Best job websites for an employer seeking employees?

May 4, 2004 12:23 PM

Job sites (Monster, HotJobs, et al): As an employer, which have been successful for you?

My company is looking to hire a junior-level HTML coder, and we've tried the usual suspects, always with very poor results -- ie, we get lots of applicants, but they *rarely* come up to snuff (and our standards aren't that high). Are there tech-specific job boards I should be looking at? Which sites have you had succes with?

We've tried CraigsList, with slightly better results, but not much better.

posted by o2b to computers & internet (11 comments total)

The problem might also be with the position. Anyone who is already a junior-level HTML coder is probably looking to move up to a more senior position, or something that involves more .Net coding or web design (depending on their career goals). So you're likely to get a lot of resumes from people looking to get their foot in the tech industry door.

But you probably already know that.

You might also try Dice.
posted by falconred at 12:55 PM on May 4, 2004

o2b,

I do a lot of recruiting. I hate Monster, but it's probably one of your best bets in terms of internet recruting for junior-level IT jobs. The problem is, of course, that Monster sends you 400 resumes a day to wade through and after the first 100, none of whom fit any of your stated requirements, you just give up. There are two solutions:

a) Tell them you ONLY ACCEPT faxed word-document resumes with coverletter stating how the applicant fits each of the clearly stated minimum requirements, and then stick to it. This eliminates "click through" applicants who really don't even remember that they've applied. The downside is All That Paper.

b) On Monster you can also set up questions that each applicant has to answer before being allowed to apply. Usually people make a question for each minimum requirement, along with some "rate yourself" questions regarding particular skills. Again, this alleviates the "click through" applicants somewhat.

If you're in a town with plenty of decent coders, the best thing you can do is just network the job out. Offer a small stipend for anyone referring the person you end up hiring, and make sure everyone knows not to waste your time with their cousin's nephew who just got out of high school but has his own typepad site. (not that there's anything wrong with that...just not what you need)
posted by pomegranate at 1:17 PM on May 4, 2004

whatever you do, please reply to the people who submit a resume. Too many of the companies that put ads up on these online services seem to ignore the fact that people take time to submit their resumes, so it's only right that you at least acknowledge their receipt and confirm that a human being at least laid their eyeballs on it. You'd do it if they mailed it to you, so take the time and do it when they email it to you.
posted by crunchland at 1:57 PM on May 4, 2004

Have you tried a MeFi textad? Seriously, there's gotta be a lot of unemployed HTML-types right here.
posted by kickingtheground at 2:50 PM on May 4, 2004

I would try Monster, but insist on an emailed coverletter w/ resume. Scan the coverletter. Reject any that don't give a coverletter automatically.

Also, make sure the resumes go to a separate email address from your primary one. That way you won't get flooded and can pick through them.
posted by SpecialK at 3:37 PM on May 4, 2004

What our company did was to have our resident junior-level HTML guy (me) put together a short quiz on our web site that had pretty basic questions about HTML, etc. The quiz wasn't part of the Monster posting, they would e-mail the link to it after someone had submitted their resume. Only candidates that submitted their resume AND answered the quiz were considered. The recruiting department seemed happy with the results, although I should add that this was a two to three years ago.
posted by hootch at 4:38 PM on May 4, 2004

[shill]

Well, I'm sure that any of the companies I work for At-tech, AppleOne, etc. would be happy to help you out. They'll wade through the flood of non-qualified responses and only send you the 1 or 2 that match what you're looking for. They'll give you a guarantee if it doesn't work out, and it's cost effective compared to running your own ads -- particularly when you factor in the value of your own time.

[/shill]
posted by willnot at 5:22 PM on May 4, 2004

o2b: Want to see my resume? :D I'm looking for an entry-level tech job in the NYC area...;)
posted by cyrusdogstar at 7:26 PM on May 4, 2004

damnit cyrusdogstar beat me too it

;)
posted by Stynxno at 8:09 PM on May 4, 2004

o2b, in what way did you find the applicants you got deficient? Speed? Markup knowledge? Ability to break down pages into logical and convenient divisions?

I think it's something of a mystery that HTML programmers wouldn't be in oversupply still from the dot com crash. But I hire contractors from time to time, and it does seem to me that *good* HTML programmers -- the kind who care about producing quality markup appropriate for project requirements are more rare. falconred's comments ring true... many developers consider markup quality an afterthought to more interesting things, like server-level application details. So if you see HTML glommed onto a broad technical resume like an afterthought (especially without XHTML or CSS), you might be able to guess this could be the case.

Then again, I also was an HMTL-afterthought developer for a while before I really got interested in it, so that's not a good universal guide. Maybe hootch's quiz idea is best, ultimately. If somebody knows complex CSS selectors and how to use the W3C validator, that gives me a good deal of confidence in their abilities and that they take client-side development seriously rather than haphazardly.
posted by weston at 10:26 PM on May 4, 2004

(I used to work @ HotJobs)

Given your specific job (entry-level, effectively), you're going to get a lot of crap, and it's somewhat unavoidable. That said, though, the quality of your applicants will depend on a few things:

- The job market. It sucks now, so everyone will apply to every job they see. It's unavoidable.

- The specificity of your job description and compensation. Be very specific about requirements. Broad job descriptions breed a broad range of applicants. In your case, think about any requirements that will set your job apart from a standard junior-HTML coder job, which is a "foot in the door" job. A reasonable estimation of compensation will also filter out a lot of people.

- Use the online testing component! It'll bring down your numbers DRAMATICALLY. People who "spam apply" to everything they find won't take the time to do the quiz. You're more likely to get people who actually WANT the job.

Also...

- Ask for samples.

- Post your ad on the job board of colleges near you. They're a good demographic for this kind of job.
posted by mkultra at 8:42 AM on May 5, 2004