job market websites suck
Both my wife and I are going through the annoying process of trying to search for new jobs. I’m still at my current one, but I want to see if something better is out there in the region we wanna move to.
But it is absolutely nuts. How have these services not gone out of business?
My experience, almost entirely the same across many websites like StepStone, Indeed, and more:
- The on-site search is terrible to use. Search engine is easier.
- Most of the results are ads.
- Anything after the first 3 results is completely unrelated to the field you want.
- You aren’t allowed to see the job posting without an account, or only as “Recruiter”. The preview is almost completely useless.
- Partially blurred-out information that you are only allowed to see with an account.
And for what? So that you’ll make an account and give up all that data and get harassed via e-mail for information that is freely available on the company’s own career page!
What are we doing? This is silly. Companies have already revealed that they hate and don’t consider the “Quick Apply” options these platforms offer, so what gives? And why are companies still using these slop platforms? It can’t be about getting more applicants, because these websites do anything they can to not show you the relevant job postings or information about them. If the search sucks, the preview is half-blurred and I can’t click on it without a pop-up urging me to make an account, you guessed it: I am actively discouraged from applying, prevented even, in many cases. I shouldn’t have to make an account with a third party just to even consider an employer! No, I will not create an account, and I will also not make a LinkedIn or Xing.
These services are not helping anyone, they are leeches. They have an interest in keeping you on their site searching jobs for a long time, and that goal is antithetical to connecting you with potential employers quickly. Companies are better off advertising elsewhere and keeping it on their own website so all potential candidates can access it. It’s a bad look seeing you on these enshittified platforms.
The way I have been coping with this job search is just using these websites to get a list of companies that have jobs in my niche and then researching them separately, using their own career pages and application portals. Also, relying on job listing websites ran by the government as these don’t use deceptive tactics to get you to sign up.
If you’re lucky, your professional niche has their own jobmarket websites (see, for example, rustjobs.fyi), or popular magazine publishers that are relevant in your field have a career sub-category on their website.
If you have any other tips I missed, let me know (email or your own post is fine!) and I’ll add it.
edit
Additional tips so far:
- Jobs sections of general classified ads sites
- List all the interchangeable titles for the role you are interested in when searching
- Bookmark specific searches done on the websites
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