A reader wrote Cheezhead to complain about a recent change to Jobfox’s Intros program, which was introduced last summer.
I went onto Jobfox today and found out that their “intros” is now a PREMIUM service that seekers have to PAY for. It works like this:
Say that you are a 5 star candidate. Instead of being able to get an Intro for free, you have to pay a subscription of $30 per month to have a personal intro. Otherwise you are pretty much shown that sending your resume without a subscription would be useless.
A quick trip to Jobfox’s site confirms that the changes have been implemented. About.com also noted this under a Jobfox article on their site about two weeks ago.
The reader speculates that the change is an attempt to follow in TheLadders’ footsteps.
…the difference is that Jobfox doesn’t feature $100K jobs. Also, Jobfox is pushing a very expensive resume writing service amongst others. Jobfox proceeds to introduce gimmicks that nickel and dime poor job seekers with promises without backing it up. In this sort of economy, to tell a job seeker that that they are 3X more likely to get noticed is shameful.
The reader added that since the program started, she has been sent ‘a ton’ of 5-star rated jobs, which was described as “ropey,” or a way to pull people into the paid service.
Popularity: 9% [?]
December 30th, 2008 at 5:54 pm
It looks like the “internet’s fastest growing job site” is rapidly becoming the internet’s fastest falling job site. If Jobfox keeps offering gimmicks to job seekers they will be digging themselves a foxhole.
December 31st, 2008 at 10:54 am
Wow…. pay for submitting your resume? What year is this?
Didn’t this sort of shaddy practice go out in the 80’s? Monster must be desparate.
So I have a question: When their sales reps try to quit and get jobs elsewhere, will they be charged an exit fee?
December 31st, 2008 at 12:56 pm
When attempts to monetize through hiring companies either slow or run dry, JobFox was obviously compelled to explore “other” avenues of monetization through job seekers. Good or bad, that’s the decision they’ve made.
December 31st, 2008 at 2:12 pm
I have used Jobfox for a couple of years and in the beginning felt that Rob McGovern and his team really wanted to make it a site that people loved. However, the site went down hill starting with the Intros despite very good marketing. Why would I want to pay $30 per month for a service that didn’t work when it was free?
When Intros were free they told me I would get 3x more interviews, now they are saying I’ll get 3x more interviews if I pay up as an advantage member. What’s the difference? Expensive offers like Jobfox certifications, Jobfox profile clean up and Jobfox certified resume writing hasn’t worked for them. Is this another pilot program to see how job seekers will respond to paying for a premium service? I can’t love a site that pushes ridiculous and expensive offers everytime I login to my account.
January 6th, 2009 at 10:05 pm
the biggest problem you should woory about is not the $30 fee for intros that they are charging but that jobfox has NO JOBS to match you to..
January 21st, 2009 at 5:48 pm
I think Jobfox works great. I found it to be easy, and the results were clean, efficient and easy to read. They were actually jobs that fit what I was looking for. People may say it takes a little bit of time to do the profile, but how else are they supposed to find the jobs for you if you are not willing to tell them about yourself? As for paying it is just added features. The free site is just as powerful as before. Read the ad.
January 22nd, 2009 at 10:43 am
Why, then, does Jobfox bother to charge an “added feature” if the free site is just as powerful as before? The point of this blog post has been lost on you, John. It proves that charging seekers for intros that didn’t work before they charged is a new way of the company to rake in money from people who could believe that it’s worth the money. What you are saying is that choosing a tag that tells an employer you want free Starbucks or a gym membership doesn’t say much about me other than I expect expensive perks.
How many trackable resume views have you received? How many job interviews have you gone on? Is the job that is a 5-star match really out there or is it one of the “free” postings Jobfox is offering that will ultimately cost the employer a ton of money because they have entered a job that has generic terms in order to get good matches?
I have used Jobfox as an employer and as a job seeker and I’m not impressed, especially after I spent over $12,000 for a contract I got no seeker interest out of.
What ad are you talking about?