Newspapers

April 13, 2006

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A classified ad taken out in a newspaper is the most common way to advertise a job opening.

Classifieds have some major advantages:

Traditionally, people looking for work look there.
They are relatively low-cost considering the number of people they reach.

To maintain goodwill in the community, you may wish to answer all replies, even if you just use a simple form letter or postcard. Two things will ease this burden:

Use well-written ads that discourage clearly unqualified persons from applying.
Use "blind ads" as discussed below.

Display ads. Instead of a small classified ad, you can buy a larger block of space on the classified pages and run an attractive display ad. Because it must compete with many other display ads there, the ad must be well-designed and distinctive.

But there's a lot more to a newspaper than the classifieds. Taking into account the audience you're aiming for, consider these other sections of the paper that may target the person that you think might have an interest in your job, and where you may want to place a display ad:

business pages
general news
sports
fashion

Warning

Display ads can be attractive, eye-catching, and expensive! The bigger the ad is, the more it will cost, and the price goes up if you include some art, such as a logo or a graphic.

Blind ads. A blind ad does not identify the name of the company seeking employees, but instead lists an anonymous post office box to which job seekers can send their resumes.

Blind ads are popular with employers because:

They can save money because they don't have to answer each applicant.
They can avoid having to deal with those candidates who are rejected.
They can maintain a lower profile if they want to replace an existing employee or when they are not contemplating promoting a current employee into a position.

Blind ads aren't without their downside. Two primary drawbacks of a blind ad are:

Job seekers may end up answering ads from their present employer (probably not a problem if your business is small).
Blind ads generate fewer responses because people are suspicious of any employer that won't put its name in print.

There is a way to get around some of the stigma of the blind ad. Advise current employees ahead of time that the ad is being run. It can prevent the embarrassment of employees answering their own employer's blind ad.

When creating your ad for the newspaper, be aware that there are things you'll want to say and things you don't want to say. Writing the job ad correctly will help increase your chance of getting the right person for the job.