# What's the deal with tech job listings online? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 26, 2001, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-tech-job-listings-online/55977 "2001-02-26T22:17:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crankyasanoldman/32/11670_2.png) [@CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrankyAsAnOldMan)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2001, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-tech-job-listings-online/55977/1 "2001-02-26T22:17:22Z")
I’m not going to put this in GQ because I don’t need an annotated bibliography amonst the responses. I’m making an observation and would love input if any people have it. Mr. Cranky has been looking for a full-time job. Freelancing is fine, but he’d like to know what else is out there that he might be qualified for. He works in the computer animation field, in both the animation itself and the programming of the software that makes it possible. Between the two of us we regularly peruse local and regional job listings in the papers and in various online job boards and listing sites (altavista careers, [monster.com](http://monster.com), etc. We’ve got a book with a lot of URLs of job listing sites, too). The thing that surprises us is how many listings we run across, almost accidentally, which appear (apparently) only on the website of the particular company who is hiring. Many firms have a “career opportunities” link on their site and plenty of job listings, but they never seem to post these anywhere else. This staggers me, because some of these firms aren’t well-known and there is no great way for a candidate to track them all down and find these openings. We’re wondering why this is. Is it because (A) the firms have an arrogant attitude of “if they really want the job, they’ll find US via our website” or (B) they use headhunters or resume-posting sites to actively recruit people or © they aren’t really desperate to fill the position, but want to have proof that they “Looked for six months” if the right H1-B person comes along? Any ideas? ---
**Author:** ![hazel-rah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/73ab20/32.png) [@hazel-rah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hazel-rah)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2001, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-tech-job-listings-online/55977/2 "2001-02-27T00:52:37Z")
I’ve noticed that sometimes I come across identical job descriptions from different companies on different sites, which I believe results from a company using temp agencies to recruit. They’re not always forthcoming about who exactly you will be working for. So if you searched by company name, you might not catch the posting. Or maybe their HR reps are just inept? Although sometimes they slip up… Spherion Technologies sounds pretty cool, but I see their address is One Dell Way in Round Rock TX. Wonder who they’re hiring for… -fh ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2001, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-tech-job-listings-online/55977/3 "2001-02-27T02:58:58Z")
Try this link. It’s pretty good. [http://www.geekfinder.com/](http://www.geekfinder.com/) ---
**Author:** ![Phaeton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/65b543/32.png) [@Phaeton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phaeton)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2001, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-tech-job-listings-online/55977/4 "2001-02-27T03:19:35Z")
Where I work they do this trick a lot! They have HR regulations that mean that they must advertise all positions that are above base level casual, but if they’ve got it slated for an internal applicant they will just advertise it on the website where in theory it can be found by other applicants, but in practice just barely meets the regulations. ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_H](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a5b964/32.png) [@Bill\_H](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_H)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2001, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-tech-job-listings-online/55977/5 "2001-02-27T03:23:46Z")
From one who’s done plenty of high-tech recruiting: Ads and job boards and headhunters and HR personel and job fairs cost money. Someone somewhere in a company gets a bag with $X in it to do recruiting. They allocate the money as best they can to get the best hires they can. There’s certainly no agenda to hide positions from qualified candidates. It’s a simple matter of money.