Lazy Man and Money is putting out feelers for a new job. He doesn't like the monster that Monster.com has become, though, and he's counted the ways he hates them. Much of what he dislikes seems to center around the fact that there's a lot of junk to filter through. He gets contacted for jobs for which he doesn't have a skill match. He has recruiters wanting to talk on the phone rather than correspond by e-mail initially, or the recruiters withhold information to get him on the phone. He's dodging ads and third-party signup opportunities.
I've never used Monster.com, but from what I see on the website it's free to sign up for a “My Monster” account which is used to post your resume and have folks contact you. For employers and recruiters to get at your resume, though, is costly. To get access to the nationwide database for a year costs $10,000. Monster.com's business model is pretty similar to LendingTree's model. Monster.com sells job seeker leads just like LendingTree sells mortgage and refinance leads. Bring in the leads by making it no financial cost to them, sell them to employers, and let the competition begin.
Submitting your information (for free) gets you a lot of calls, because a lot of people paid dearly for the privilege of contacting you as a fresh job-seeking lead. The recruiters calling stand to get a bounty if they place you in a job. The employers calling you want to offer you a job if you're a good match.
But if the job market is tight (which I think it is) then the employers or the recruiters don't have to be particularly choosy about checking to see whether a job is a good match for you. It's more cost-effective for them to cast a really wide net and put the burden on you, the job seeker, to sift through to find the diamonds, and then point you toward the hoops you need to go through. And if you really want a job, you'll do it.
I posted a comment on his post and asked, “What kind of experience were you expecting when you signed up for this service?” I suppose what I really meant to ask — but didn't — was “What kind of experience were you expecting when you signed up for this service for free?” I sensed that Lazy Man was getting what he paid for: A free resume posting in a relatively tight job market means paying a whole lot more later in terms of time, energy, and aggravation. The employers and recruiters are working in their own interests at this point, not his. If Lazy Man didn't pay anything for this posting, who would work for him? Nobody — it's all up to him. Now, if instead he's paying somebody to help him with the job search, then somebody's working for him, and he should expect to get only good job leads for which he's well-qualified.
I'm sure there are good jobs posted in Monster.com, but due to the nature of the beast (pardon the pun) there's a lot of junk to go through to get to them. The more you pay for service, the better and faster it is (or at least it should be). If you pay nothing for service, you should expect to get nothing, which is what Lazy Man appears to be getting. (At least he appears to be getting very little in terms of screening or consideration of his time.) It probably is a little easier than visiting company websites individually without Monster.com, though.
Does anyone know of a way to help this job search along (possibly for a fee)?
I put my resume up on Monster 3 years ago and I will still from time to time get an email from someone. I am a fan of Careerbuilder.com. I prefer the format and lower amount of spam than I get from monster.
I do contract legal work…pays very well but you have to know how to roll from project to project. Unemployment benefits factors into my plan to help bridge the gaps.
I recommend craigslist as well – many staffing agencies post projects there.
-Raymond
Unfortunately, paying wouldn't help because this just attracts the fly by nights that prey upon the desperate. They are already paid by the employer, if they know what they are doing. Too many don't but treat it as a numbers game, making up their costs on the chance hit, or simply as a sales tool to sell to those looking. Networking is always better than online, which is usually simply a waste of time. It offers one to one exchange instead of many to many noise.
I was recruited for my current job, an entry level at a FANTASTIC company, through Monster. I was found by a temp agency who had an opening 10 minutes for my house. I was hired by the company and have hapily been here for over a year. All I can say is that it can't hurt (except in the case of identy fraud I guess!) to have your resume out there. I never thought it would work but I have to say that Monster found me my job!
Oh yeah, I will share with you, the best job search sight out there, its indeed.com. It searches all job search sites and pulls out everything. Try it, its fantastic. Its like the google of job search sites.
I'm also looking, so I use Monster, but I prefer CareerBuilder. They are beasts to wade through – but it has to be done. I also use the website of my professional organization as well as a few job sites specialized to my field.
Signing up with a placement agency might not be a bad idea–but they're normally paid by the hiring company so you don't want to pay to sign up. I'm not sure how well they'd do for Lazy Man…
I found my job via Career Builder, or Monster; I'm not sure which because the job was posted on both, and my resume was on both. That said, the experience was not fun, but it was necessary for me because I moved across the country to an unfamiliar area and had no local network. Now that I know a few people at other companies, I will try networking before going back into an on-line service.
I also think you and Lazy Man both bring up some very good points – especially your points about how the recruiters have one interest in mind – their own.
It is never wise to pay someone to help you find a job. Perhaps in theory, but in reality people have been swindled out of thousands of dollars from companies claiming to have contacts they never had.
The best way to find a job is to be proactive and network, network, network.
Recruiters NEVER compete for me.
I am actually a recruiter and this article is very good. I also read the Lazy Man original article and felt a bit frustrated at his attitude.
We are not here to help you get a job, but to help our clients hire somebody for their openings and thus get paid. That is always our motivation in dealing with candidates. It is a never ending source of amusing surprise for me that so many people expect us to do all the work and never really consider our motivation.
All we do is pick up the phone and make things happen. Most job seekers can do everything on their own if they just learn to pick up the phone. Why not trust the one you can trust the most to make it happen?