Many companies are taking their job postings to Craigslist. I can only speculate and say that they’re going this route to save money. Monster and other services can be pricey, and newspaper…well we won’t go there. Not too many people do. Some job postings are done as blind ads. There is little information about the company and almost no contact information is listed. The big reason for this is that it will keep firms from calling on the ad. If there’s no phone number to call you can filter the emailed inquiries pretty efficiently. It has probably worked for many companies, but how long will it continue to be a positive experience?
I bring this up because I came across an ad on craigslist. Yes, I was inquiring about a job posting. I found out it was a person that was not looking for additional help at all, but was merely collecting resumes from would-be applicants in order to compare his own resume to theirs. Effective? Probably, especially in today’s market. Ethical? I don’t think so.
So how do you know if you’re submitting a resume, with your own contact information at the top, to a legitimate employer? You might not ever know. Many employers that post legitimate roles, right on their own website, will rarely give you a response unless they’re interested in your background. Now imagine it’s not a job posting at all and the chances of a follow up are nil.
Be careful out there folks.