Wtf is up with monster.com and resumes?

[Dissipate]

I'm trying to upload my resume to monster.com in Word format. In Word everything looks fine, but after I upload it to monster.com everything looks distorted. Wtf is going on? Anyone else have this problem?

 

[Turkish]

Monster.com is useless. All it will do is refer you to dry cleaners looking for cashiers, restaurants looking for experienced tablewaiting staff, and local-marts looking for deli staff. You can have a degree from MIT with post-graduate from Harvard. You are all the same to them.

 

[Dissipate]

Originally posted by: Turkish
Monster.com is useless. All it will do is refer you to dry cleaners looking for cashiers, restaurants looking for experienced tablewaiting staff, and local-marts looking for deli staff. You can have a degree from MIT with post-graduate from Harvard. You are all the same to them.

I dunno about that. I have already been contacted by some recruiters and a couple of local companies, even though my resume looks like utter crap on the site. Trying to re-format it to look proper on their site is bizarre and maddening.

 

[AlgaeEater]

To answer your question: They want to force you to use their resume builder instead of uploading a custom version with formatting.

To add a comment: I've been through the monster.com/hotjobs.com/careerbuilder.com fiasco. It's not worth your time at all, don't bother. I wish you the best in your future endeavors, and I certainly can say that monster.com is not in your interest at all. Take it from a pre-job hunter through all the tears and anger with job hunting using these sites.

 

[Dissipate]

Originally posted by: AlgaeEater
To answer your question: They want to force you to use their resume builder instead of uploading a custom version with formatting.

To add a comment: I've been through the monster.com/hotjobs.com/careerbuilder.com fiasco. It's not worth your time at all, don't bother. I wish you the best in your future endeavors, and I certainly can say that monster.com is not in your interest at all. Take it from a pre-job hunter through all the tears and anger with job hunting using these sites.

So what do you recommend? Just applying directly from company web sites? My problem is that I really have no connections in the industry - software engineering.

 

[AlgaeEater]

First of all, I always have deep, deep empathy for fellow job hunters after being one for the last two months before landing my current position.

There are no easy answers, but applying directly gives you more immediate attention. A negative response is better than a vague or non-response that job hunting sites give you. Also a lot of sites have resume databases, where they ask you to submit your resume to their database so they can search you out if they are hiring. It's exactly the same dynamic as monster.com or any job hunter site, but with a more specific reach. I hope you have a "keyword resume" prepared, along with a traditional and a concise resume.

The companies that contacted and will contact you through job hunting sites that are of a non-agency (I hate those with a passion), are basically interviewing you for a cross position. Think of it as a cross sell, where they bring you in under the assumption of one thing, and then give you what you want (sorta) with an exception that they wanted tacked on. Usually the exception is a temporary position, or "free" work for a set amount of time before they pay you. (Kinda like volunteering into promise hire). The worst offender is "almost but not quite" full time. 35 hours and no benefits.

Hit up the local papers and craigslist for small and upcoming companies. The brute force method is to whip out the old phone and yellow pages and start calling local businesses and ask if they are hiring.

Best recommendation is to keep trying, keep your chin up, and have patience.

 

[Turkish]

Originally posted by: Dissipate

Originally posted by: AlgaeEater
To answer your question: They want to force you to use their resume builder instead of uploading a custom version with formatting.

To add a comment: I've been through the monster.com/hotjobs.com/careerbuilder.com fiasco. It's not worth your time at all, don't bother. I wish you the best in your future endeavors, and I certainly can say that monster.com is not in your interest at all. Take it from a pre-job hunter through all the tears and anger with job hunting using these sites.

So what do you recommend? Just applying directly from company web sites? My problem is that I really have no connections in the industry - software engineering.

Applying directly is the best. I remember applying to more than 60 positions on company websites. HR people see these applications immediately compared to regular checks on job sites such as Monster, Careerbuilder, etc. It also shows that you are willing to put in the effort to go to their website and research positions (rather than just submitting your resume to a Monster like site and waiting).

 

[Dissipate]

Originally posted by: AlgaeEater
First of all, I always have deep, deep empathy for fellow job hunters after being one for the last two months before landing my current position.

There are no easy answers, but applying directly gives you more immediate attention. A negative response is better than a vague or non-response that job hunting sites give you. Also a lot of sites have resume databases, where they ask you to submit your resume to their database so they can search you out if they are hiring. It's exactly the same dynamic as monster.com or any job hunter site, but with a more specific reach. I hope you have a "keyword resume" prepared, along with a traditional and a concise resume.

The companies that contacted and will contact you through job hunting sites that are of a non-agency (I hate those with a passion), are basically interviewing you for a cross position. Think of it as a cross sell, where they bring you in under the assumption of one thing, and then give you what you want (sorta) with an exception that they wanted tacked on. Usually the exception is a temporary position, or "free" work for a set amount of time before they pay you. (Kinda like volunteering into promise hire). The worst offender is "almost but not quite" full time. 35 hours and no benefits.

Hit up the local papers and craigslist for small and upcoming companies. The brute force method is to whip out the old phone and yellow pages and start calling local businesses and ask if they are hiring.

Best recommendation is to keep trying, keep your chin up, and have patience.

Thanks for the advice. I'll definitely check out Craigslist.

 

[EagleKeeper]

Stick your papers up on Dice also.

 

[robphelan]

Originally posted by: AlgaeEater
To answer your question: They want to force you to use their resume builder instead of uploading a custom version with formatting.

To add a comment: I've been through the monster.com/hotjobs.com/careerbuilder.com fiasco. It's not worth your time at all, don't bother. I wish you the best in your future endeavors, and I certainly can say that monster.com is not in your interest at all. Take it from a pre-job hunter through all the tears and anger with job hunting using these sites.

I'll disagree a little with AlgaeEater.

I have my resume on Monster and get contacted at least 2 times per day from different recruiters.

I think it really depends on what you do for a living and how in demand it is.

I was contemplating moving out of state and wanted to see what else is out there. But a combination of a pretty good raise, a good boss, and our comparatively low cost of living has kept me here.

 

[Fraggable]

I always thought Careerbuilder.com was the best of those type of sites. You may have ti dig through all the 'WORK FROM HOME AND MAKE 150K YOUR FIRST YEAR' listings and the listings for waiters that are set up to look like an engineering position, but if you find something you like, a lot of times you can see the email of the company's contact that will get the resume, and just email your Word document yourself rather than through their system.

Of all the companies I replied to directly, Disney was the best about following up. They have a lot of stuff open on their site too. They actually wanted to schedule a phone interview with me but I had already gotten a job elsewhere.