John Battelle notes that Google took out a full-page ad in the Wall Street Journal advertising for sales people. He snarks: “What, great sales people don’t just type “sales jobs” into Google?!”

Battelle goes on to make a more serious point about the irony of both Google and MSN using print for recruitment. Those WSJ ads don’t come cheap.

Here’s the rub: Sales positions are the hardest to fill. I’ve tried to hire for a few sales positions over the years, and I’ve ever only really been satisfied with one of the people I hired or inherited. Hiring print sales people is a bit easier, but in this job market, it’s tough. Online is tougher, and online is where newspapers really need their best sales people right now.