Online Job Hunting and My Conspiracy Theory

So, here is how NOT to recruit online.

So I get this email from Name I Don't Recognize that reads very much like spam.  The subject line starts with FYI, for one thing.  It seems the status of my job application for TEAMsomeoddnumber is changed.  This email didn't end up in my spam folder, so I opened it to find it contained very little information, as well as an attachment and a link.  This is all looking very spammy to me.  I check the full header, and it actually appears to be from a place I applied to months ago.  I plug the name into my inbox box to be sure, and find this email looks like most of the others I have received from said establishment.  OK, fine.  So I go to find out what has changed about my application, only to find out that either I've forgotten my password or my account no longer exists even though they can still send me emails (I'm now thinking that's what this change in status was, because I was not allowed to use the lost password option).  I won't go into all the infuriating details, but in conclusion I find that obscure language, mixed signals, and general over-automation is not a great strategy for online recruitment.

Seriously, I have to wonder how well this actually works, even for big corporations in a weak job market.  It seems like an awful lot of resources to put into the process of elimination.  They must be sure that all these hoops to jump through really will narrow the field down to the ones who can do the job best.  Perhaps they've calculated it all so that only a specific type of mind can actually make it through the application process.  I've made it to the interview stage a handful of times, but I have yet to actually acquire a job that I originally applied for online.

Some would argue that comparatively few jobs are actually gained by responding to any type of advertisement, and my own job experience would seem to back that up.  Very often it's about who you know and being in the right place at the right time.  This makes this shift toward online recruitment even more mysterious.  Seems like an awful lot effort to put into something that won't do the bulk of the hiring for you.  Some places don't even give you the option of applying any other way except online!  What are you doing collecting hypothetical employees in an online database if only a fraction of a fraction of them make it to your team?

One alternative explanation occurs to me:  information.  This is the age where corporations want to know about you.  Your likes, dislikes, gender, age, beliefs, politics, and anything else they can use in order to sell their product to you.  Most privacy statements will say that they would never share your information with a third party, which is the prevailing fear.  But if the company you're applying to is a big retailer, why would they sell your information?  They're the ones who need it in order to sell you stuff!

Seriously, I've talked about this before:

Sketches and Swatches: Do I really have to sign up for everything?

I give more information to these online recruitment sites than I would give most places, unless I'm filing my taxes or renewing my passport.  What bugs me, if this theory turned out to be true and online recruitment sites are just consumer information banks for corporations, is that I could tolerate this if I actually got a paying job out of it!  That's why people sign up for Vindale Research, and other "Surveys for Cash" sites.  We all know that corporations benefit from our information - why not sell it to them directly and reap some fringe benefits?  Sadly, it doesn't work that way, because there are enough ways to get our information already, that nobody has to pay you for it.

Maybe this isn't news at all.  It certainly would explain the psych-test style questionnaires and the recruitment engines using other recruitment engines to recruit.  I have to say that my job search has gone better of late.  I've had 2 interviews this past week.  One did result from an online ad, though I delivered the actual application in person.  The other was one I'd heard about through word of mouth - in fact, a friend of a family member offered me an interview.  It was at a place where I'm kind of a regular, which is nice.  The whole "it's about who you know" thing isn't as superfluous as it sounds, really.  It's good to have a real-world idea of who you're hiring and who you're being hired by.  It's not a bad place to start, at least.

This post took a turn I hadn't anticipated.  Funny the things that will occur to you when writing/wild-goose-job chasing/venting.  Thanks for reading, Blogger world!  Until next time!

PS:  Having given no time to art-talk in this blog, I feel like I should at least include some of my recent work:

Inkblot Seraphim by ~Eseopia on deviantART

Seraphim - the highest order of angel.  Covered in wings because they can't be seen by mere human beings, though that's probably an oversimplification.  I must say, angels are more interesting and diverse than they appear in pop culture, even going by what research I've done on my own time.  I've put together a calendar containing my drawings of angels that I've done over the years.  It is available through Deviantart...


Angels and Shades Calendar by ~Eseopia on deviantART

and Cafepress:

http://www.cafepress.com/robynmackinnondesigns.756626980

Enough product placement?  :B  I thought so.  Later!

Do I really have to sign up for everything?

February 16th 2013:  Priorities... by ~Eseopia on deviantART

February 15th 2013:  Another Day... by ~Eseopia on deviantART

February 14th 2013:  Wriggley Oversees... by ~Eseopia on deviantART

Hello blogger world!

I'm trying to edit this entry to make it sound more civilized.  I am writing today with regards to the amount of signing up that is involved in job hunting these days.  Some places still accept a resume and cover letter and let you let that be that.  Others, as I may have mentioned before, have full-on psych exams to fill out so they can make a profile of you, to go with your resume of course.  Ideally, this makes it so that if you want to apply for multiple jobs, you can just select whichever ones you want and they do the rest.  What really bothers me is the number of passwords I have out there.

There are a number of things you may have to sign up for during your job hunt.  With some places, you just have to create a profile with the company itself.  This on its own can lead to quite a few profiles depending on where and how many places you apply.  Some companies hire through job search/hiring sites like CareerBeacon.com.  This can potentially cut back on the number of passwords you need to create, but only when applying for jobs at places that hire through the site.  And of course, you have to sign up for the site itself.

One thing that has become a little bit irksome for me is when I find a job I want to apply for on one of these sites, only to find that it's been posted by another, similar site, who is doing the hiring for said company.  In theory it's good to have profiles on 2 sites instead of one, but I've often found the second site to be a little more weakly structured, and honestly, it's just one more layer of 'security' I don't feel comfortable being compelled to deal with.

Beyond that, I recently discovered a new potential layer of password-guarded security.  While applying for jobs at Michael's (arts and crafts), I was required to create a profile with PeopleAnswers (the site that created the questionnaire I had to fill out for my Michael's).  Granted, this ultimately made it easier to apply for job openings, but it occurs to me that my information is getting spread around quite a bit in an age where information is a hot commodity.

So let's review:  There's the company itself one may have to sign up for, and the job search site that lead you to that company (and potentially the job search site that posted on that job search site on behalf of that company), and even, potentially, the company that created the questionnaire you must fill out in order to create a profile on the original company's site.  So far I haven't run across that many levels of passwords, but in theory, it could very easily happen.

On that note, it's easy to feel gypped when job searching.  I can't help thinking someone out there (probably a few someones) are making money on my efforts to find gainful employment.  I'd like to be making money too here.  Every site I have to sign up on starts looking like a password guarded information eater.  Maybe I should ditch the job hunt and start an internet job search engine.

So that's been my pet peeve of late.  Thanks for reading!  :)

'Till next time, blogger world!

About Work From Home Ads And Affiliate Programs

Hello Blogger world!

Sorry for being in absentia :(.  I return with more of a a game of catch-up to play than ever, but play I shall!

February 6th, 2013

February 5th, 2013

February 4th, 2013

Fortunately I haven't been completely idle in my blog work.  I've been composing entries sporadically, one of which I finished today:

I've seen these ads, as you probably have, boasting $55/hour earnings working part time online.  I've checked this out a couple of times.  Never taken it so far that I can actually say how effective it is, but it appears to be some website that claims to make it easy to make money through the Amazon Affiliate program.  The sense seems to be that they take care of the technical stuff, so you don't have to be a web designer or some such.  This kind of thing seems to be cropping up everywhere, not just on facebook.  Sifting through local online classifieds, these ads are all I see in some categories.  They promise work-from-home opportunities with handsome part-time earnings.  With the Facebook ads, they even specify that they are looking to "fill positions" in my local area.  Maybe they are, but I'm finding myself doubtful that the Amazon Affiliate program needs people specifically working in certain areas for this kind of thing.

I've looked into the Amazon Affiliate program.  THAT seems legitimate.  That they had any part in those Facebook ads is something I doubt, but the program does exist.  It's something you can plug into a website or going online concern that you already have, not something you can start from scratch with and expect to have it work.  You need to have a "thing" already.  With the Amazon Affiliate program, you can run ads for products related to your content.  You can even have your own little "shop".  I've searched some videos on this.  Here are a couple of youtube videos to give you an idea of what the Amazon Affiliate program is like (They are both pretty realistic.  Despite the title pic of the first video, the narrator points out right off the bat that she doesn't make a lot of money with the Amazon Affiliate program, though it is enough to make it worth it for her.)





This is for avid bloggers and people who know how to get traffic to websites.  Having a pre-existing  following is what really makes this work.

What these ads seem to promise is to make this process easier for everyday people.  But can they really do that kind of work for you - generating a following and everything?  And even if they can, is it worth paying them, or putting your trust in them?

The Amazon program isn't the only affiliate program out there either.  There are more than a few big companies out there who are willing to pay ordinary people a little extra to advertise for them.  That's what this comes down to.  Businesses want advertising time.  It's what allows Youtube to remain a free service, and it's why events have sponsors.  We've had it for quite some time, but now people not necessarily in the biz can benefit in a small way.  Maybe that can even be a big way, if you've got the mind for it.

Where am I going with this?  Bottom line, I still don't trust these work-from-home ads, but I think they're cropping up everywhere because they're just inside the boundary of legal.  Kind of like pyramid schemes.  If I were interested in affiliate programs (and I'm not saying I'm not) and had a going online concern with a following, then I would go straight to one of the programs themselves.  I don't believe there needs to be a middle man if this is really going to work.