Paid job sites - should you pay job boards to find a job?

From the start of job boards in the mid 1990s until now, the vast majority of job and career sites have worked on a simple economic model: job seekers don’t pay, employers do. In fact, the concept of free access to a job site’s listings was so ingrained that TheLadders.com actually garnered quite a bit of publicity by requiring job seekers to pay when it launched in 2004. Although still uncommon, ‘pay’ sites have gathered some momentum during the last 2 years of recession – a result of seekers desperate to gain any kind of advantage in the job market. The question remains, though: are ‘pay’ sites worth it?

A good place to start is by asking this question: Are you getting something unique and useful from the ‘pay’ site that you can’t get from a free site? In other words, will you find that perfect job on FlexJobs.com (a ‘pay’ site for telecommuters) – a job you would never see on Monster.com or CareerBuilder.com? Unfortunately, the only way you’ll find out is by trying both and comparing results. As a past user of FlexJobs.com, for example, I can attest that they were successful in locating telecommuting jobs I was unable to find via other means. You should also talk to your friends and professional colleagues – they may have gone through the same process and have good advice on which sites work and which don’t.

Some sites such as TheLadders claim to offer more than just access to unique jobs – they also claim to put your resume in front of thousands of recruiters. This may be a benefit if there are plenty of openings in your profession that recruiters are battling to fill. However, if jobs are hard to come by in your field, this feature may be meaningless – recruiters don’t peruse resumes for the fun of it. They want to fill their open job orders.

Other sites such as EmploymentCrossing claim to have the most comprehensive list of jobs available. So, instead of spending hours going from one job board to another, reviewing company sites, and checking classifieds, you can save time by having the listings in one place. But is it real? Do your homework on RipoffReport.com or Scam.com because the Internet is virtually unregulated.

There is another path: do it yourself. In essence, you mimic what the paid sites claim to do. How? First, identify the job boards and company career sites that best fit your needs. Next, set up ‘job alerts’ (most job boards and many career sites have these). When a job is posted that matches your criteria, a job alert is emailed to you. You can also use Google alerts to track keywords and companies (for example, “copywriter jobs” or “Acer Computers”). Some enterprising job seekers utilize search tools such as Copernic (the personal version is free) – these comb the internet looking for your particular keywords, much as the paid sites themselves do when identifying ‘unseen’ jobs. Of course, there is a cost when you do it yourself – your time.

In the end, the real question is, what is your time worth? Most job seekers will opt for free job sites out of simple economic necessity. But if you have more money than time and are willing to take some chances, you may find a pay site that’s right for you and gives you an edge in your job hunt. Just proceed with caution and look before you leap.

by Jeff Dickey-Chasins for OnlineRecruitingNews.com