There's quite the trend of dumping on job boards. I think it's counterproductive. A recent post from Recruiters are Dummies (nice title - should make lots of friends) compared job boards to recycling bins.
The more people that post resumes on the site, the more they can
'cost-justify' their pricing. The best analogy I can make is nightclubs
that realize in order to get the guys to come and spend some serious
cash, you have to give the girls free admission and free drinks (well,
maybe until 11pm or so!) Without the women, the guys won't show up. In
the same respect, a database of 5 million resumes is quite the
attraction to HR and 3rd party recruiters.
Moral of the story: If you're going to put yourself on a board, at
least put your contact info as 'Confidential' - it's a small
conciliation, but at least communicates that you're aware of the
re-circulatory garbage floating around in your midst.
A couple of things. First - if you are going to put your name on Monster - don't waste your time putting it in as confidential. Recruiters move so fast they don't have time to respond to confidential candidates, and half the time, marking as confidential only makes sense if you're smart enough to wipe your resume, too. Confidential on your title with your name and number in the resume header doesn't speak well to your detailing abilities.
Job boards have their problems - and I wouldn't use them now that I know how not to use them - but twice in my life I've been hired off Monster, so I can't complain. For hundreds of thousands of people, the same is true. Putting your name on Monster or Careerbuilder is a great way to get calls, and man of us have been hired through the boards.
Leaving aside the frustration of recruiters who have to work with HR people who refuse to accept job board candidates, the reasons to use a job board can outnumber the reasons to hide your profile in your secret network.
You just have to give up your pride. Using a job board is either a sign of desperation or ignorance. Either you don't know any better, or you need a job now and will try anything to get out of your situation.
Recruiters are Dummies had the right analogy. Going to a job board is like going to a bar when you are tired of being alone. Yes - we know some people who met their spouse at a bar, but we also know a lot of stories don't end up that way. We know that church, or volunteering, or using our social networks works better, but it also takes effort, and for many people, the "idea" of having a job is more important than the actual job itself.
But let's not blame the job boards, anymore than we blame the bars. The problem is self-confidence and education. The job boards didn't create the problem - the people submitting their resumes did.
