monster.com is a ‘crap product’

Thu, Nov 2, 2006

Jobster’s Jason Goldberg’s recent smackdown on Monster Worldwide being a “crap product” is better as a 3 minute sound byte than part of an hour-long video. Enjoy and please feel free to bookmark below.

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This post was written by:

Joel Cheesman - who has written 1471 posts on Cheezhead Recruiting News and Opinion.

One of the most widely-read bloggers on emerging recruitment issues in the world. Accomplishments include being named Recruiting.com’s Best Technology Recruitment Blog and Best Recruiting Blog. Joel's been featured in Fast Company magazine, BusinessWeek Magazine, Resumes for Dummies, U.S. News & World Report, The Wall Street Journal and more. Plug into Joel via Twitter, MySpace, Facebook, iTunes, YouTube or Flickr.

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11 Comments For This Post

chrisr2 Says:
November 2nd, 2006 at 10:42 am

He did the bash … he did the monster bash … the monster bash … it was a scary crash.

Looking at the job board late one night, I do recall a scary site!

Matthew Dewstowe Says:
November 2nd, 2006 at 10:48 am

Joel

Thanks for making this a little easier for me. I’m not sure I would have ever have got round to watching the full video. Just went online and tried this and sure enough after a job search there’s the questions. They seem to have more sense in the UK – Monster.co.uk has nothing of the sort.

Be interesting if there were any stats to see how many job seekers click away at this point of interrogation.

greeneyes Says:
November 2nd, 2006 at 5:05 pm

Monster is such crap, I joined the espn.monster.com site a few years ago and now everytime i try to click on a job link on any of the job lists i get on a daily basis i get the 404 code, WTF. And I can’t even unsubscribe cause the site doesnt exist, again WTF. So I pulled my resume off the site. I dont think they ever forwarded my resume to the appropriate person anyway. They are just a resume catcher to get peoples address and phone numbers (usually unlisted cell numbers too) to sell to database companies. But then again that is just my $.02

Catherine DaGrossa Says:
November 2nd, 2006 at 5:08 pm

Well I think it is unfortunate that instead of effectively communicatng Jobster’s value proposition (because I still don’t quite know what it is exactly) he feels he should spend his time “educating” Recruitment/HR professionals on the candidate experience of Monster.

Recruitment decision makers SHOULD know what the experience is like for the job seeker on Monster if they are spending large sums of money for this board (as they should know the results of their postings in terms of interviews, hires and quality of hires that are generated by this source) and buy packages accordingly.

The CEO of Jobster shouldn’t be spending his time on this. I think Jason (and the VC’s who backed the Jobster venture and are expecting double digit returns) want more of Monster’s piece of the pie ($$$) but Jobster needs to WIN those dollars by a more compelling value proposition and that is what Jason needs to be getting across to everyone. I totally get why Jason is frustrated with the current online recruitment paradigm but I think he needs to reevaluate his strategy for winning over clients and also his be better able to communicate his own products’ strengths and weaknesses.

I personally wish Jason would spend more of his time explaining the differences between his product and sites such as LinkedIn so that people like myself can truly see the beneift of his offering.

Peter Gold Says:
November 2nd, 2006 at 6:21 pm

Catherine

Excellent points well made. Jobster have a great opportunity to take market share but as you say, wha exactly are the offering?

Shanil Kaderali Says:
November 2nd, 2006 at 10:12 pm

I’ve managed online recruitment vendors for companies like Cisco, Symantec and others – and negotiated contracts – some big ones with Monster before. The experience from 99-03 was pure arrogance on the part of monster – now, from ‘03 onward, my experience is that they’ve become a little more amenable.

Notwithstanding, their product has some very lame features, today – the job aggregators are not yet taking away signficant (or any for that I know) market share from monster. I do hope it becomes a more level playing field in future

I think Monster has a place in the pantheon of the online recruitment arena – it serves a purpose – crap or not – but it should not be the only tool used – in my experience, less than 2% of hires (and I’m thinking like 2000+ hires a year came from monster – however, about 10% of interviews came from monster – it’s good for comparison candidates – $$ for job boards is declining as more aggressive online marketing strategies come into place – SEO, etc – those should be explored with budgets sliced to do more creative recruitment advertising – that’s the market i expect Monster to get into also to a higher degree

Also, I still don’t fully understand the Jobster value proposition

And doesn’t Jason looks like Justin Timberlake? that’s not an insult

2 cents

David Hawthorne Says:
November 3rd, 2006 at 12:09 am

The whole thing is pathetic. Job boards, recruiters, aggregators, and so on, are all like flies on open wounds, just waiting to become maggots. Employers have cut employees loose. Being an “employee” of company “X” means nothing! You have a 401 K because the employer does not want you on his books. Your healthcare has become portable because the employer wants you to look to yourself for insurance and leave him out of that equation. Why are you leaving yourself to be a commodity that your employer will either sell in an M&E that does nothing for you, or abandon the moment a competitor drives him from the field? You have no relationship with your employer. You are slightly better off than a slave, except at the awareness level. The slave at least understood that he was chattal. Get off your duffs folks. Stop looking to job boards, postings and all the reast where all the negotiatiing leverage was secure in the hands of the employer. Start learning how to create your own brand and market yourself effectively. It’s out there. You just have to know where to look. Scores of colleges and universities around the country are offering free, online services that let help you understand your market value, brand yourself, and market yourself. Sure, it takes a little work but at the end of the day you wind up controlling your own value in the marketplace. See http://www.scps.nyu.edu/careerpath as and example.

Chad Sowash Says:
November 3rd, 2006 at 11:11 am

I want to congratulate David on being the latest recipient – http://thechad.jobcentral.com/index.php/2006/11/03/new-drama-queen-crowned
Enjoy your weekend!

Bob Loblaugh Says:
November 3rd, 2006 at 11:37 am

David–

Ever been tea-bagged by a Central American migrant worker? If not, Suprema, El Salvador’s “most supreme” beer, will leave a similar aftertaste without the messy hang-ups and awkward silence the next morning. I’ve never been to El Salvador…but I think these fine people, rioted, rose up, collaborated and built your web-page…cuz you know…working together…being COLLABORTIVE rather than DECISIVE is what has evolved the concepts around Human Capital (insert irony here..I’m picking up mixed messages from your post above and your manra on your comapny’s web page)…your company claims to leverage wisdom and LEARNING. OK now STOP…Listen…sit in the corner for the rest of class….you just might something on this site….firstly, don’t judge. Secondly, don’t speak unless you know what you are talking about. Lastly, HCI is commonly known among Informatics circles as HUMAN COMPUTER INTERACTION (usability)…class dismissed

You're all the same Says:
November 7th, 2006 at 10:41 am

So I just watched your presentation named Monster is a Crap. Very convincing. I didn’t know who you were or what you did , but I gathered you must work for yet another Jobsite looking to get in on the expansive market share of serving up jobs online. So as a jobseeker myself , I decided to take a look at your jobster site. I did one search and the first job I see is one that ‘arrived from monster 3 days ago’ and I click and get the Monster site that you so passionately call crap! HA!!!!! This is worse than serving up a few ads. You should not bite the hand that feeds you! You silly little jobster man.

Satyajit Neelam Says:
November 17th, 2006 at 5:08 am

Hi,

Jobs sites do no more than acting as a platform of interction between the job seeker and the employer..and thats it………They provide the fastest means to to look at all the jobs that you can across categories……..just imagine if there were no job sites………….try living with just the newspapers….better still try knocking doors of every company that “you think” might be looking for a candidate…..SCARY

chrisr2 Says:
November 2nd, 2006 at 10:42 am
He did the bash … he did the monster bash … the monster bash … it was a scary crash.

Looking at the job board late one night, I do recall a scary site!
Matthew Dewstowe Says:
November 2nd, 2006 at 10:48 am
Joel

Thanks for making this a little easier for me. I’m not sure I would have ever have got round to watching the full video. Just went online and tried this and sure enough after a job search there’s the questions. They seem to have more sense in the UK – Monster.co.uk has nothing of the sort.

Be interesting if there were any stats to see how many job seekers click away at this point of interrogation.
greeneyes Says:
November 2nd, 2006 at 5:05 pm
Monster is such crap, I joined the espn.monster.com site a few years ago and now everytime i try to click on a job link on any of the job lists i get on a daily basis i get the 404 code, WTF. And I can’t even unsubscribe cause the site doesnt exist, again WTF. So I pulled my resume off the site. I dont think they ever forwarded my resume to the appropriate person anyway. They are just a resume catcher to get peoples address and phone numbers (usually unlisted cell numbers too) to sell to database companies. But then again that is just my $.02
Catherine DaGrossa Says:
November 2nd, 2006 at 5:08 pm
Well I think it is unfortunate that instead of effectively communicatng Jobster’s value proposition (because I still don’t quite know what it is exactly) he feels he should spend his time “educating” Recruitment/HR professionals on the candidate experience of Monster.

Recruitment decision makers SHOULD know what the experience is like for the job seeker on Monster if they are spending large sums of money for this board (as they should know the results of their postings in terms of interviews, hires and quality of hires that are generated by this source) and buy packages accordingly.

The CEO of Jobster shouldn’t be spending his time on this. I think Jason (and the VC’s who backed the Jobster venture and are expecting double digit returns) want more of Monster’s piece of the pie ($$$) but Jobster needs to WIN those dollars by a more compelling value proposition and that is what Jason needs to be getting across to everyone. I totally get why Jason is frustrated with the current online recruitment paradigm but I think he needs to reevaluate his strategy for winning over clients and also his be better able to communicate his own products’ strengths and weaknesses.

I personally wish Jason would spend more of his time explaining the differences between his product and sites such as LinkedIn so that people like myself can truly see the beneift of his offering.
Peter Gold Says:
November 2nd, 2006 at 6:21 pm
Catherine

Excellent points well made. Jobster have a great opportunity to take market share but as you say, wha exactly are the offering?
Shanil Kaderali Says:
November 2nd, 2006 at 10:12 pm
I’ve managed online recruitment vendors for companies like Cisco, Symantec and others – and negotiated contracts – some big ones with Monster before. The experience from 99-03 was pure arrogance on the part of monster – now, from ‘03 onward, my experience is that they’ve become a little more amenable.

Notwithstanding, their product has some very lame features, today – the job aggregators are not yet taking away signficant (or any for that I know) market share from monster. I do hope it becomes a more level playing field in future

I think Monster has a place in the pantheon of the online recruitment arena – it serves a purpose – crap or not – but it should not be the only tool used – in my experience, less than 2% of hires (and I’m thinking like 2000+ hires a year came from monster – however, about 10% of interviews came from monster – it’s good for comparison candidates – $$ for job boards is declining as more aggressive online marketing strategies come into place – SEO, etc – those should be explored with budgets sliced to do more creative recruitment advertising – that’s the market i expect Monster to get into also to a higher degree

Also, I still don’t fully understand the Jobster value proposition

And doesn’t Jason looks like Justin Timberlake? that’s not an insult

2 cents
David Hawthorne Says:
November 3rd, 2006 at 12:09 am
The whole thing is pathetic. Job boards, recruiters, aggregators, and so on, are all like flies on open wounds, just waiting to become maggots. Employers have cut employees loose. Being an “employee” of company “X” means nothing! You have a 401 K because the employer does not want you on his books. Your healthcare has become portable because the employer wants you to look to yourself for insurance and leave him out of that equation. Why are you leaving yourself to be a commodity that your employer will either sell in an M&E that does nothing for you, or abandon the moment a competitor drives him from the field? You have no relationship with your employer. You are slightly better off than a slave, except at the awareness level. The slave at least understood that he was chattal. Get off your duffs folks. Stop looking to job boards, postings and all the reast where all the negotiatiing leverage was secure in the hands of the employer. Start learning how to create your own brand and market yourself effectively. It’s out there. You just have to know where to look. Scores of colleges and universities around the country are offering free, online services that let help you understand your market value, brand yourself, and market yourself. Sure, it takes a little work but at the end of the day you wind up controlling your own value in the marketplace. See http://www.scps.nyu.edu/careerpath as and example.
Chad Sowash Says:
November 3rd, 2006 at 11:11 am
I want to congratulate David on being the latest recipient – http://thechad.jobcentral.com/index.php/2006/11/03/new-drama-queen-crowned
Enjoy your weekend!
Bob Loblaugh Says:
November 3rd, 2006 at 11:37 am
David–

Ever been tea-bagged by a Central American migrant worker? If not, Suprema, El Salvador’s “most supreme” beer, will leave a similar aftertaste without the messy hang-ups and awkward silence the next morning. I’ve never been to El Salvador…but I think these fine people, rioted, rose up, collaborated and built your web-page…cuz you know…working together…being COLLABORTIVE rather than DECISIVE is what has evolved the concepts around Human Capital (insert irony here..I’m picking up mixed messages from your post above and your manra on your comapny’s web page)…your company claims to leverage wisdom and LEARNING. OK now STOP…Listen…sit in the corner for the rest of class….you just might something on this site….firstly, don’t judge. Secondly, don’t speak unless you know what you are talking about. Lastly, HCI is commonly known among Informatics circles as HUMAN COMPUTER INTERACTION (usability)…class dismissed
You're all the same Says:
November 7th, 2006 at 10:41 am
So I just watched your presentation named Monster is a Crap. Very convincing. I didn’t know who you were or what you did , but I gathered you must work for yet another Jobsite looking to get in on the expansive market share of serving up jobs online. So as a jobseeker myself , I decided to take a look at your jobster site. I did one search and the first job I see is one that ‘arrived from monster 3 days ago’ and I click and get the Monster site that you so passionately call crap! HA!!!!! This is worse than serving up a few ads. You should not bite the hand that feeds you! You silly little jobster man.
Satyajit Neelam Says:
November 17th, 2006 at 5:08 am
Hi,

Jobs sites do no more than acting as a platform of interction between the job seeker and the employer..and thats it………They provide the fastest means to to look at all the jobs that you can across categories……..just imagine if there were no job sites………….try living with just the newspapers….better still try knocking doors of every company that “you think” might be looking for a candidate…..SCARY

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