Job Boards have been appearing on a number of blogs lately (including ProBlogger’s blog job board of course) but most have had the same business model. That being that advertisers pay for the job listing.
FreelanceSwitch is experimenting with a new business model for their job board and announced it today.
What’s the difference?
To post and view jobs is free but to view contact details for jobs costs $7 p/month.
The theory is that there will be less people applying for jobs and more advertisers posting them. Interesting model and one to watch!
I like the site – but primarily went to look for jobs. This new model cost them a visitor…
Thanks for the heads up Darren. I’ll check it out tonight!
I would like to see one of the top sites include a category or section on their job board for people who are looking to get hired.
It’s a nice idea in theory but it will never work. The main problem is that the contact details are simple enough to figure out without paying.
The company names are in the description and if you go to there website you can easily contact them.
It’s a nice attempt at something different and the more blogging opportunities the better.
Wow, that’s not a bad idea. I think that it concerns people to pay for postings when no one will look at the job, but this is great! Now you can only get the real serious applicants!
~~~Good Idea. Only Serious People will be inquiring about the ads instead of a bunch of jokesters. I think for a larger blog like Problogger it won’t be as succesful (it won’t produce more $$$ than the previous way) but on smaller blogs I think it will do better. This is because advertisers usually don’t want to bother with the smaller blogs and if they do they don’t want to pay anything. With the new way smaller blogs will get more advertisers and which results in more job listings for more people to pay $7 a month to see.
I’d like to hear how that works for you. People who need jobs are a very motivated audience, but then again, hopefully they don’t need a job for long.
As a job poster, I this on one hand makes it cheaper, on the other hand it means fewer people will see my job, and on the third hand it means that the people who do see it are more motivated.
Please follow up and let us know how this goes.
Very Interesting!
I would love to apply for one but my blog is already keeping me occupied enough.
I don’t think I’d pay for a job site, not when you can find so many jobs for free online. Incidentally, I took a survey several months ago among my community and the majority let me know they wouldn’t return to my blog if they had to pay for jobs. I think it works out better for all concerned to keep them free.
I would never pay to apply for a job. That’s just ridiculous. Even professional recruiters don’t get a cut until the dotted line is signed. The problem is there are too many people who are fooled into using this kind of model (not unlike new freelance writers who take $5 per article and drive the market down for the rest of us). When will they stop coming up with ways to keep the little guys (and girls) down?
-Melissa Donovan
Writing for Writers
Thats a good idea. They should get heaps of people advertising there since it is free. For people who are looking for a new or addition jod paying a little bit for the contact details is nothing! Damn! Why didn’t I think of this!
Hey Darren! Thanks for the link up! So far in the first 12 hours we’ve had our first dozen or so subscriptions, so it’s off to a good start, will be interesting to see what happens.
I don’t know if this model would work for non-freelance jobs because a person applying only wants one job. But with freelance jobs it’s something you want to go back to constantly as you need plenty of jobs, and the fee is set so that winning one job would pay for a lot of months of subscribing.
Still I don’t think it will be for everyone and although we have about 2,000 people currently subscribed to the job feeds, I would imagine that will drop down. I’ll be sure to let you (and the Problogger readers) know if it works!
I’m a blogger in the job board industry, and I really want this idea to work. I’ve considered a number of methods of making people pay to apply to jobs, but I worry that the psychological barrier may be too great. Companies are overwhelmed with applicants now, because it costs nothing to send a resume (not even a stamp). Charging applicants seems like the right answer economically speaking, but I think it might just be too big of a turn off.
Thanks for the heads up Darren.
I’ve used Guru for a while, which has a two-tiered system for applying – one free and one that you have to pay for.
I liked your idea about starting job boards, and as my blog at http://www.russianmafiababe.com is somewhat of a mom blog, I started a board for Work At Home Moms, which has been a neglected, but growing, market. Let’s see if it takes off : )
Rule #1: when job hunting never pay to apply.
Rule #2: if asked to pay to apply refer to Rule #1.
True they are asking a reader’s service fee but why would I pay when there are plenty of job boards for free to lookers and applicants. Are they a including a job-coaching consulting service in the fee? That might make a slight difference but in that case I would be in the market for the job/career coach consulting services first and expect that the jobs listings would be an add-on to prove that how they created me was really hire-able.
It also sends a non-pc message that their job posters only want to hire people with money not people who need money.
Sorry I sound like a cynic but this really hacked me off.
I agree with Deb, I really enjoy FS’s work but this also has ticked me off….
They have also lost a job searcher person!
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