Jobster, Simply Hired and JobCentral are all examples of job sites with MySpace profiles. Super.
All are also examples of job sites with MySpace profiles that are suffering from neglect. Not so super.
Let’s take a look.
- Jobster. I’ll spot them the fact that the person in charge of the account was probably laid off, but the job site that hopes to stand for social networking in the employment space should walk the walk. As of this writing, Jobster has only 24 friends (I was denied or ignored) and hasn’t even logged onto their account since December 18. If the excuse is the Facebook relationship, then shut down this profile. Otherwise, show us some social networking.
- Jobcentral. They make a solid effort. I’m a friend and they consistently add video to their page, for example. It also looks really professional. But who are their friends? I know, I know … don’t want to be associated with undesirables or one degree from the dregs of society, right? Get over it. It’s social networking. Get social and show your adds.
- Simply Hired. By far the worse offender of the three for the simple fact that they’re partnered with MySpace. They should be a shining example of how to leverage MySpace’s marketing opportunities as a job site. They’re not. Aside from a nice design and video, they have one friend, which is a MySpace founder and everyone’s “friend” by default. I was denied or ignored. Like fellow Web 2.0 beacon Jobster, they haven’t logged onto their account since December 2006.
I know MySpace is a relatively new concept for most and just having a profile a huge leap, but if you’re going to have a profile, use it. Connect and communicate with the community. There are thousands of recruiters and HR peeps hangin’ out who just might like to know about you and your services. Think of it this way: If MySpace profiles represented the population of a country, it would be the 11th largest on the planet. Is that an opportunity you want to ignore? I sure don’t.
Otherwise, why bother?
Popularity: 3% [?]
March 1st, 2007 at 7:40 am
I think the problem is: WHO wants to be friends with a profile called “Simply Hired”??? Not cool or hot or interesting or all the things Myspace profiles or users aspire to be/be friends with, really…
Companies would probably fall unto the category of UN-friends, lame entities existing to annoy and send out unsolicited friend requests… silly. However, in light of past pointless profiles- a photo of a sluttly girl in a bikini might do the trick.
March 1st, 2007 at 9:02 am
The MySpace profile for Jobcentral is by far the best custom designed profile that I have ever seen on MySpace.
March 1st, 2007 at 9:05 am
Oh, the art of product placement.
Simply Hired simply needs to focus on being good more than on being prolific. They have so many disparate efforts that their brand is diluted.
See the section at the bottom of his page titled “link up”:
http://www.tomvilsack08.com/
If you have been to Tom Vilsack’s Presidential campaign site I think you’ll notice he had the same problem, web wise…
He had links to all these different web sites, but didn’t have a solid presence on any of them. On the other hand, Barak Obama had clear goals and organizational efforts on one: Facebook. He reached a high mark with over 300,000 people connecting to him there. This was arguably a successful effort. Not sure if he’ll be President, but he should definitely be marketer in chief for his web 2.0 savvy.
March 1st, 2007 at 9:33 am
I agree with Joel that if you have a MySpace profile, use it. Undergrounds Coffeehaus is an excellent example of a business with a MySpace profile and using it to its advantage. Every night the owner posts bulletins about what is going on at Undergrounds Coffeehaus to attract new business.
Granted that this is not a jobsite, it is still a business that is using MySpace to their advantage. If you have a MySpace profile, add them to your friends list and see the type of bulletins that she posts every night.
March 1st, 2007 at 2:00 pm
You weep for the JobCentral MySpace page, and you curse the the web designers. You have that luxury. You have the luxury of not knowing what I know. That Myspace without friends, while tragic, probably saved lives. And my existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, saves lives. You don’t want the truth because deep down in places you don’t talk about at parties, you want me JobcCentral Myspace without firends, you need JobCentral MySpace without friends. We use words like job search, social networks, and web 2.0. We use these words as the backbone of a life spent creating something. You use them as a punchline. I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the job search that I provide, and then questions the manner in which I provide it. I would rather you just said thank you, and went on your way, Otherwise, I suggest you pick up a bag of Cheetos, and stand a post. Either way, I don’t give a damn what you think - Col. Jessup
March 1st, 2007 at 2:33 pm
This last comment makes absolutely no sense. Who is weeping about the JobCentral MySpace page? Who is cursing the web designers? Either this person got up on the wrong side of the rock, or he can’t take a complement.
March 1st, 2007 at 3:09 pm
Hi Joel,
I think it is a little different if you look at our Simply Fired page:
http://friends.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewfriends&friendID=59284593
March 1st, 2007 at 3:09 pm
Nick, Chad works for JobCentral. He is being funny
March 1st, 2007 at 3:13 pm
Apparently Nick Roy could use a FEW GOOD MEN.
March 1st, 2007 at 3:14 pm
Nick, it’s a parody from a scene of the movie “A Few Good Men”, one of, if not THE best scene(s) in film… And meant for Sir Cheez, not you… Many thanks for your compliments and blog post ;o)
This is what I get for believing everyone knows what’s going on in my head….
More info -
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104257/quotes
March 1st, 2007 at 3:29 pm
Ahh, Joel, could not disagree with you more. Here’s why:
You, unlike 99% of users on the web, understand that when you click on a link to go somewhere else on the internet, where you end up is not the responsibility of the linking site. Legally, that may be true, but not in all cases, either. That said, for the other 99% of users, if they are on an organization’s or company’s web site (or one that represents that organization) and they click a link, and end up viewing or hearing something offensive, they either view that as the linking site’s fault, or at least have some negative impression of that site. Thats why many blogs (company run or otherwise, clicked.msnbc.com being a good example) won’t link to offensive material or even sites that might have such material later, like youtube, google images, etc. If they do feel you should see something on a site that is “risky”, they’ll tell you to look it up on google, even give you keywords, but they make sure you know it’s at your own risk. So, accepting “friends” (a goofy concept for a business imho) sets you up for possibly letting your customers access a musing on someone’s latest sex toy with one accidental (or purposeful) click. Not good business at all. Even linking off to a “friend” who writes a political opinion someone might not like sets you up for possible negative reactions from customers. That’s where the “social” aspect of myspace falls down for business use, on a LinkedIn or sites like it, the social networking aspect is professionally oriented, myspace is a freeforall.
So, lets say you only accept “friends” who you trust, who you know would never accept “friends” of their own who might offend a user, and who will always have an inoffensive picture to represent themselves in your friends list… Great! you’re safe… except, that “friend” might be one of the 10s of thousands of myspace users last year who used a particular myspace template that happened to “hotlink” to an image that the template company didn’t host… Read on, if you dare, unless you are a veteran of the internet, and have steeled yourself to the goatse, do NOT click any links on this page, although I really want you to to see what kind of trouble you can get into with one click…
http://ascii.textfiles.com/archives/000278.html
That could be the background of the myspace page of your most trusted friend, without them even knowing it.
So, no, no “social” aspect to the jobcentral myspace page, no smart business that needs to maintain a professional face (ie, representing fortune 500 companies) would get into that, leave that to the Marines (find the teenagers with too much time on their hands) and the Honda Element (read the comments on that page, the curse words fly)…
On a different note, I do envy having Stacy Keibler as your “friend”, how did you pull that off? I guess it’s balanced by Jim Cramer, but still…
March 1st, 2007 at 6:13 pm
Chad - You are a God. You even sound like Nicholson in writing.
March 3rd, 2007 at 2:00 pm
Joel - again, spot on. The US Marine Corps (www.myspace.com/themarinecorps) have utilized Myspace extremely well, and have seen an increase in interest expressed in their programs through innovative use of this social network. Simplyhired, simply pathetic. Jobcentral, A for effort. Jobster, agreed, the person managing it was probably laid off. Which leads me to…just WHO is/are managing job boards social networking sites? Is it the old skool recruiter trying to jump on the bandwagon, or have they really given this some thought, and put the 24 year old in charge of this (aka, someone who really knows and is immersed in the technology/scene)?
March 6th, 2007 at 4:21 pm
Actually, I’m 28. ;)
April 9th, 2007 at 12:00 pm
Hi,
I wish if i can share my research on best job sites.