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The Perils of Indeed

indeed |  Foter.com
indeed | Foter.com

There are a lot of great tools on the inter webs that job seekers can use to find their next great gig. Indeed is definitely one of them but it is not without its perils.

The basic principle behind the Indeed platform is that it is free for companies to post jobs. This is great for small companies. It gives their posting all kinds of exposure.

It’s good for job seekers too. You can scroll through a zillion different jobs in your area (or another area if that kind of move is in your future)

That part is actually one of the problems. You can easily lose an hour or two just meandering through the different listings and not see anything that’s suitable or, worse, when you see that one good one, you click on the link and it takes you to an expired job. Dammit!

If you really feel strongly that it’s a fit, go directly to the company site and see if you can submit your resume anyway. Or better yet, get on LinkedIn and find someone you can connect to for more information.

But there is another side of Indeed: a slightly darker side. Because it’s free to post and there is no vetting involved, there are plenty of posts for multi-level marketing and door to door sales that are disguised as “great opportunities” with “unlimited training and development”.

Use caution. If there is a phone number, call to see if a human answers and that they use the right company name. Is there a physical address? Is it in this country?

If you get a response within an hour and a request to set up an in person interview, take a friend. The can go for coffee or play Candy Crush in the parking lot.

I am not trying to paint a terrible picture of the site but people, especially those scrambling for their first jobs, need to be really careful.

It’s the old caveat: if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.

You can follow Laura Machan on her twitter account @recruiterscouch. A complete list of her articles can be found here.