Case Study
A Problem Ad

Dorothy Bryant was the new recruiting supervisor for International Manufacturing Company in Salt Lake
City, Utah. One of Dorothy’s first assignments was to recruit two software design engineers for
International. Design engineers are hard to recruit because of the difficulty of their training and the high
demand for them. After considering various recruitment alternatives, Dorothy placed the following ad in
a local newspaper with a circulation in excess of 1,000,000:

Employment opportunity for Software Design Engineers
2 positions available for engineers desiring career in growth industry.
Prefer recent college graduates with good appearance.

Good credit rating Apply Today!
Send your résumé, in confidence, to:
D. A. Bryant

International Manufacturing Co., P. O. Box 1515 Salt Lake City, UT 84115

More than 300 applications arrived in the first week, and Dorothy was elated. When she reviewed the
applicants, however, it appeared that few people possessed the desired qualifications for the job.
Questions
Dorothy overlooked some of the proper recruiting practices, which resulted in an excessive number of
unqualified people applying. What are they?
Are there any hiring standards that should be avoided? Identify them and explain why they should be
avoided.
What recruitment sources and methods might have been used to have generated a better applicant
pool for the two software design engineer positions for International Manufacturing? Defend your
recommendations.