Looking for work in the groups: what employers look for in a post

Every day, Georgian groups get posts that say “looking for work,” often with no name, no photo and no details. This guide covers what CareerOneStop, a service of the US Department of Labor, counts as the main parts of a job seeker’s introduction, what research shows, what the law says about age, sex and photos, and how scammers use the job search.

This is general information from official sources, not legal advice.

In short

1. CareerOneStop says employers typically scan a resume for less than 10 seconds.
2. According to the same source, the top of a resume gives the name, city, phone number and one line on what the person does for work. The most important part is work experience.
3. New York State and New York City laws say an employer cannot refuse to hire someone because of age or sex. The federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) says employers should not ask applicants for a photo.
4. CareerOneStop also says bias toward older workers is real.
5. According to Federal Trade Commission (FTC) data, people reported to the FTC that they lost $501 million to job scams in 2024.

What employers look for

CareerOneStop is a service of the US Department of Labor. Its guide is about the resume: a short written introduction that a job seeker sends to an employer. The guide gives these rules.

Time. Employers typically scan a resume for less than 10 seconds. So the top part decides whether they keep reading.

Contact information. At the top: name, city and state, personal email and phone number. The guide says a full street address is not needed.

Headline. Under the name: the job title, or 10-12 words about the key qualification. One of the guide’s examples is “Licensed Practical Nurse, 10 years in geriatric care.”

Summary. 3-4 sentences about the main skills and achievements. The guide says numbers make the picture clear, and that the personal qualities to include are the ones that matter for the job, such as attention to detail or physical strength.

Work experience. CareerOneStop says this is usually the most important part of a resume. For each job, the resume lists the job title, the employer, the city and the dates, plus the specific work and numbers: how many people the worker served and what the work achieved.

Skills. Only the skills that matter for the specific job.

These rules are written for a resume. There is no official rule for a post in a group.

What research shows

The figures below come from companies and researchers, not from government rules. Each one says who published it and when.

• 7.4 seconds. A 2018 study by Ladders, a job search company, found that recruiters look at a resume for 7.4 seconds on average.
• Photo. LinkedIn data from 2017 says a profile with a photo gets up to 21 times more profile views and up to 9 times more connection requests. This is the company’s own data, and its method is not published.
• Age, survey. In a 2024 AARP survey (2,002 people over 50), 6 in 10 of these workers said they had seen or experienced subtle forms of age discrimination at work.
• Age, experiment. Economists Neumark, Burn and Button (NBER) sent more than 40,000 job applications. They found strong evidence of hiring discrimination against older women, especially those close to retirement age. They found much less evidence of it against men.

We did not find any study that measures replies to job seekers’ posts in Facebook groups.

What the law says about age, sex and photos

These rules apply to employers.

New York State. Under the Human Rights Law (Executive Law § 296), an employer may not refuse to hire someone because of age, sex, national origin, citizenship or immigration status, marital status and other traits. The part of the law about age protects people from age 18. The same law forbids an employer to use a job ad, application form or question that expresses a limit based on these traits, unless it is a genuine requirement of the job itself.

New York City. The NYC Commission on Human Rights says the city law sets no age limit and covers employers with four or more employees or independent contractors. The commission says a job posting may not express an age limit, and that phrases such as “recent college graduates” or “youthful energy” may signal a preference for younger people. According to the commission, asking about age when there is no need can be seen as a sign of discrimination, and it recommends asking for a date of birth after a job offer.

Federal law. The US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) says an employer may not publish an ad that shows a preference based on sex or age (from age 40). The EEOC’s example is an ad that seeks “females.” The commission also says employers should not ask applicants for a photo. The commission says that if an employer needs a photo for identification, it may get one after a job offer is made and accepted.

These sources do not say that a job seeker is forbidden to share their own age, sex or photo. That is the job seeker’s choice.

From our experience

This is what the kartvelians.com team has seen in the groups. It is not an official source or a study.

A common post in the groups reads: “Vedzeb samsaxurs. An damsaqmeblebis nomrebs mainc madloba” (Georgian in Latin letters: “Looking for work. Or at least employers’ numbers, thanks”). It does not show who is writing, what they can do, where they live or when they can work. Such posts rarely get replies. People who have work rarely share their contacts and employers’ numbers with a stranger.

In our experience, a post that gives a real name, a photo, age and sex gets replies more often. The law forbids refusing someone because of these traits, but, as the research above shows, bias still exists. At the same time, the experiment on older women shows that age can also lower the number of replies.

This is what a post that shows everything can look like. The names are made up. (Translated from Georgian.)

“Nino Beridze, 42. I live in Brooklyn. I cared for an elderly person for 6 years, 3 of them in New York. My English is intermediate, my Russian fluent. I’m looking for day work, Monday to Friday, in Brooklyn or Staten Island. I have references.”

“Giorgi Maisuradze, 34, Brooklyn. I worked 8 years at a car repair shop in Tbilisi: engines, suspension, brakes, diagnostics. Here I have worked with a master mechanic for 2 years. I work neatly, put tools back in their place, listen to the master and don’t argue. I have a driver’s license and my own tools. My English is good enough for work, my Russian fluent. I’m looking for full-time work, and I can work Saturdays too.”

Both show the name, age, place, experience with numbers, languages, working hours, and what sets the writer apart from others.

Scammers and job seekers

According to FTC data, reports of job and employment agency scams tripled from 2020 to 2024, and reported losses rose from $90 million to $501 million. The FTC names these rules and signs:

• Where they are. Scammers advertise jobs in the same places as honest employers: online ads, job sites and social media. A stranger may call without warning with a job offer.
• Money for a job. Honest employers, including the federal government, never ask people to pay to get a job.
• A check. No honest employer sends a check to deposit. The fake check is returned unpaid, and the bank wants the account holder to repay the amount.
• Personal information. The FTC says a person who gave personal information thinking it was “for payroll” may now have an identity theft problem.
• Reshipping packages. The FTC says receiving and reshipping goods is never a real job. It is taking part in a scam.

The FTC takes reports of job scams at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.

Common mistakes

1. Thinking that “looking for work” is enough. CareerOneStop says employers scan a resume for less than 10 seconds, and the most important part is work experience.
2. Thinking that refusing to hire someone because of age or sex is legal. New York State law forbids refusing to hire someone who is 18 or older because of their age, and city law forbids it with no age limit when the employer has four or more employees.
3. Thinking that an ad saying “looking for a woman” or “looking for a young person” is normal. The EEOC and the city commission say a job ad may not show a preference based on sex or age.
4. Paying money to get a job. The FTC says honest employers never ask for that.
5. Depositing an “employer’s” check. The FTC says honest employers do not send such checks, and the bank asks the account holder to repay the amount of a fake check.
6. Agreeing to a “job” of receiving and reshipping packages. The FTC says this is never a real job.

Key terms

Everyday meanings, not legal definitions. The Georgian word is in brackets.

• resume: a short written introduction for a job: who you are, what you know, where you have worked (რეზიუმე).
• headline: one line under the name that says what the person does for work (სათაური).
• skills: what a person knows how to do (უნარები).
• recruiter: a person who looks for workers for a company (რეკრუტერი).
• job offer: an offer of a job (სამსახურის შეთავაზება).
• age discrimination: unequal treatment because of age (ასაკობრივი დისკრიმინაცია).
• Human Rights Law: the New York State law that forbids discrimination (ადამიანის უფლებების კანონი).
• payroll: the system a company uses to pay wages (ხელფასის გაცემის სისტემა).
• identity theft: when someone else uses your personal data (პირადობის ქურდობა).
• reshipping: receiving packages and sending them on for someone else. The FTC says this is a scam (ამანათების გადაგზავნა).
• scam: fraud, a trick to take money or information (თაღლითობა).

All words on one page: glossary (in Georgian).

Official links

• CareerOneStop: the top part of a resume. Name, headline, summary, skills.
• CareerOneStop: work experience. How past jobs are listed.
• New York State law, § 296. The ban on discrimination in employment.
• NYC Commission on Human Rights: age discrimination in employment. How the city law is explained.
• EEOC: prohibited employment practices. Job ads, questions, photos.
• FTC: job scams. Signs of a scam and how to report one.

Looking for work?

Posting a job seeker listing on kartvelians.com is free: Jobs.

This is general information and not legal advice. The current rules are on the official pages.