THINK ABOUT WHO YOU ENDORSE FOR FREE.

As part of their "get me out of the ditch or blow up the numbers", whichever it may be, campaign The Ladders is offering recruiters and companies a free Passport that entitles them to one free job posting a month. (I think) or maybe one free posting. No candidate access just a posting. Ok, we all know that recruiters will do anything that's free. So what?

Here's the "so what". You hated the commercial, you thought it was disgusting, you don't like the whole Ladders shell game or the fact that they charge both the job seeker and the employer or recruiter, you wouldn't pay to be a part of it, you don't like it because they double dip and or charge job seekers, you wouldn't recommend them to a candidate because they misrepresent that they only have 100K jobs and candidates, you know that the jobs they have on the site are available to view for free on company pages, Indeed, Monster, Career Builder, Simply Hired and for God's sake even Craig's List. In the past you posted a job only to have it remain on their site for years after it was filled so you got to explain that it had been filled in 2007 to a candidate who applied in 2010. But what the hell, it's a free posting. You might even get a candidate or two.

Consider this. You use the free posting. The Ladders can now claim you as a customer so you just endorsed their service. Your name and your company name are now associated with their site. They have your website /email/ name ,to be added to their job scraping spider. You have just tacitly given them carte blance to pull every job off your site to flop on their job board which they can now justify because if you put one on there you became their customer and one of the ,"oh, so many recruiters or employers" whom they represent. So when a job seeker calls you about a job you didn't post you can spend your time explaining that you didn't post it, it's not 100K and it was filled a month ago or longer. You don't really use the Ladders, you just used one free posting. Is it worth adding your personal/company endorsement to a service you don't like for one free posting? I don't think so. I have worked hard to develop my reputation. I am not about to muddy it for the price of one free posting on a site i hate and think is a scam or associate my name or business with people crawling around rubbing themselves on desks.

One other caveat that crossed my pea shaped brain this morning. Recruiters are reporting that when they call The Ladders to find out exactly what the "Passport" really is they are getting a bunch of double talk or as Rebecca Sargent put it "A customer service mess". You will be told to go to the web site where it is explained. Great, you go to the web site. Ping their web site just got a hit. So now the web site hits go up because that is what they want. It validates that the commercial was a blazing success, just look at the increase in web site hits.

If one free posting is worth it to you, or you like the Ladders by all means use the free posting, endorse them, link your name/company to them. Not this kid. I won't endorse anything for a gimme or for money that i don't like or think is a scam. That's just my opinion. I may have been born at night but it wasn't last night. All of us can be bought i suppose but some of us are more expensive than others.

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by JP Liddle on February 18, 2011 at 1:47pm

Amen. Very well said.

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Permalink Reply by nick on February 18, 2011 at 1:57pm

Right on. I don't need the ladder(s) to get to MY roof

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Permalink Reply by Donna Frazier on February 18, 2011 at 2:10pm

I couldn't agree more! One of my recruiter buddies actually used the posting and got 1 or 2 hits but for unqualified candidates. The fact that he had to "rate" each candidate before it allowed him to download the resume was perplexing to me...must be another facet in their multi-layered marketing scheme. He considered it a complete waste of time.

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Permalink Reply by Sandra McCartt on February 18, 2011 at 2:18pm

Just think about it folks. You may get a candidate or 12, you may make a placement with that candidate but is it worth being listed and your good name used like a housecat by something you wouldn't pay for to attract people who won't have the same experience your candidate had. It will take some time for the ripples of discontent to wash over folks. It always does.

JP - Amen is right. Sometimes it's hard to see that we are dancing with the devil when the music starts and it sounds enticing.

Jennifer - if i had said it the way i wanted to say it that post would have started out by saying . "Don't eat rat shit, it will make you sick" but trying to maintain some sort of decorum that does't get me quoted somewhere i would rather not be recognized for using the term. :)

Nick - you are oh so correct. I can get 100K candidates all day long from Monster, Career Builder, ZipRecruiter and every free site on the net. I haven't ever had a lot of people hang up on me when i call them about a job that really does, repeat, really, really does pay over 100K. 100K jobs get candidates anyplace you put them. Trust me my friend, the way i see that Ladder it's a rickety "step stool". It's my take that the whole mess is like a bad chorus line - A cunning array of stunts.

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Permalink Reply by Sandra McCartt on February 18, 2011 at 2:46pm

Donna, that's interesting. Let's think about that. Why would he have to rate the candidate before he could download them. I have no idea but let's guess. I wonder if he rated them low, would he be able to download. What if the candidate were told that John Doe recruiter rated them low and not a fit for the job. The Ladders gets a stroke for letting the candidate know something. John Doe in the candidates mind is a duck because he rated him low. John Doe takes the hit. The Ladders gets the stroke.

Another guess, if they have to be rated ok to good to be able to download is the candidate now told that John Doe rated them high and has downloaded their resume so they are being considered. Now they hear nothing because John Doe says they are not good he just wanted to see them. John Doe is again the duck. The Ladders is the good guy because they let the candidate know they were rated highly.

Who knows, that is a WAG (wild ass guess). Anybody have any other thoughts or maybe your bud should call the Ladders and ask them why he had to rate before he could download and we can not make monkeys out of ourselves guesssing. Not me, i am already hacked off enough without listening to some canned speech that insults my intelligence some more.

It would be interesting to know if the candidates your friend got where currently making 100K since the Ladders hypes 100K jobs and 100K candidates. Would he check and report back please.

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Permalink Reply by Donna Frazier on February 18, 2011 at 2:59pm

Sandra, I have been curious about what they will use with the candidate rating data myself as these are candidates who have read and responded to a job ad with specific skill sets, etc. noted in the job posting. I would think the only time rating data would be useful is when utilizing a "matching" tool that pulls candidates from their database based on search criteria so they can ensure it is working properly. I was, and am, perplexed. I would ask him about the candidate's salaries but since he received so few responses and all were unqualified, he never called them.

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Permalink Reply by Sandra McCartt on February 18, 2011 at 3:36pm

I think you may right on target i guess we will see if he gets candidates in the future that are a better match. Matching tools are so darn accurate. :) Did he only get one or two for the duration of the posting?

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Permalink Reply by Sandra McCartt on February 18, 2011 at 3:48pm

Or maybe this is just a shrewd way to run the numbers up for a sale or an IPO since their numbers sagged a little last year and according to Business Insider there was some significant turnover at the top. So a bunch of people pay 35 bucks for something. That's not a lot of money. A bunch of recruiters get something for free and some may even make a buck from it. It's just "bidness" folks. So what? Think about it. Churn, burn, spin and win are words that come to my mind. I wish they were selling Slap Choppers instead of anything in our sector. I don't like the taste of the stuff anymore than i like that smut commercial. I think bilking the majority of the folks while using others is, well....too slick for this lady.

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Permalink Reply by Donna Frazier on February 18, 2011 at 4:08pm

so far, only 2 responses, doesn't say a lot about that major advertising campaign eh?

Sandra McCartt said:

I think you may right on target i guess we will see if he gets candidates in the future that are a better match. Matching tools are so darn accurate. :) Did he only get one or two for the duration of the posting?

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Permalink Reply by Kelly Blokdijk on February 19, 2011 at 12:49am

Wondering if their rating process is in some way another technique they use to up-sell the horrid cliché-filled, 1980s-style, exorbitantly expensive resume writing services they push and pressure unsuspecting job seekers to purchase... Truly a sleaze fest on all fronts over there!

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Permalink Reply by Jerry Albright on February 19, 2011 at 9:23am

Darn. If I wasn't already committed to a few dozen other social media conversations at the moment - I'd jump into this one......cuz I hate the Ladders - if only from a "Midwestern father who hates their soft porn ads" perspective.

Maybe I'll unfollow the "Key differences between developing your Personal Brand in the UK vs. US Marketplace" discussion which would then give me time to keep up with this one.

I just hate having to make these tough decisions......

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Permalink Reply by Sandra McCartt on February 19, 2011 at 12:32pm

Kelly is probably hitting on one of the big revenue producing levels of The Ladders multiple level marketing machine. Jobseekers go to the site and can search for jobs for free. They do, jobs come up. To view the listing and or apply they pay the small fee of 35.00 or a discount rate if they sign up for three months. They get full view of the job and or apply. What happens next,as reported by many jobseekers, is they get what has been documented by many as a "form letter" from an EXpert Resume writer at the Ladders telling them in no uncertain terms that their resume totally sucks buttermilk. But never fear, the Ladders, for a fee of only 700 to 900 bucks will prepare a super dooper,professional resume so they can be "more attractive or irresistible" to an employer. Alrighty........
Here is where Kelly's take may be right on target. Let's say that Ms jobseekers has been looking for a job for six months trying to keep it between the hedgerows and pay the rent. She comes back and says,"ouch" , I can' afford that right now". So now,the Ladders doesn't want to lose an "upsell".....maybe Kelly is right on target....What better time for the "resume expert" to say, "I see that you have applied to several jobs and have been rated low by several employers/recruiters, it appears ,as you seem to have the required skills, that it could be your resume is not presenting your skills in the right way just as we thought in our review of your resume"

Now I haven't heard the upsell but I have done some extensive searches for Ladders resume service. The reports of scare tactic upsells, form letters,resumes being reformatted with no change , along with some pretty funny,albeit ,disgusting reports of people sending Ladders prepared resumes back to Ladders then getting the same upsell form letter.. I am sure there are people who paid for the resume, thought it was fine and got a job. People who are satisfied don't make as much noise as those who realized they got conned or it wasn't the resume to begin with.

As Kelly says,horrid, cliche filled, I agree , I have seen many of those cookie cutter ,action word filled beasts myself.

So perhaps the rating system really is an upsell tool. As another blogger commented, "eeewwwwww'", a scripted upsell tells me a lot."
Kelly Blokdijk said:

Wondering if their rating process is in some way another technique they use to up-sell the horrid cliché-filled, 1980s-style, exorbitantly expensive resume writing services they push and pressure unsuspecting job seekers to purchase... Truly a sleaze fest on all fronts over there!