I’m continually surprised, especially when considering how many jobs have been lost since this economic crisis began, that companies are still trying to get job seekers to pay for their products and services. I understand there are some investments that are unavoidable during a job search, but asking the unemployed to pay for a service that should naturally be free seems so phishy to me.
Today I came across a bundle of articles on how to get a job, written by an entrepreneur who thought he’d take a stab at such a task because he said there is a real lack of tools “that paint a holistic picture of how to effectively manage the job search process.”
So here is someone who has no experience with recruiting and what sounds like very little management expertise writing about job search and charging people $23 a month for something that can be found for free all over the web. Common sense, people. Common sense.
And then earlier this week I had a reader complain about a vague new product from Jobfox called Jobfox Certifications, which charges job seekers to get “certified” in certain areas of expertise. Can’t these companies uncover more lubricious means to get the cash from their main prey, the corporations?
I understand that there are sites that make money, and a decent chunk at that, from job seekers. But it still continues to amaze me when another job board pops up that actually still charges people to post their resume. To me it sounds as ridiculous as tacking on late fees when someone is unable to pay a bill or raising interest rates on a credit card when a payment is late. Punish them for having no money by putting your hand out for more? It just doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.
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November 5th, 2008 at 4:01 pm
Vanessa,
I appreciate you following up on an email I sent to you earlier this week asking to shed some light about the Jobfox Certifiation offering and the vagueness of it’s purpose and cost. I question whether or not Jobfox will reimburse any seekers who did buy if the pilot program fizzles.
November 6th, 2008 at 11:40 am
Any offering that charges a job seeker a fee to help them find a job seems very fishy to me. I guess in this environment of higher unemployment this strategy seems like a good way to make money but I am positive that mid and long term, it will destroy a brand with employers and job seekers. After looking at the market a lot more sites then I realized do charge the job seeker. The win with this model is creating a CPA which is less than the job seeker pays…so what if they don’t get a job or ever come back. When you have someone that pays you and you can get the conversion to work, you can spend a ton on marketing and simply churn users. Again, not the way to grow long term in my opinion.
November 6th, 2008 at 6:21 pm
Job Fax, the ladders – these are all scams. What busy professional has time to sit there, log in, pay and then get jobs? The only ones that go to these sites it seems are people who have more than enough time on their hands – unemployed? If I was an employer, I would want someone who was employed that passively saw my job =, applied and moved on – no registration, no logging in – what usy professional has time for that? I think you will see job fox and theladders switch their money making model since employers want the best ROI in these troubled times – how can they rely on a site that makes their job seejers pay?
November 6th, 2008 at 10:45 pm
Vanessa. Couldn’t agree more. We’re fortunate in the UK in that our recruitment legislation prohibits the charging of job seekers for the provision of jobs. This makes job board owners really work themselves (and people like us at Madgex as their outsourced job board software vendors) to innovate hard to monetize the recruiters in multiple ways; whilst enhancing the user experience and brand engagement to ensure the right people and jobs come together.
November 7th, 2008 at 11:44 pm
I’d never pay to post my resume anywhere. And I agree with much of what you say about the huntingtobehired site, seems like a novice in job search and I wouldn’t pay a nickel for his service or for anything like a jobfox.
But I do feel that many people need help with their job search. I used a former world-class recruiter with 30 years experience who now helps executives fine-tune their job search for a fee. He coaches you through every step of the process and this guy is a no joke, hard charging pro at this stuff. I won’t publish his name because he won’t accept anyone as a client who is not referred by someone he already knows, but he is well worth his hefty fee. Something like this is really needed by many people who are not executives and can’t afford to pay big money. Yes, there is a lot of information on the web, too much, who has time to read it all and much of it is conflicting. A job search is a lot of work these days and some people could use expert one-on-one help.
December 15th, 2008 at 12:57 pm
Danny Iny here – the guy behind HuntingToHired (www.HuntingToHired.com), the site that Vanessa referred to above as “a bunch of articles”.
I think for the most part Vanessa does good work – she writes well and offers good advice and insight. And I appreciate her taking a stand for people she felt were being taken advantage of, because there really are too many scammy businesses out there.
Mine isn’t one of them. For one, there’s way more content than she let on – over 100 pages of text, over 4 hours of interviews with experts plus worksheets and other resources. And there are forums where subscribers can ask questions and get answers on anything they need.
I charge on a subscription basis so that people can cancel as soon as they feel they don’t need it any more. I also offer a no-questions-asked money-back guarantee for the first month – I don’t take money from anyone who doesn’t feel they’re getting real value.
I know what it’s like looking for work, and I’ve hired employees for my businesses (www.MaestroReading.com) – so I know the job search looks like from both sides of the table. My consulting work (www.DannyIny.com) is about helping businesses figure out what value they have to offer, to whom it’s valuable, and then how to communicate that value. This is exactly what job-seekers need to be doing!
I started this site after helping people close to me find work. I spent the better part of a year consulting with experts, gathering source material and developing the content. The people using it are free to leave at any time, but they stay. Maybe there’s a good reason.
I’m not trying to hard-sell anybody. If you want to see what it’s about, then go to the website and sign up for the free eBook. No cost involved. No strings attached. Make your own judgments.
Danny Iny