It’s not quite asking for social security numbers or going on a ’skank’ hunt, but CareerBuilder is currently flirting with deceptive business practices and ticking off clients in the process.
Checkout what job seekers see before applying to many postings:
So, what’s happening here?
1) Job seeker finds job. 2) Job seeker hits “Apply now.” 3) Instead of going right to employer’s Web site to submit a resume, job seeker is asked to submit e-mail address to, well, someone (it doesn’t really say, but – and I don’t want to spoil the surprise – oh, OK, the e-mail addresses go to CareerBuilder).
Pretty shady, huh?
If the job seeker clicks the X in the upper righthand corner, the box closes and the job seeker stays put on the same page. No job for you! If the job seeker clicks “Continue with application” they can go to the job and apply without submitting an e-mail address.
Of course, it’s not very clear that you don’t have to put in your address. CareerBuilder users are geniuses after all. Why insult their intelligence by simplifying things, saying something like, “No thanks, just take me to the job”? Or, better yet, CareerBuilder, why deter the job seeker from getting to your clients’ jobs at all? (Skip to the last paragraph for an answer.)
One employer told me the excuse CareerBuilder sales reps give is this helps sync applicant tracking data to CareerBuilder data for better overall metrics. It’s all for the good of the employer, you see. Or, something like that. To say this employer is annoyed with this practice would be an understatement. And I doubt they’re alone.
So, let’s just call this what it is: Deceiving job seekers and nabbing personal data for a lifetime of spam direct marketing. Oh, and it’s likely deterring candidates from connecting with employers. Good call.
Popularity: 5% [?]
February 14th, 2008 at 8:23 am
It would be better if Careerbuilder was more transparent about this process, but one of the struggles that job board owners have is the horrible tracking that most employers have in place and their reliance on that horrible tracking when they’re making decisions about where to spend their job posting dollars.
It far more common in the industry to hear stories about employers who fail to upgrade or even renew their posting packages because they are unable to track how many candidates a job board has sent to the employer’s web site, yet the employer has no automated mechanism in place to track the candidates. What some boards, including Careerbuilder, have done is to add an intermediate step to capture the email address of the candidate so the board can then provide those addresses to the employer. Kind of a,” see, those 1,487 clicks did actually result in people applying to your jobs so now let’s talk about the upgrade” strategy.
What isn’t cool is the lack of transparency. A simple, “What’s this?” link in that pop up window and a clear explanation would go a long way.
February 14th, 2008 at 9:52 am
There are better, much less obtrusive ways to track such data. And CareerBuilder has the money and influence to get it done. This is a data-grab that’s all about the Bennies.
Additionally, if a client wants such barriers removed from their postings, they should have that option, which, to the best of my knowledge, they currently do not.
February 14th, 2008 at 10:05 am
That’s a major problem, especially because they didn’t set the ground rules or give the user information as to how their privacy is protected or what the email address will be used for.
February 14th, 2008 at 10:40 am
Joel, I don’t understand why you are so upset. You sound very angry. This is the best way to track without requiring an applicant to fill out a profile such as a Monster.com requires. Careerbuilder can pull reports for the employer, but there is an issue if the applicant doesn’t leave the data, hence the required field for the email address. In addition, Careerbuilder does not sell these email addresses. It is purely for tracking purposes.
February 14th, 2008 at 11:02 am
I’m not upset, “Amelia” from CareerBuilder. It’s Valentine’s Day.
February 14th, 2008 at 1:12 pm
I’m curious – who is looking at this from the Seekers perspective? I agree with Joel that this is very inappropriate. There are plenty of tools available for companies to track where applicants come from – I was able to do so with technology available by WetFeet 6+ years ago and there have been many, many advancements since then. Regardless, companies and vendors in the Talent arena have an obligation to authentically “care” for the Seeker. Integrating process steps that don’t add value to the Seeker, and their overall experience, is only asking for migration. Saavy, more educated Seeekers will find other sources for a search, others will probably feel obliged – just as they have done with providing a social online during an application process. Happy Valentines Joel!
February 14th, 2008 at 3:45 pm
As the big boards are struggling with steady decline in site visitors it seems like they will do almost anything to add shareholder value. Selling email lists of site visitors does not surprise me. I am waiting for them to start charging job seekers to post resumes! It can’t be that far off.
February 14th, 2008 at 6:00 pm
Happy VD Joel!
By the way, Monster doesnt require a profile.
February 15th, 2008 at 11:02 am
Joel, To apply for jobs on CB, you have to be registered with the site. And to register, you must provide an email address. so why is CB asking for this information a second time? And why would it be any more intrusive than it already appears to be?
February 15th, 2008 at 1:01 pm
xworldgirl your comment could not be more false. You do not have to be a registered user to apply for a job on CB.
February 20th, 2008 at 3:57 pm
Really? I went there and did a test. After bypassing the thing Joel wrote about, I agreed to a statement and then the next step was to sign in. I hit “New User” and was taken to a registration page that required my email address.
February 20th, 2008 at 5:20 pm
xwordgrl, after you bypass the prompt, you land on the employer page. You’re then prompted for whatever the ATS or form is set up to collect, in this case you’re right, email is one of the included fields.
June 25th, 2008 at 5:47 pm
YES. After this last time posting my resume I am convinced Careerbuilder is selling eMail address to spammers. I changed all my eMail addresses when working. I’ve been a recruiter for over 20+ years. Recently, unemployed I posted my resume as ‘confidential’ on Monster only. I received NO spam for that month. Then decided to ‘up’ my visibility and post my resume on Careerbuilder (even though recruiters here in CA hate them). They are rude to us. Within one day after posting my resume on Careerbuilder I received 15 spams. Now another month later I am cleaning out 200 a day. I did nothing different with all my new eMail address BUT post my resume on Careerbuilder. We need a class action against them. I had NO spam before using Careerbuilder. They are job board whores.
August 25th, 2008 at 9:54 am
I’ve been with CareerBuilder for 3 years in the IT dept. We don’t / never have sold an e-mail of our job seekers to anyone. You are no longer required to give your e-mail right there but must at some point so the employer can connect to you. CareerBuilder wouldn’t violate the rights of our users…that’s silly.
-John
August 25th, 2008 at 9:55 am
Joel, it’s obvious why we want the job seekers email address, and it’s a good way to get it. We’re not trying to hide anything; do you blame us for asking for it?
Apparently, you wouldn’t ask for it if you owned an online job search engine. And that is why we are the industry leader in market share, revenue, and traffic. Maybe every other job board should follow suit.