Help Wanted Help

You have to give it to Mark Cuban.  He is awfully smart and has the money, too. 

He has a very popular blog—and basically allows the world inside his head.  It alone is an entertaining read.

So…he wants to find a new player for his team…not his Mavericks team, the other, a business one.  Does he take out an ad on Monster?  No….he challenges job seekers to apply by giving him an idea he needs and hasn’t heard yet.  This sounds a bit like Nick Corcodilos’s advice to jobseekers: Be sure you tell your prospective employer exactly what you can do for him.

So, the Mark Cuban Challenge is up now, and only about 1,000 people have responded—scroll through their responses.

The point is, is your help wanted advertising getting this kind of response.  You might not have this type of platform, but you can get the word out by being creative.

Increasingly, employers are being watched for any potential discrimination claims.  Some attorneys carefully sift through internet and newspaper ads, looking for help wanted ads that make specific, but discriminatory requests.  Then, they threaten the employer with a suit; most employers hate the resulting publicity and settle the suit to make the ‘problem’ go away.

Even simple ads or phrases that ask for ‘Recent College Graduates” typically are found  to violate discrimination laws.  THe employer may never have an issue with the ads.  But why risk it?  Keep a copy of all help wanted ads on file for at least one year to prove your point and your commitment to non-discriminatory hiring practices.

Some help wanted vendors keep copies of all your ads in their archiving system.  Be sure they do, or you need to do the same.