What do you think about submitting resumes to Craigslist job ads?

We don’t have Craigslist where I am. The concern I would have though is that resumes can contain a lot of personal information in one place. I would be worried about identity theft. However, I am sure there must be legitimate jobs posted on the site. Perhaps someone with more knowledge of how the site operates can give you some tips on how to ensure you are applying for legitimate jobs.

Wait, what is risky about it? Or, more risky than all other resume submissions, both online and not?

This job looks pretty much like all other CL job ads. You include all the things you normally include in submitting a resume.

I’‘ve put job listings on Craigslist before, and hired one person from there. This was back when Craigslist was a big thing – it’s been pretty much replaced by Kijiji here now.

Why do you think that ad is fishy, @whitecarnations? It sounds real to me.

You get what you pay for.
I suppose there is some value in using it, but to me it says a lot about the quality of the organization (or lack) that uses it.
But, that’s just me.

I applied for a job on CL a couple years ago and it was a fictional job. I was inundated with spam after that.

I list jobs on Craigslist, and get more responses from it than any other medium.

@syz and what is the quality of these responses versus other means. I do not doubt the aility to get replies, but for every 100 replies, how many good candidates do you get? The quality of the candidates from various sources is key to help minimize how much effort I have to go through to pare it down o viable candidates. This is the value add.

I know people who have gotten jobs that way, and it is tempting to look there. But I’m not sure of the value of replying to blind ads when there are many other options out there for job hunting.

@blueiiznh Actually, the person I hired from Craigslist was a better employee than most of the ones who found us via newspaper ads. And… are you seriously going to judge the quality of the business I was working for by the fact that we tried Craigslist as an ad platform? That’s ridiculous; you know nothing about the business.

@dappled_leaves I will try ebayclassifieds (kijiji) soon!

And the only reason I think that ad in particular is sketchy only because the name of the business is not listed. I come across them probably for every 30 ads I see 1 isn’t named.

@whitecarnations It’s really common to not list the name, since they said they don’t want walk-ins. In my area, almost no one lists the name.

@Aethelflaed Ahh that makes perfect sense.

@dappled_leaves I am not doubting the quality. I asked a question of statistics. It was about how many resumes you have to read through to find that quality person. It is the same in dealing with recruiters. Some screen the people for your needs better than others. That is what you are paying the finders fee for. The same holds true with posting it on the web and fielding the responders. I know how to screen, but statistically is the question I was asking. I did not mean to hijack the question.

@blueiiznh <shrug> You list the qualifications necessary for the job. If there is any degree of specialized knowledge, your pool of applicants will not be infinite. It’s really not different from placing a classified ad in a newspaper, except that the respondents skew a little younger.

Since Thanksgiving I have gotten three interviews from Craigslist, one phone interview and two face-to-face interviews. All legitimate.
In all three cases the hiring companies wanted to maintain confidentiality for one reason or another. These were real professional jobs, not fishing expeditions.

I have solicited resumes through newspapers at different times, received blind resumes, gotten unwanted referrals from customers, suppliers, and of course, relatives and friends of the boss(es) and owners.

Most replies to classified ads, whether in the newspaper as we did back in the day,.
Monster, Career Builders, Craigslist and direct-applications to companies through their websites, generate lots of inappropriate responses. My favorite was about 25 years ago when I advertised for a legal secretary for a boutique type law firm and I received a resume from a guy in a hematology lab who spent his days doing cell counts.

It is part of the process. You have to slog through the pile of resumes, culling out the ones who haven’t got a prayer of getting an interview and finding the ones that might work out.

I have sent resumes out in response to CL ads. In my city, there are a lot of legitimate jobs there. I interviewed for some of them. You can usually spot a fraudulent listing. They tend to have typos or poor grammar, don’t specify a specific location but just use something broad like “San Francisco” versus “Tenderloin”, and sound too good to be true. I actually think that an employer that lists a job on CL is a good thing in that they are using technology and want to get the word out. I can’t stand companies that don’t disclose pertinent information in their ad like what the company name is and specific job duties. As a job-seeker, I want to know who I’m applying to and what I’m applying to do. Even if the job sounds amazing, if the company name is omitted I tend to not bother applying – they’re probably not a good fit for little ole open and progressive me, and you can’t verify the company is legit if you don’t know who it is. Same thing if they don’t list specific job duties and qualifications. I am efficiency obsessed and this kind of lack of detail is just a waste of my time – how else will they waste my time if I work for them?

I have been very successful in applying to and obtaining management level jobs through Craigslist in my area. It is a very inexpensive and direct way to advertise for a position and also to search for a position. I do, however, make sure that my personal information is limited. Sometimes, I use my initials for my name, i.e., B.E. Hollingsworth (instead of my full name) and I never indicate my exact address, I only put in city and state. Also, sometimes, I do not include the name of the company that I worked for in the past, I just indicate initials and industry, i.e. FWC (manufacturing).