I love Craigslist. I found the best job I’ve ever had by applying for jobs through them and I’ve worked there for 3 years now. I also met my husband through Craigslist 3 and a half years ago. I don’t know if it has changed in that time but I’ve found that there is good stuff to be had through the site, you just have to be willing to wade through the junk posts to find it.
I haven’t job hunted at CL since I discovered indeed.com
Well initially it was easy for me too. Like I said, no experience, higher than usual wages, nearly always a vague position such as ‘Front Desk’ or ‘Medical Receptionist’. But now they’re starting to get a bit more ‘real’. Lower wages that are more realistic, more detailed job listings, more variety in the position. It’s more work for me to actually filter out the crap than it’s worth for what I find. Because nine times out of ten, even when I DO find one that looks legit, it’s not.
It just annoys me that they know people are desperate for jobs in this economy. The first time I ran into one of these, I was so excited when I got the email to get an interview. I remember thinking it was odd that they wanted a credit report but I just didn’t want to lose a potential job over something so ‘trivial’. It wasn’t until I actually visited the website they directed me to that I knew there was no way it was legit. But I know a lot more people out there fall for these things because they’re in such dire straights for a job, they’ll jump through whatever hoops they think is necessary to get one. I’ve never had this problem with CL and in the past it was always a very reliable and successful source of jobs for me. Not being able to use it now just kinda leaves me sitting here scratching my head as to what to do next :\
I’ve applied to a handful of job postings on CL over the years. In most cases, I didn’t get a response, even when I had exactly the experience that the person was looking for.
There was one scam that was so obvious that it hurt my brain. The posting itself was a bit quirky, but not entirely unbelievable: parents in England were sending their daughter to study in the US, and they wanted her to have a private math tutor while she was there. I applied, and the email I got back was an immediate confirmation that I would be the tutor along with an explanation that the parents would wire me a cockload of money. Some small amount would payment for my services, and with the rest I was supposed to write a check to some account that would supposedly belong to the supposed female student.
Goddammit, now the Nigerian princes have migrated to Europe!
Isn’t that backwards? They’re supposed to mail you a huge cheque, and then you wire them back after taking out your cut. Then three weeks later you get a call from your bank saying it was a bad cheque, and you’re on the hook.
If they’re offering to wire you a pile of money, then you missed out on payday.
Ah, you’re right, I was the one who had it backwards. I dug through my inbox and found the email, which is a hoot to read:
Hello,
Thank you for the email,i want my kid for the tutorial. A Girl of 14 yrs, more so for accepting the offer and its okay by me,I have made contacts with my Daughter concerning the arrangement of the tutoring which she told me is ok by her and i want you to know that i am going to pay for 1 month,which should be $40.00/hr(which i have in mind) And am planning that you will be teaching her 2 times a week,which is 2hr per week,so get back to me with the total fee for the subject when you will you be available to teach her during the week.Also i want to let you that we dont live in the states, we live in the United Kingdom.
So my Daughter will be coming to the states by First Week in May , 2009 and i want her to study more about what she needs to know while she is in the states… So i want let you know that i will be sending you the payment inform of Cashiers Check / Money orders for the tutorial , so as soon as you get the cashiers check/ money orders cash you will deduct cost of tutoring of the lesson for one month and you will be sending the remaining balance via Western Union / Money Gram to her guardian that will be taking care of my daughter,i will send you the guardians information to you later. Regarding this, kindly send your full information such as full name as it should be written on the check , address and phone number to receive the payment so it can be made out to you on-time.
So i hope i can trust you that you will teach my Daughter good academics and some moral respects so that they can be good to their self in the future.
I hope i can count on you for the tutorial and the money to be sent to the Guardian.
Thanks and waiting to read from you.
Kindly get back to me with all the necessary details needed such as full name as it should be written on the check, address and telephone.
Look forward to read from you soonest
Regards
John
Yep, once you wire money, it’s gone for good.
I got a lot of emails like that when I was looking for an apartment, but eventually found a place that was good. The sheer volume of listings in a big city like Vancouver means that there are lots of legit ones in among the scams. And it’s not like other free listing sites don’t have scammers anyway.
Got myself a mother-in-law that way.
Yours or someone elses?
There’s that, but some companies keep listings on Monster because it’s a way to solicit resumes, which is helpful if they are audited because they can show that they are making a good-faith effort to recruit women, vets and minorities. This is a big deal in regulated industries like broadcasting and financial services, as well as companies who are or who want to be government contractors. Whether the company actually is going to hire someone who responded to the Monster posting is irrelevant from their perspective; what really counts is fat resume files.
The reason that Craig’s List has become a cesspool is because they are FREE. It’s free to post and free to sell and buy and advertise. eBay charges a commission for auctions on their site, and it also costs you a little something to advertise something on the site.