I have clients consistently calling me for short-order resumes for a “job that just opened and will be closing in (under) five days.”  At first, I want to ask is ‘why they weren’t updating their resume before they started job-shopping?’ (but I refrain!).  Then I have to explain to them the reason for the short-term posting, including the ‘HR secret.’

Where did the minimum days of job posting idea come from?  It’s a mix of requirements from the federal Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) for Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA) and the implications of publishing job announcements under the federal U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s recommendations for creating and following an Affirmative Action Plan (AAP; companies with 50+ employees per worksite and/or a government contract valued at >$50K).  Federal contractors must abide by the VEVRAA and document in their contract proposals they have policies to hire under EEOC.  The AAP documents the hiring process demonstrating the government contractor not only attempts to place diverse candidates, but also hiring outreach to military veterans. 

The recruiters, hiring managers, and human resources departments are creating job announcements fitting parameters of the federal compliance matrix.  These policies are recommended best-practices in large and government contracting business organizations.  The best-practice enables mid-sized and smaller companies to also publish policies to ensure fair hiring policies and practices, as well as avoid potential litigation for prejudicial hiring. 

But – there is a ‘secret’ hiring managers won’t talk about when posting short-term job announcements – especially those between 3-5 business or calendar days. If the job is posted for short time-span, it’s likely because the HR department is hiring an internal candidate or already has an external candidate but also has an EEO policy to publish the job for a minimum of 3-5 business days.

Other indicators the job announcement is published short-term are: 1) there may be ‘odd’ requirements (experience in toy manufacturing environment for a dog-grooming position), 2) strange job skills (experience working on a 1990-era IBM Selectric Typewriter for a sales position), and/or 3) certifications not associated with the position’s normal tasks and responsibilities (CISSP certification for an executive secretary).  At first glance the required experience and/or skill sets seem legitimate. The ‘off’ requirements enable the hiring manager and human resources to reject applicants without those ‘strange minimum skills’ with legitimate audit-proof reasons. 

In other instances, the job announcement may be for a job where every Tom, Dick, and Harriett has the minimum requirements and skill sets. The recruiter would rather not dig through hundreds of applicants’ resumes.  Jobs for customer service, secretaries, administrative assistants, cash register operators, and floor sales clerks are common and thousands of job seekers have those basic skills.  Posting the position between a late Friday afternoon, and closing it early on a Monday morning provides documentation the job was open for a legitimate minimum period (four sequential calendar dates).  This fulfills the 4-5 business days recommended for EEO and AAP audits, while getting a sufficient number of applicants. 

Knowing this secret behind the short publications provides a lesson-learned.  Review your resume at least monthly and if you achieved any new  accomplishments at work, new training, or even a new educational degree – add it immediately to your resume.  Read job announcements carefully for those ‘oddball’ requirements – if you have those in your experience and skill sets – add that bullet into the resume in the job in which you achieved that career enhancement.  This enables you to qualify equitably with the ‘already identified’ candidate. 

Overall – the lesson is – always be prepared with a highly polished resume for any and all job searches and career improvement activities. 

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Dawn Boyer, Ph.D., owner of D. Boyer Consulting – provides resume writing, social media management, and editing / publishing / print-on-demand consulting. Reach her at: Dawn.Boyer@me.com or visit her website at www.dboyerconsulting.com.