While looking at a few postings on a few prominent sites in the last couple weeks, I’ve noticed a rash of postings that refuse to name the company. I will never pass these postings along to my friends. Here’s why…

I recognize “Company Confidential” may mean that you’re looking to fire your current designer and don’t want them to know. But you know what “Company Confidential” says to prospective employees about you? That you are a company people don’t want to work for, so you’re afraid to say who you are in the ad. It says that you are underhanded in your dealing with your current employees (otherwise your current designer would know you’re looking to replace them and you wouldn’t have to hide). It says you are not trustworthy as a company. Either that, or you’re a headhunter and you don’t really have a position lined up; you just want to trick a designer into paying you to find them one.

In any case, no one but a desperate job seeker would apply to the ad.

Then again, maybe that’s what you want: people who are desperate for a new job because desperate people are more likely to work for less pay and less benefits. Ask yourself: do you really feel comfortable hiring someone for a detail-oriented job when you haven’t given them the option to show whether or not they’re capable of even basic research, based on how much they know about your company by the time they get to the interview? I wouldn’t be.

“But,” you say, “we just don’t want to deal with a barrage of phone calls from people!” Then put that in the ad: “No phone calls please. Anyone who is incapable of following this one simple instruction will be barred from consideration for the job.” You’ll still get phone calls but you can easily weed out the people who didn’t bother to read the whole ad, who are likely to be just as half-assed in their work for you as they were in reading the ad. These are not people you want to hire. Consider it winnowing the field.

Giving prospective employees a chance to find out what your company does (what it really does, not what your marketing-ese says you do) and what your company culture is like, on their own terms, makes the process of attracting new employees self-selecting. If you are a large energy company with wall to wall cubicles and everyone has to wear a tie no matter how far removed from customer contact they are, people who would be stifled or uncomfortable in that environment know to steer clear of sending you their resume. Likewise, if you’re a startup who hasn’t quite figured out where long-term funding is coming from and you have very little in the way of office rules, people who need strong structure and stability know to skip your ad. If they have no way of knowing these things, and they apply, you are wasting each other’s time. Wouldn’t you rather the majority of your interviews are with people who will fit into your company?

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1. Guess I’m just getting old

There’s so much more to life. Put down your cellphone. Turn off your computer. Go outside in the sun. Go down to the corner pub and buy a beer. Go dig in the garden or walk around the neighborhood and meet your actual neighbors. Post to facebook… tomorrow. You don’t need to tell your three thousand followers on twitter that you’re climbing the steps or going to the bathroom. Wait til you have something worth saying.

There’s lots of things worth saying. Discuss things related to theories about your passion or your job. Post about _meaningful_ happenings in your life. It’s great that you can talk to people you’d be incapable of keeping up with otherwise. But gods, before you write something think to yourself: “Does anyone really care? Am I adding something worth reading to the conversation? Will people who follow me for updates care about this?” Otherwise you’re just adding to the noise.

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2. One extra function of bookmark posts

First of all, we’re not emperors of the world. There is no reason for other governments to do whatever we want them to or tell them to. What’s going on in Honduras is NOT about the US vs Venezuela, no matter how much it gets spun that way. I seriously doubt that the govt. of Honduras was even thinking of either the US or Chavez when they made their decision.

Second, notice that Chavez and Obama are saying the same thing, (except blaming each other). Even if you bought that it had anything to do with either country, Venezuela and the US are ON THE SAME SIDE IN THIS ISSUE as far as their policy.

Third, whether the action in Honduras was right or wrong, there’s a simple fact that’s being totally overlooked: The Supreme Court ordered the military to arrest and eject their President because he broke their law and then their Congress elected an interim leader until the next election. That’s not a military coup. It’s a civil action that was partially carried out by their military, partially by the civilian government. There’s a big difference — and the biggest difference, obviously, is in which one moves more papers.

I’m not going to weigh in on whether it was right or wrong, because I know that my opinion is irrelevant. I’m not there. I’ll defer my opinion on the matter to the people who actually live there and have to deal with it on a daily basis. Maybe our media should try remembering the same thing.

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