December’s cost-cutting measures by candidate-matching job site Jobfox weren’t enough.
“In response to the ‘new normal’ economy, we’ve made the painful decision to reduce the size of our sales force,” said CEO Rob McGovern. “We have offices in the largest cities in the U.S., and we normally staff them with 3 to 6 sales representatives. The reduction in force we announced today will reduce those numbers to 1 to 3 reps per city, which more accurately represents the amount of purchasing activity in the market.”
As of a year ago, Jobfox had 10 offices, represented by Atlanta, Boston, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, New York City and Seattle. So, if our math’s right, that means roughly 30 more people from Jobfox are now looking for work.
So much for a December 2008 comment made by Barry Lawrence, Jobfox PR Director: “We feel fortunate that we have managed the growth of our business wisely so that we are not forced to trim, like many U.S. start-ups, by 30 percent or more. No further workforce adjustments are expected.”
“Like most job sites, we’ve felt the full weight of the contracting economy,” said McGovern. “Very few American employers are immune from the downturn, and it’s having a dramatic effect on their hiring activities. HR teams are buying less, freezing hiring, and are preoccupied with layoffs. No one can say how long this cycle will last, although my personal belief is that we’re closer to the beginning than the end.”
McGovern says additional reductions aren’t in the company’s future. “To preemptively set the record straight: We have no plans to reduce the size of our product development team, our job seeker advertising budget, or our partnership endeavors. On a comparative basis we think our well-financed business is holding up much better than others in this sector; thus, today’s expense actions are our way of being good stewards of our investor’s capital.”
Popularity: 14% [?]
February 6th, 2009 at 2:44 pm
Joel, your blog post failed to mention that I was your source. I thought perhaps your readers would like to see the entire message that I sent you.
Here’s the email message:
Joel,
We just rolled out some changes at Jobfox, and given your role as the industry’s official news source, I thought I’d skip the rumor and innuendo cycle and share the news directly with you. You’re free to publish this information.
Like most job sites, we’ve felt the full weight of the contracting economy. Very few American employers are immune from the downturn, and it’s having a dramatic effect on their hiring activities. HR teams are buying less, freezing hiring, and are preoccupied with layoffs. No one can say how long this cycle will last, although my personal belief is that we’re closer to the beginning than the end.
In response to the “new normal” economy, we’ve made the painful decision to reduce the size of our sales force. We have offices in the largest cities in the US, and we normally staff them with 3 to 6 sales representatives. The reduction in force we announced today will reduce those numbers to 1 to 3 reps per city, which more accurately represents the amount of purchasing activity in the market. To preemptively set the record straight: we have no plans to reduce the size of our product development team, our job seeker advertising budget, or our partnership endeavors. On a comparative basis we think our well-financed business is holding up much better than others in this sector; thus, today’s expense actions are our way of being good stewards of our investor’s capital.
As a final point, we’re doing everything we can to help our departing sales people find new jobs. They are excellent, well trained professionals, with superior sales skills. If you know of anyone interested in speaking to one or more of them, feel free to have them contact me at rob@jobfox.com. Each one comes with my personal assurance that they’re an A-player.
I hope you’re holding your own in this difficult economy. It’s rough out there.
Sincerely,
Rob McGovern
Founder and CEO
Jobfox
February 6th, 2009 at 3:37 pm
The process was done with class. Economy sucks….selling job postings has to be the toughest thing in the country to sell right now. To Jobfox’s credit, I was expecting this in December….I thank them for waiting as long as they possibly could.
Wish it would have worked out….they treated us well while it lasted.
Peace
February 6th, 2009 at 4:17 pm
The economic outlook is a bit scary and will definitely make anyone sing the blues. That being said, if any sales folks on the east coast are still considering work in the online employment space, I’d welcome the opportunity to hear from you. rcosentino (a) realmatch.com
February 6th, 2009 at 4:29 pm
I REALLY wish this Rafael guy would just shut up. Is there not a post he doesn’t feel the need to chime in on? His “insightful” comments couldn’t be more annoying…especially his shameless comments on every post regarding layoffs. No one has heard of RealMatch. Give it a rest.
February 6th, 2009 at 4:36 pm
Rob’s announcement failed to mention there was more than sales staff cut. Marketing people as well as some IT people were also let go.
I did think that statement made by Barry last December was a bit arrogant…
My thoughts to all of the people who lost their jobs today.
February 6th, 2009 at 5:10 pm
Mr. Mcgovern continually claims that he has encountered a similar situation with the 2001 downturn as CEO of Careerbuilder but he has misjudged its similarities to the current situation by a long shot.
Jobfox is holding up much better than others in this sector? Didn’t Barry Lawrence say that back in December?
It’s amazing how little the so-called experts know about what we’re living through.
February 6th, 2009 at 5:14 pm
Who didnt see this coming?
JF has been over staffed since day one and went with the foot soilder instead of the special forces model. There is no reason you need 70 sales people when 10 – 20 could do the job.
I do think Rob gets a bad rap. The product, if used correctly, works well as a supplement to the big 3 and is priced as a supplement. Most people would not respond as Rob did to a post like this. He deserves credit for that.
As an organization JF is/was way over leveraged with head count and the last two rounds of layoffs did not cost them their best talent. Their best talent left prior to the layoffs for bigger, better and more stable deals. JF thought that this would take off like CB did and built its model that way. It didnt. JF did/does not treat contigent recruiters well. (Trust me I know) There are 10,000’s of us out there and we are the ones who woudl really use the product becuase we are not in HR we are in sales. JF treated us like a plague. If 10,000 recs purchased JF for a $5,000 annual sub what would that do to the bottom line.
Next, JF just had (2 months ago) a hughe kickoff meeting in which they brought all those reps in from all over the nation. My guess – $60,000 in total.
Finally. I think there is a place for JF and perhaps 15 – 20 reps is the way to do it. The problem is that many companies are moving to cpc/cpm/cpa models in which things are based on results. If you dont get clicks you dont pay.
I say RealMatch get blasted but it is not a bad product. There are people using CraigsList, Oodle, SimplyHired and Indeed and the number is growing very fast.
February 6th, 2009 at 5:26 pm
SEM – dont get angry, get even and remeber the best revenge is living well!
February 6th, 2009 at 5:36 pm
Dont you have a first name SEM or are you so angry looking at the text on your computer screen that you forgot it?
February 6th, 2009 at 10:19 pm
So Sad I accepted a job with this place – absolutely no communication throughout employment – from anyone – “over communication”?? – sure… felt totally alone throughout my tenure. Wish I could appreciate the crocodile tears on the way out the door if I didn’t feel like every executive there was all about themselves every step of the way.
February 7th, 2009 at 9:12 am
Dont let Rob fool you – They have closed down several offices (including their long standing Atlanta branch) completly and in some cases the only rep thats left is the former managers (who didn”t sell before) that are now left to sell…
Go get ‘em A Players!!!
Steve
February 7th, 2009 at 9:23 am
Hey Cheezhead –
Didn’t their Director of Operations (someone who has been with the company since inception – and the CareerBuilder days) just walk out too?
- Evan
February 7th, 2009 at 11:00 am
All,
I really feel for those who lost their job at Jobfox. I was in a management position there and left before any of the cuts happened.
I agree with several things stated here.
Jobfox is a good supplement product.
They did over staff and over extend.
They put people into positions and tell them that they hired them because they are experts but then do not listen to them and micro manage them.
I would not say all the execs think about themselves first. There is a bit of that there but not everyone.
The mngt team thought this would be CB all over again. Put a bunch of people on the street and it will all work out…..it didnt.
The thing I find the most telling is that all the people hired (I haired many myself) had success prior to JF (that is why we hired them) did poorly at JF then had success at their new companies. The mngt message has always been it is the peoples fault for the company not doing well and not the product or the way it is run. This equation is wrong – everyone who has left has continued their success they had prior to the Fox.
February 7th, 2009 at 12:24 pm
Cheesey of Cheesman to make it look like a scoop when the info came from Jobfox CEO.
Just checked the numbers for a cross-section of staffing companies across North America: January YTY and MTM was catastrophic.
I don’t know Jobfox or care about them but it’s not insincerity that changed their outlook from the December statement till now.
February 7th, 2009 at 3:04 pm
I have always believed that JF was/is/can redefine the job board/online recruiting model.
Conceptually, it is a fantastic idea and while concepts might sell (and many bought on the “Precise Matching” and other novel JF concepts), it is great ongoing user experiences that produce “product contagion” and naturally leads to consistent, high renewal rates. When recruiters see the same candidate pool a month or two into their annual subscription and they don’t feel the experience matches their expectations they become disillusioned and abandon using the product.
IMO, Jobfox has a huge “whole in the bucket” problem that can ONLY be solved with higher conversion rates from “site visitor” to Candidate. True “precision matching” cannot nor will it occur when there are too few candidates.
I believe long term JF has a fighting chance to succeed, but there are some glaring problems that can’t just be excused on the current “economic crisis” and if they are ignored will ultimately make them inviable.
February 8th, 2009 at 5:59 pm
Ian…did you get so angry looking at the text on your computer screen…aka reading my post…did you forget to post your last name? Not sure why that’s relevant, but it sounds like such an important question I thought I would pose it to you as well.
I’m not angry w/ the original post. Just this joker Rafael’s response. He chimes in on too many posts w/ little useful info and then a message at the end that his company is hiring. No one cares. I haven’t seen one person respond to his comments.
I also find it inappropriate that he’s soliciting people on a post about them losing their jobs.
Match.com for recruitment is officially dead. Itzbig…dead. Jobfox…on life support. RealMatch…never heard of it.
February 8th, 2009 at 10:38 pm
What everyone seems to miss is that Rob “and the team” didn’t get a golden parachute from CareerBuilder (despite what everyone thinks) – they were forced out… How on earth were they supposed to pull this off – especially when they have no candidate flow…
February 9th, 2009 at 11:17 am
SEM – If I want to offer out of work people a job on this board or any other then I will. You’re being offended is no consequence to me, unless you count me being amused by it. Lastly, if any of the people Realmatch hires choose to make it their hiring public, we will do so…but dont expect them to paste their resume into the comment box here.
February 9th, 2009 at 8:43 pm
In an interview with the media (Forbes.com) last week, Rob claimed that he “over communicates” with his staff about what the company is doing. huh? There is NO communication, only the expectation to work nights and weekends while his chief technology executive goes home early every night or is on vacation during critical product development releases.
Sadly, hard working developers, marketing and sales staff at Jobfox are kicked out the door to cut costs while the high paid and incompetant executive staff blames everyone but themselves.
February 9th, 2009 at 11:13 pm
Have to agree with Linda on that one. Really wrestled with the guidance in this company from the beginning. Never mind the nutty tripling of prices in the teeth of a deep recession, or the changing of the messaging and presentation at the whim of the blowing wind. What I can’t figure out for the life of me is who in their right mind in HQ thought it was a good idea to fly almost every employee to Atlanta for company meetings 30 days before the jobfox account was virtually empty??? I mean – who’s watching the store here? They must have been expecting one miraculous January for the ages.
February 10th, 2009 at 10:17 am
There are some big leadership issues here. Please keep in mind that the best thing CB ever did was to buy HeadHunter.com. Not because of the business but because of the people. H H had a better sales staff, better leadership and most of those people now run CB.
If all you do is keep the truth from your people and dont celebrate wins you will loose them before you have to lay them off.
To all those who got laid off from JF look at it as a blessing. It might be tough now but it is like a bad relationship – the next one will seem great!
February 10th, 2009 at 4:39 pm
Rafael,
I’m still not sure why you even bother to beg for candidates. Why would RealMatch even be hiring? And who in their right mind would work for a website no one has ever heard of. I wouldn’t expect you to post anyone’s resume here, because no one is applying.
Its also amusing to me that you chime in on so many posts when no one cares to read your drivel. I’m not sure if you think you’re an industry expert, but I’ve never heard of you or your company.
It would be a better user of your time to go sell some RealMatch. I’m sure you need the revenue.
February 10th, 2009 at 10:04 pm
I”m with Reality on this one. What’s even more amazing (as an ex jobfoxer) now that I look back is that our VP of Sales claimed she (and our exec team reiterated) At CareerBuilder, was one of the founding sales executives with direct responsibility for building a 150 person sales force, deployed in 26 markets in the USA… BS… try looking back and find her any where in CB history…
Jobfox is story that we believed, told hundreds of employers and was, absolute BS.
February 11th, 2009 at 1:04 am
Here is the scoop. Rob is full of S^%T, but you know what? So is every other CEO in the world. That is what makes them a CEO. They are masters of spin and that is what they have to do to make the company look good and to keep their investors at bay. At the end of the day, Jobfox was a great company to work for and when times were good, we were taking clients from Monster and CB all day, everyday. Are there things that could be fixed with the site? Hell yeah. Is there a ton of spin in the marketing materials that come out? Of course.
Bethekilled sums it up well. There were nutty plans put into place that came at the wrong time. 3X pricing increase? SMART! Presentation changes every 15 minutes? SMART…….But again at the end of the day, my time there was great, Rob and the executive team were pretty much full of S, but that is what made them good.
February 11th, 2009 at 1:56 pm
SEM – I think you are angry at people that you perceive are smarter then you. Take a nearly identical insult you posted toward someone else here for example, heres your posting:
http://www.cheezhead.com/2008/12/01/layoffs-at-jobfox/
Steven wasnt being mean or directing anything negative to you, as a matter of fact it was a fairly positive statement he made. But you got very angry. have you ever thought about why you get so angry or why you dont feel comfortable identifying yourself when you post? I suspect its the same reason.
February 11th, 2009 at 2:58 pm
Rob M did build a great product with CareerBuilder. It is still a good product today. Regardless of who helped him he deserves credit. If someone with JobFox says they helped Rob at CareerBuilder I assume they did. If not why would Rob let them say that?
There was many old CB and Monster people who went to JobFox recently and I am sure they are not happy with what happened to them and to the company but as we all know the grass is not always……
I know several clinets who use Jobfox and half loved it and half did’nt. JobFox is not alone in this. Half the people who got IPhones didn’t like them when they got them.
If JobFox works and is a good value I say use it. Buy low while you can.
February 11th, 2009 at 8:45 pm
Point of Reference…
The VP of Sales at JobFox was absolutely a founding executive member at CareerBuilder and she did build the sales team to well over 150 in her time at CB. How do I know, she hired me at CB in 1998 before the company went public as sales rep. And I was there went the company went public, made a number of acquisitions and sold to Knight Ridder/Tribune.
The CB history does not mention McGovern as it’s founder. Are you going to question that? Make sure you check your facts before you make bold statements.
February 11th, 2009 at 10:40 pm
Gee wiz Explorer I’m glad you were part of the rat pack – however for someone that was seemingly so sucessful she sure was a flake to work for – constantly changing direction, etc… it’s like she and the rest of the exec team that again “did it with CB” never really had a clue – you’d figure they would…
So for everyone else – try looking her up… try to find her in any archive on CB and she’s a ghost.
OH I GET IT… You must have been the person that cleaned the urinals – way to go genius.
February 11th, 2009 at 11:03 pm
Explorer – I hope cheezhead keeps this up this time — im glad you were around in the glory days but i was just there for armagedon. if she was really involved with CB she certinaly had no clue on how to run a salesforce – even worse an online salesforce now which i dont get (neither did the other 70 sales people).
she was a super nice person – but try doing any kind of search for her in cb history and voila! you get nothing…
February 12th, 2009 at 3:43 am
In many ways JobFox is equivalent to a one-hit-wonder, or a silly teen idol that doesn’t even show up on VH1’s “Where are they now?”. The company was all glitz and glamor, a WHOLE LOT of cool-aid. The concept, under all that sparkle and shine was just a sales presentation made by a bunch of fools drunk on the juice. This is a case study for those who choose to learn: just because one starts and sells a company and writes a book, does not mean that this is the second coming of the messiah. Realize that this company was built on spin…well, spin on this
February 13th, 2009 at 9:11 pm
Ian you’re absolutely selfless sticking up from someone that works at your own company. You’re a saint.
And yes, I get pissed at two things: 1) morons who think the general public care what they say, and 2) vultures who flock to a carcass.
Your buddy seems to be both. Good luck w/ that.
February 16th, 2009 at 7:05 pm
Time for me to weigh in… I have been reading all of the comments this past week and all I can say is that I am SOOOOOO glad I am not with that shi**y company anymore! They came in promising the world – and in the end delivering nothing – just like the product!! I left a great paying job – and so did a lot of other good salespeople who just like me – ran to work for the ‘2nd coming of CB’ – got lied to and drop kicked in the jimmies with Rob’s steel toed boots! At least I wound up better than most, with a great job with a ‘REAL’ company, working product and a C-O-M-P-E-T-E-N-T management structure!! Do you have any idea how hard it is to sell something with the pricing changes every other week? And lying to dear clients that have done business with me in the past that we ‘have the candidates’ and we really didn’t? I felt like I not only let them down, but stole $$ from them for buying c(conning) them into buying Rob and Peg’s dream! SUCH BAD LIARS!! We were subjected to listen to the dumb a the obvious tide of unhappy clients. And to top it all off, lose $$ because every single client that had a guarantee – and you could not sell a crappy subscription without one – opted out. And that of course came right from your paycheck/ass. The veneer wore off very fast. Economy withstanding – this company is doomed to fail – the product really does suck and the poeple who run it should be ashamed of themselves for lying to everyone involved with this rancid job board. I learned my lesson well working for this loser start up – the grass is not greener – especially when it came to Jobfox. Too all who lost their jobs in the Jobfox layoff storm 2 weeks ago – good luck! sses in Virginia HQ come up with the worst spin (BULLSH**) to combat
February 17th, 2009 at 10:36 pm
WOW… that hit the nail AND everything else right in the head.
Ouch
February 18th, 2009 at 11:38 am
So when does boxfox officially go out of business??? Late Spring?
February 18th, 2009 at 8:19 pm
I wish the worst for the entire management team at Jobfox. They ruined a lot of careers and got a lot of recruiters in trouble with their bosses. People lost a lot of money using this terrible service. After the inevitable collapse of this farce – Good old Rob N’ Peg will not be able to raise a nickle nor red cent for their next great idea! Venture capitalists beware – When Rob McGovern call… HANG THE HELL UP!!!
February 19th, 2009 at 9:03 am
Seriously though – how much cash can they have left to keep burning through? 4 month’s worth? Meanwhile new biz is non-existent due to what they’ve heard on the street, even before the recession hit, and renewals are non-existent because of their terrible experience. Job seekers who submitted a profile a year ago forgot they had one – no jobs in system. The end is near.
February 20th, 2009 at 11:37 am
I have no dog in this fight but I understand why everyone is upset. A management team that takes care of themselves and not the people. That is what it “seems” like from these posts. I would like someone who is still there to chime in to see if they are happy or if they are just waiting for the doors to close.
I am not sure how much money they raised or if it was Robs $ to begin with but there are not many choices left.
close the doors and every $ is gone.
try to stay afloat – unlikely
sell the concept to someone – hard to do because it sounds like there is really not client base and they could never get the $ they put in back out.
Lets see what happens in the next 90 days.
February 28th, 2009 at 9:59 am
Enough of the belly aching, it’s over. It’s time to move on and put this Jobfox nightmare behind us. We all fell for the idea that we would all be millionaires suckling off the well funded company tit. Oh well back to reality, the economy sucks and I have to find a JOB.
I am confident that everyone effected by the layoff will move on to something much bigger and better than Jobfox could have ever been.
I am sure that there are some of you that have already secured a new job (not by using matching technology) and as for the rest I am sure that it is just a matter of time before the right opportunity presents itself.
Best of luck to all the ex-foxers.
PS-Rob, I think the name of your next book should be “Bring Your KY”.
March 3rd, 2009 at 9:01 pm
I don’t think he’ll be getting anymore book deals or VC, ever.
March 4th, 2009 at 10:35 pm
OK Foxless – I almost peed in my pants – that was a FUNNY post. I agree, turn the page, put a fork in it, grab some KY it’s over…
March 20th, 2009 at 11:28 am
WOW! Nobody has written anything in a while – so I thought I would leak a little information from what a few little birdies (ex foxers!)told me across the country. THE END IS NEAR FOLKS!!! Even after firing 75% of the Jobfox salesforce – NOBODY is buying Peg & Rob’s crappy dream ANYMORE! HA – HA!! From what I heard the economy is not even the issue – never really was. The product doesn’t work and word travels fast on the BRINE!! They even changed the Jobfox model (and pricing!) AGAIN – like the 20th time in less than a darn year! What a absolute J-O-K-E! I am so happy to be employed right now – imagine all the poor salespeople who left secure jobs to be given Jobfox Cool-Aid – the 2nd coming of Careebuilder, and then thrown out into the street in this job market. I kiss the door to my office every day! I hope all those who were lied to find a job soon and keep your heads up – you could still be working at Jobfox going down with Peg & Rob’s good ship… Blub Blubb Bluuuubbbbb!! Burning customers along the way… Those 2 should be ashamed of themselves.
March 20th, 2009 at 12:47 pm
Oh, you mean Rob isn’t going to have a record year of revenue? That’s the cool-aid that he’s ladling out now. Shocker. Meglomaniacs are never ashamed and there are plenty of them at JF. It doesn’t matter to Rob and the rest of his exec team that all other JF employees are screwed. Employees are just hoping and praying that they still have a job after returning from their mandatory week off without pay. Hmmm. wonder if the exec team will have to take off a week without pay OR offer to take salary cuts?? That alone would keep the company afloat for another 6 months.
March 20th, 2009 at 2:30 pm
What a bunch of whiners and ‘haters’. I still work at Jobfox and I am not going to lie and tell you that everything is great. We are struggling – but so is every other job board. But to read all this hatred toward Rob McGovern and the rest of the Jobfox team is just wrong! Let me guess – the people who wrote all the mean spirited blogs all got fired right? Most were let go before the big layoff (and it was not 75%…) because of one reason and one reason only – THEY DID NOT PRODUCE/aka LOSERS!! And anyone who got fired was given 3 week’s severence pay, which is pretty nice I think. Let me say, Rob was heartbroken to make the final decision to let go of bulk of the salesforce. He probably even cried that day he was so upset. He made it clear that he and the rest of the Jobfox team would make every effort to help those who were reluctantly let go to help find employment. That is good man. If it were not for the economy being the way it is we would have been catching up to CB and then going after Monster. I hear the rumors ‘the product doesn’t work’ and we ‘have no candidates’ – that is an outright lie and I am appaled ex employees would say such things knowing that was not true! The ONLY time we ever changed pricing structure was to streamline the process and make it easier for all of our loyal customers to absorb. It makes me so angry that people take their failures out on their ex employer. SOUR GRAPES! When the economy picks up – we will not just turn things around but will be the top Job board that everyone envies! God Bless all.
March 20th, 2009 at 3:13 pm
Boy! You showed us!! Sounds like someone knows what Rob McGovern had for breakfast this morning – YOU GIANT ASSKISSER YOU. Just how far is your tongue (if not head) is up this sicophant’s ass? You mom should commit suicide for having you – whoever you are!!! you are clearly an idiot….
March 21st, 2009 at 9:07 am
To Fighting Back,
I think you have it all wrong: people weren’t being let go because they weren’t producing purposefully but because there is NO product to sell. A lot of people have had great success in sales before they went to Jobfox. Then, when the product went down the toilet and there were no takers, the management (especially Rob) didn’t take any responsibility for it – instead he blamed everyone else. If ex foxers weren’t producing and were “LOSERS” why would Rob work so hard to find them a new job and say they are A-players? I guess Rob’s blaming his crappy product on the sales people – anyone but himself. Did you really buy into Rob’s crocodile tears? My guess is that if you had followed him out of the office the day of the layoffs you would have seen him drive out in his big BMW to the airstrip where he got into his own airplane to pilot himself off to his place in Nantucket. You are drinking too much of the cool-aid to think for one second that Rob is upset about the layoffs. He’s much more upset about how he’s going to get himself out of it by blaming everyone but himself regardless of how many others he will take down with him.
Rob and his other execs are known to let people go who aren’t far enough up their asses and don’t idolize them. It’s company policy and I can see why you still have a job based on your post. I admire your loyalty to Rob but if you think Rob has any loyalty to you, think again. You, too, will feel the steel-toed boot as you are drop kicked out the door. Boo-hoo
March 23rd, 2009 at 6:27 pm
Looking for a life raft – you seem to be ‘in the know’… I was just a poor deluded salesperson who drank Rob’s and Peg’s Cool-Aid – but you seem (I’ll bet) to have been a manager! Either way – point on brother! I still keep in contact with many ex Foxers who really are going through rough times after dear Old Robby gave them the pink slip. I would love to know who is actually defending HIM and the rest of that wonderful ‘A-list’ team. At least I wound up on my feet, actually found a great job with a fortune 200 company that is solid as a rock and can actually walk the walk. I feel so bad for those who are still in this horrendous job market thanks to thos jerks. Can you imagine leaving your job and having this nightmare that Jobfox left on their families doorstep? While those rotten bastards are claiming to be upset about it all!! I could not explain how I pray all the time that they lose it all and Rob’s name will be forever in the MUD… From what I hear – won’t be long now!!!
March 23rd, 2009 at 11:01 pm
Couple of truths: Jobfox – Great idea! Product started off quite good, but too many changes – in the wrong direction. They never let sales folks get to know the product well enough to sell, before they changed it to something that everyone, except the execs, knew would never work – what HR or hiring manager is going to buy into their introductions fiasco. On the other hand, the sales folks never took the time to really learn how the product worked to sell effectively -don’t cry past-sales folks, you didn’t. Downward communication – none (really there is/was not any – we can all agree on that) if you didn’t buy into the Rob way – no other thoughts or ideas needed or accepted. There were great ideas that would have helped make the company/product much better, but no trickle up input needed. Do the execs care? No, they are all well off from the previous ventures or spouses. For a start-up there was no, I repeat no, creative thinking allowed outside of Rob. The past CB folks their know this and act accordingly – note most, if not all are still there. My question is where are poor VCs that dumped $40mm into this company and why have they not taken over the management of this company yet??
Any life left for Jobfox?? Perhaps they should go back to Market10, no seriously – if they truly went back to their core competency – matching, refined their algorithms – start with how you weight the responses, give employers want they want (have you tried asking any of your account managers, they only have their hands on the pulse of the clients) – be true to their seekers (real matches, real jobs, real data on their competition, etc..) there might be hope. But, that would mean overcoming the ego factor. I don’t think anyone wants the company to fail, they are doing the best they can. Anyone could make a halfway decent internet idea work in the 90’s. But, this is not the 90’s. Oh well… it doesn’t matter.
March 24th, 2009 at 11:28 am
doesnotmatter you make some good points especially in reference to ego which the execs there are too full of and blinded by; but then others are wrong. The sales people knew the product and sold much in the past – the problem was word started hitting the street that the product was a complete dud, which is why long BEFORE the economy tanked the renewal rates were close to ZERO. Do not blame the economy as it just accelerated the inevitable, the glaring product faults and warts that were becoming evident regardless. This ship was quickly spiraling downward long before the bad economy hit
March 24th, 2009 at 2:30 pm
What almost everyone here has said is the BIG problem for Jobfox: EGO
If Rob and his execs had stayed on track from a year ago when they were making $$ in revenue http://www.cheezhead.com/2008/05/14/jobfox-hits-million/ they probably would have had a chance but the HUGE egos at Jobfox got in the way and he blew all that money opening offices and hiring a hundred new employees when he still wasn’t in position to do so. The Jobfox business plan to offer subscriptions (at a very steep price) was what brought in huge chunks of revenue to the company. For every $1 made Rob spent $1000. When the subscribers weren’t getting any candidates and the Intros feature was quickly becoming a joke, they didn’t renew. Rob ladled enough cool-aid to the entire staff that some of them were willing to stay and makes lots of money on their options. Rob doesn’t communicate with any of his staff and the changes that keep being made to the product and the pricing are making matters worse, not better. Jobfox customer base is dwindling (even the so called loyal ones) and the product isn’t selling because it doesn’t rise above the rest AND Rob can’t sell the “I was founder and CEO of CB” anymore. People don’t care. Rob is more interested in people knowing he was the founder/CEO of Careerbuilder that it seems like he’s selling CB and not Jobfox. The sales presentations are nice but the number of candidates returned during the demo is nothing close to what customers are getting live once they paid for a subscription. One would think Rob would have moved in a more conservative direction a long time ago but, again, big ego got in the way.
If Rob would accept any constructive criticism and realized that he isn’t the second coming and tell his execs to put their mirrors away and take responsibility, he would likely be able to put out a great product. Trouble is, it’s too late.
March 24th, 2009 at 5:24 pm
When I first started at Jobfox one of my 1st questions was how high/low was their renewal rate – because that would direcly influence my decision to work there. I remember being told by Marge in D.C. that our renewal rate was 90% – swear to Jesus almighty!! I was so impressed with that because that had to mean that Jobfox was SOLID!! Boy did that turn out to be quite the opposite. Barely any companies renewed while I was there and when they did Corporate made such a big deal about it it was like someone signed a millon dollar deal! As time went on and all my contracts (as well as my coworkers) came up for renewal – I learned what a bunch of liars the management team really were. Nobody was renewing because Jobfox was C-R-A-P. Not only were the clients not renewing, nobody was buying any new subscriptions (probably because word of mouth is a real bitch!) and the cancellations from garauntees were dumped on top of our quotas really made it hard to stick around! So ‘Fighting Back’ – you are a real A**h**e for saying that we were loser who could not sell. Most of the Jobfox hires came from jobs that they were very successful and got smashed when they could not sell Jobfox – like it was their fault. It was entirely because the S.S. Jobfox was a rudderless ship with Captain Rob steering us all into the rocks!!
March 31st, 2009 at 11:46 pm
hmm….take a look at this:
http://www.ere.net/2009/03/31/universal-job-application-system-introduced-by-jobfox/#more-7281
thoughts anyone?
April 1st, 2009 at 5:36 pm
I looked at the link. IT IS THE MOST AMAZING THING I HAVE EVER SEEN! This will revolutionize job boards as we know them today! They will push Monster and careerbuilder aside with this new foolproof product! Are you kidding me? It is too little – too late for dear old Jobfox! It is just like every great idea Rob had (outside of Careerbuilder anyway)- great concept – Crappy delivery. Candidates do not use the site and even less companies for that matter! Nothing is going to help them. NOOOOOTTTTHHHHHIIIINNNGGG!!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHA!!!!
April 1st, 2009 at 6:03 pm
God bless em’, but honestly not sure how they can make it work based on what I’ve read. Mr. Toole stated that this rpal will cause a customer base to appear because recruiters will like their matching which sounds a bit like tail chasing. By Reading the comments above – there seemed to be many customers in the past with none of them renewing because of the product. Candidates do hate ATS systems and job boards, but if they didn’t bother with the 20 minute inquisition on the ATS why would one do it through Rpal? A bigger concern in general and challenge for this model, is for candidates who apply through ATS or job boards and get no response whatsoever, regardless.
Good Luck to all.
April 10th, 2009 at 1:47 pm
It is waaaay too late for Jobfox to release yet ‘another’ great product. Way too many burned bridges. I (or Jobfox rather) burnt many clients across the country. Their name is MUD in all 10 major markets! The best shot they would have with this new product would be to change the name of the company and for Rob and Peg to change their names as well. He had a great reputation before he lost it all on betting on Jobfox. That is all gone now. True, he has millions to salve his wounds so boo hoo to him! But the rest of us plebes that burnt clients have to deal with our reputations being sullied because our names will stick in the burnt clients heads long after these fools ‘GO THE WAY OF THE DODO’….
April 17th, 2009 at 1:01 pm
It’s a sad state of affairs when Jobfox allows the ‘get rich quick’ job listings. I received a couple of emails with job descriptions like:
“PT just 1 hour a day will provide $200+ a day in extra cash. Put in more time on the weekends or work full-time and you’re earnings will be a high 6-figure annual salary!”
When I go to look at the other matched jobs, I see there are multiple listings telling me I could make a six figure salary in creating a home based position. Everyone is eligible. So basically every candidate with a profile on Jobfox gets an email telling them they have new high matching jobs. I understand the economy is bad but such marketing is rather sleazy to me and takes away any integrity Rob’s Jobfox ever had.
April 23rd, 2009 at 10:22 pm
I attended a resume pal prentation this week and it’s another nice concept by this group. You have to tip your hats to them, they keep trying. Frst it was matching, then intros, now Resumepal. I will never invest another penny of my companies money with them as Jobfox matching does not work. Resume Pal is built off of that technology (I think)
fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice shame on me!
Good luck
April 27th, 2009 at 3:44 pm
ResumePal – what a friggin’ joke! It’s true that they keeeeeeep on trying! I am not shocked by anything they try and do anymore. Jobfox failed twice already and the Jackass Twins Rob and Peg still think that they can pull it off with ResumePal huh? SHAMELESS!! People stopped buying after the matching technology was found out to be as useful as a twice used condom! Then came the ‘Intros’. Being that I left this sinking ship early on, watching the demise of Jobfox has been pretty entertaining! I even heard that the ’so called manager’ from the depleted New York City office finally awoke from his Jobfox cool-aid stupor and left the train wreck! Way to go Jobfox! Let your #1 salesperson just slip away like a fart in the wind!!! I heard he is now with a ‘REAL’ COMPANY’ and his career nightmare is finally over! Good for him!!
Matching Technology – STRIKE ONE!!
INTROS – STRIKE TWO!!
RESUME PAL – STRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIKE THREE!!!
JOBFOX… YOU’RE OOOOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUTTTTTTTTTTTTT!!!!
April 29th, 2009 at 6:21 pm
true…the manager from the NY office has a career at a “real” job board now where I am sure he will be #1 again soon. Kudos to you for bailing out early
May 7th, 2009 at 4:28 pm
Does anybody know how Jobfox is doing? It seemed like they were on the brink of disaster a few months ago so wondering if they still are. The word was on the street that Jobfox was dangling by a thread, then Steve Toole told presented ResumePal but haven’t heard anything else.
Also at a recent conference I was told they had little to no cash so did they get more funding or have they been able to hang on by charging poor job seekers hundreds of dollars to better promote themselves?
September 11th, 2009 at 8:25 pm
Soooo, they can’t find jobs for their own people. Says alot.