment
advertising. Jennilee Peremore-Oliver reveals what to look for in prospective employers – and
their ads – to ensure you’re not taken for a costly ride.
H aving viewed hundreds of job
advertisements published by
recruiters and human resources
practitioners, I often question how much
thought was given to it before clicking
‘publish’. Based on how much these job
ads reveal about many of the recruiting
companies’ (rather questionable)
corporate culture, I am sure they would
have rather left it concealed.
This might be bad news for the
recruiting company, but it is great
news for seasoned professionals with a
keen eye for bad employers. They can
dodge these bullets at the very irst
stage of seeking employment – the job
advertisement. Sadly, young graduates
or professionals with minimal
work experience fall prey to these they advertise that the company is 2. Requesting salary history and
companies, because they are eager for “looking for a digital/marketing/PR/ expectation
the experience. content manager”. Digital is not the Many job seekers don’t know that
With South Africa’s unemployment same as marketing, and marketing is employers don’t have the right to ask
rate at 27.5 percent, many job seekers not the same as public relations, and for their salary history, and those that
are competing for a handful of roles, PR is not the same as digital. Other do know and who exercise their right
and self-seeking employers use this practices include an impossible list of to keep their salary history private are
national crisis to their advantage to duties, which is more than ive pages passed over for the job regardless of
exploit job seekers. long, or listing only what the company whether they are the best candidate.
This article is aimed at young requires from the employee but There are companies that hire young
graduates and professionals to help excluding what the company offers graduates with great potential to excel
them identify a company with a poor employees. and give them a very low entry salary,
corporate culture at the initial stages of This creates the impression that the either as an intern or junior employee,
the recruitment process. recruiting company aims to exhaust its and then only provide them with a
employees without any consideration nominal annual increase when they
1. The impossible list of duties and or concern for their employees’ quality become permanently employed at the
expectations of life, and that the company does company.
This can include advertising multiple not view employment as a reciprocal Asking for a salary history or
different roles as one. For example, relationship. expectation reveals to candidates that
Strategic Marketing - p39
