Blind ads pose a problem for the executive job hunter. Regardless of their intent, they must be "broken" in order to identify the hiring company. If you are currently employed, you must do this without revealing your own identity. One technique that headhunters use to break blind ads is to send a mailgram to the blind address. In the message the respondent explains that he meets every requirement for the position, but because of the sensitivity of his current job he cannot respond fully without knowing the name of the hiring company. This is followed by a brief extract of accomplishments that indicates the high quality of the candidate. The respondent gives an alias (or no name at all) plus a phone number and a request to call. In 50 to 75 percent of the cases advertisers will call the candidate and give him the name of the company.
You can use either your own telephone number or that of a friend. The advantage of using a mend's number is that it will not be familiar should the blind ad represent your own company. The disadvantage of using a friend's number is that you may not be available to speak with the caller. If a friend takes the call, he should get the company's name as well as the name of the caller, job title, and telephone number. If you take the call, find out all you can about the job and ask for an interview. If the advertiser turns out to be your own company, don't panic. Take the number and use any reason you can think of without identifying yourself to gracefully get off the phone.
Another way of breaking a blind ad is simply to call the newspaper or magazine and ask. Some states require that such information be given out if requested. The worse than can happen is that the newspaper will say no.
If you are conducting a campaign, while employed never respond to a blind ad without checking to make certain the advertiser is not your own company. Many an employee has been discharged for "disloyalty" when he inadvertently responded to a blind advertisement from his own company.
With all the difficulty of responding to blind ads, why bother with them at all?, for good reasons. Fewer executives respond to blind advertisements than to open ones. Therefore, you will generally have less competition. So do not let the fact that an advertisement is blind deter you from responding. And never underestimate the importance of getting as much information as possible before you answer an advertisement.
How to Use Response Frequency to Your Advantage
You should know one additional point of importance in answering ads. There is an established response pattern that seems to hold regardless of time of year, geographical location, type of job, or any other factor. Many executive job hunters rush to respond to an ad within a few days after it appears, thinking that it will put them ahead of their competitors. This is a mistake. When a PE has many responses to read, he may not read them carefully. Even a good response can get lost in the shuffle. Also, the hiring executive tends to cut large numbers of resumes or responses rather severely, reducing, say 200 responses to only 5 for final consideration. A response arriving later will compete only with other later responses and the few "winners" from the huge early response, not the entire 200.
To minimize the chance of your response being overlooked and to take advantage of the reduced competition, do not respond until one week after the ad appears. Don't be afraid to wait. The chances are very slim that you will miss out within two weeks after the ad appears. Most good positions are not filled immediately. Would you want to hire someone for an important job without seeing all the top people available? If you respond too early, you are more likely to lose out than to get an immediate interview and quick hire. Recall that Bob F.'s interview-getting response didn't arrive until almost three weeks after the ad appeared.
