Craigslist and other job posting websites are full of classified ads looking for people to fill positions at unnamed clubs; when you see this type of ad, do not reply. Here are two reasons why:

1. The club may not have a great reputation, so by not telling you the club name, the club is hoping you’ll show interest first because you’re a sucker to find out more information before totally disregarding the ad.

2. The club does want other employees to find out the club is hiring, which means they are looking for other employees to replace the current staff without giving the current staff a heads up. Sounds like a great work environment, right?

You can say I study Craigslist ads for a non-living as I often look to update NYNightlife with job listings as I understand a tip about an open call may be valuable to somebody looking for a night time gig in the industry. What I notice is the teams you actually want to work for, like EMM Group, Union Square Hospitality Group, TAO Group, and BR Guest for example, all include their company name in ads. And why shouldn’t they? Their brand has a positive reputation in the hospitality industry, so they deserve to choose from as many people as possible by using their name to attract as many applicants as possible.

With all this said, there is an example of something smart I catch from time-to-time you may want to pay attention to. Rather than include the club’s name in the ad, the address of the club is included. I think this is a great way to weed out people who either do not recognize the address or do not take the time to Google it to find out more information. If an applicant is not already knowledgable and or interested enough to Google the address, how badly should a club even want them as an employee?

Transparency is the name of the game. If there is no way to find out the name of the club hiring from the text in the ad, keep it moving, this club isn’t right for you.