HRevolution

I had an email chiding me about my criticism of job boards. (From a job board employee, perhaps?). Whether replying to her email or on this forum, my response is the same:

What’s wrong with job boards? Are you kidding? Have you ever used one? Not as an advertiser, but as a job hunter. It’s a totally different experience from that angle. It’s just awful. Searches either turn up too much, or nothing. So you end up setting wide search parameters and have to sort through a bunch of chaff (the search technology stinks).

So the user spends all kinds of time reading through garbage that has nothing to do with what they want. They do it on board after board. Nice use of time - especially when you’re unemployed and stressed out. Most job hunters spend a lot of time online because it feels like they’re doing something. Reaching out to companies online feels like an efficient use of time. Sadly, more jobs are found through referrals – making networking a better use of time. But they’re unemployed and running scared. They don’t seem to know this.

Why does the job board experience suck – especially when technology is available that would solve this problem? Because it’s not about the technology. It’s about the business model. Job boards are newspaper classifieds online. Ads are sold based on how much traffic frequents the site. More traffic equals more valuable space. And if you can get those users to stay a long time, you make more money. More time spent on the site ‘proves’ the sites value. Basically, if you can get people to come to your board, then drag them through a lot of muck, you make more money. In this business model, giving the job hunter efficient tools erodes ‘value’ (using the term loosely).

That’s why I said they treat users poorly. They do.
What a waste of interactive media.