Anyone who has looked at a newspaper job ads lately already knows the grim tale – There’s very little there anymore. Sunday want ads that used to take up an entire section now only span a few pages.
While the economy has something to do with this downturn, the Internet is also playing a major role. For a fraction to none of the cost, companies can post their opportunities on the countless job boards online.
At the forefront of this trend is craigslist. However, job seekers that are eager to find a position on craigslist can find that sifting through these posts can be both tedious and rather aggravating. Here are some tips to make browsing through craigslist a bit more manageable.
First, here are a few good signs that a job posting is completely bogus:
- Links to other sites that are clearly not for a company should raise a red flag.
- Jobs with wild wage and salary ranges (e.g. $13.50-$37.50/hour) should be avoided.
- Nothing against GMail, but if there’s an ad for a company, and they don’t have their own e-mail address, move on!
- Ads with image banners claiming great wealth – Obvious scam.
- Web addresses promising easy work and great pay – Obvious scam.
From there, you’ll run into a ton of jobs that promise a high pay…on commission. If you are seeking that type of sales position, more power to you. Just be very careful that you don’t run into a scam.
Ideally, ads with telephone numbers you can call are good, though most of those will be for hourly positions such as bartenders and restaurant staff. You will run into the unavoidable anonymous e-mail that craigslist provides, which are 50-50. However, you’ll find that most spammers are far too lazy to take the extra step of making themselves anonymous.
Finally, to job seekers, refrain from posting on the job board. Sure, it’s tempting to put up a post about your own job search, but there’s a place for that – the Resumes section.
And for those who respond to job postings with complaints about the employer, please stop. For example, the Cleveland craigslist has recently been riddled with scathing responses to an ad posted by the Hyde Park Grill. We get it, folks. They’re not a good company to work for. Now please move on so we can continue to look for positions.