Chinese Pet Food and Your Job Hunt

Folks, a lot of you write in and have questions like "Hey, Marc, why the heck would I want to pay for a job board? I can just go to free sites like Monster.com."

Well, Readers, let me tell you something. There are a few things in life you don't want for free....

Free sushi.

 

Free Lasik eye surgery.

 

And a free job board for a $100k+ job hunt.

 

Let's face it. Free job-boards are the Chinese pet food of the job board industry. If "cheap" is your primary concern and you're not that worried about quality or safety, then the free sites are the place for you.

We screen job postings for $100k+ quality before we post them on our site. The free sites don't.

We have strict standards for quality, quantity and pay level of our jobs. They don't.

We put recruiters through a screening process to make sure they only post high-level jobs before we invite them in. You guessed it - they don't!

I find it a bit unbelievable that they'd put you in that situation, but it's true. When you post your resume, with all of your confidential and personal information on free job boards, anybody with a stolen credit card can get access to it.

And it's not just resume search. They allow any unqualified poster from up the street to post jobs, too. I mean, take a look at these jobs I found on Monster.com yesterday:

Work hard, get paid, repeat! We have the work you want

 

Work from Home - $12+/hr Appointment Setting / Telemarketing

 

Fun Work Environment Wtih Flexable Work Hours to Work Around your School Schedule!!

 

If an employer can't even spell "flexible" in their job headline, why does Monster.com let them post?

Did you know that we have two people review every single job before we allow it to be posted on the site? And that we throw out the spams and the scams?

Did you know that we review every recruiter before they're allowed to post on the site or search resumes? And we block any fly-by-night poster that tries to sneak in.

And that we have strict standards about the # of jobs we'll accept from any one company, the quality of the jobs they submit, and the compensation that a job must pay before we allow it on TheLadders.com?

To me, that's what we owe you, out of respect for your time, your position in life, and the value of your dollar.

And, Readers, our dislike and distrust of free job boards might seem a bit arrogant or elitist or snooty, but we're putting your interests first, especially when it comes to the Internet and your job hunt. Here at TheLadders.com, we're looking out for you.

And that's what I mean when I say that free job boards are the Chinese pet food of the job board industry - no standards, no safety net, no security.

Just quick, cheap, and disappointing. You deserve better.