It's been a long time since I posted a resume on a job board, and so to cover my bases, I recently posted information on Monster, CreativeHotlist, and Craigslist St Louis.
These were not traditional resumes, as I'm not looking to go inside anywhere, but rather publicizing information about my new company (soon to be unveiled).
I remember Monster fondly - posting a resume there is like dreaming of a better tomorrow. You dutifully fill out your information hoping for a better job, more money and the opportunity to really shine. Or at least that's the way it used to be.
Although plenty of reputable firms troll the job boards for potential employees, the ease of automating replies means false hope for applicants who click "apply online," and in a new incarnation - recruiting spam.
Yes, recruiting spam. Impersonal e-mails with poor spellings, little thought, and a fake camaraderie intended to lure the unsuspecting into spam e-mail lists and cattle call interviews.
I didn't expect much from the online resumes I posted - they clearly defined me as an independent consultant seeking project work, and the fields I listed are not your typical fare. And yet I received three replies in under 24 hours that I would like to share with you.
Recruiting Spam # 1
Company: Farmer's Insurance
Contact: Ronald Hendrix, District Manager (name appears on e-mail, no contact)
Contact: Kyle Counts, Agency Development Manager
Pitch: Excellent Income Potential, Be your own Boss, Our people make $145,000 a year.
While the e-mail is actually well-crafted and the pitch is strong, one has to wonder why it was sent to my resume listing. The resume says nothing about sales, entrepreneurship, or a desire to do anything but serve as a online media consultant. The resume is simple, designed to attract a narrow band, and elicit a response from a narrow field.
Normally, I would give Ron and Kyle a pass - but aside from pretending this came from the District Manager, the e-mail clearly labels itself as spam. At the bottom, the e-mail says:
If you do not wish to receive future e-mails from this company announcing job opportunities, click here to be added to the do not send list.
Farmer's Insurance - I never asked for the e-mail in the first place. You trolled a job board and spammed me.
Recruiting Spam #2:
Company: Ameriprise Financial (formerly American Express Financial Advisors)
Contact: Jessica Barbagallo, Recruiting Coordinator
Pitch: Jessica "received" my resume from Monster, and is "delighted" to consider me an applicant for one of their financial planners position. I sign up for a "seminar,' where dozens of other "professionals" gather and are led to a slaughterhou..., I mean a conference room where excellent income potential and the possibility of freedom from the man are offered.
The wording is clever, because it seems like I did the applying through Monster, when in fact all Jessica is saying is Monster sent my resume (after she set up an automatic resume search) and she is delighted to consider me as an applicant (even though I never applied). Now to be fair, I'm a little harsh on Ameriprise - which considering the number of people I know who have been churned through their program is justified - but this is another example of an unsolicited pitch for an interview.
What this means is Jessica is told to get as many people in the door as possible without worrying about what they did before. It also tells me she never looked at my resume. Spam it is!
Recruiting Spam #3:
Company: Career Information Services
Contact: a mailing address to University City, TX or clicking on a link with my e-mail in it (no thanks)
Pitch:
Thank you very much for your recent inquiry about job openings
in the Saint Louis Area!
We have new job openings in your area and would like to know
if you are still available.
This is my favorite, simply because they don't bother to hide who they are or what they are doing. No description, the unsavory option of clicking on a link I know nothing about - and the vague, "we have some jobs in St Louis."
Conclusion:
The use of major job boards has reached a point where the work taken to apply with a job board takes 30-60 times more effort than it takes to send out spam. The goal of a recruiter should be matching a company with a candidate reasonably capable of doing the job. These three companies, at the least, think of employment like a fisherman dragging a net at the bottom of the ocean. They don't care how much garbage they gather or create, as long as they fill their quotas.
Job boards have their purposes, and some recruiters use them well. And they are free, which proves you do pay for what you get. I just wonder how many unsuspecting job applicants started out dreaming of a better opportunity and instead got stuck with these clowns promising a future.
