"Blind" employment ads can lead you down dark alley

Q: Recently I have seen many job advertisements with a "reply to a confidential box number" with no mention of the company name. I can't understand how a company can expect to get the best candidates without putting its name in the ad. Are they real jobs, or are they bogus? Are headhunters just attempting to gather names for their databases? What are these advertisements all about?

I am a human-resources professional, and responding to these types of ads makes no sense to me.

NICK'S REPLY: Imagine sharing private, personal information about yourself with someone about whom you know nothing, not even their name. A crazy idea, isn't it? Yet people reply to the "blind" employment ads you refer to all the time. It's sheer foolishness.

The World Privacy Foundation (www.worldprivacyforum.org) is a good place to learn about questionable job ads and identity theft.

Yes, some headhunters and some employers sometimes run blind ads just to fill their databases. Headhunters may do it when recruiting for a client who requires complete confidentiality until appropriate candidates are identified.

However, I think this approach is only rarely justified. Good headhunters don't need to be so cagey. They know where their quarry is, and they go there. And if they need to be confidential, they don't run an ad. (At the very least, a headhunting firm can list its own name and address.)

So, what's going on? I suspect a lot of these ads are indeed scams, perpetrated by multilevel marketing swindlers and the like. Many of them are for jobs you'd never apply for if you knew what they were.

I can imagine even more nefarious purposes and I can't caution you enough to make sure you know where your résumé is going.

Of course, some of these ads are run by well-meaning employers who've been told this is the way to do it. In today's world, it's simply a foolish way to recruit good people.

He who goes when called to meet a faceless caller is a dope. Please, don't be a dope.

The headhunter tip:

More vacation

Employers love to base a job offer on a person's last salary. That's why they ask for your salary history. If you divulge your old salary, you're left with no real room to negotiate.

The rationale the employer will give is this: Your last salary is indicative of your overall value in your profession.

Oh, really? Now it's time to play "what's good for the goose is good for the gander."

You know those four weeks of vacation you earned at your last company because you worked there five years? An employer who wants to base your new salary on the old one should cough up vacation time equal to your last vacation deal, whatever it may be.

Why? Because earned vacation time reflects your value, just as salary does.

Nick Corcodilos is author of "Ask The Headhunter: Reinventing the Interview to Win the Job" and the host of www.asktheheadhunter.com. He can be reached by e-mail at seattle@asktheheadhunter.com or at North Bridge Group, P.O. Box 600, Lebanon, NJ 08833. Sorry, no personal replies.