I talked to a job seeker the other day and asked her how her job search was going. She replied 'its tough out there' but who can blame her. The competition is stiff and job hunting aint what it used to be.

We started discussing my local job boards (which she uses) and someone in the group mentioned looking for jobs on Craigslist. "Ugh" she said, "there's a lot of crap on craigslist".  

CL seems to be attracting anything and everything in terms of so-called jobs. Its good for selling a used car (as I did last year). But take a look at some of the recent help wanted ads I found:

Need someone to Airbrush a Hockey Goalie Mask/Helmet - (Fairfield, CT)

Hmmm, that sounds like a well-paying gig. 

Can you dance? Unfortunately the ads below aren't for auditioning on Dancing With The Stars.

Entertainers/Dancers - (The Catwalk)

Exotic/GoGo Female Dancers wanted for newly renovated Cabaret. - (Bronx, NY)

Egg donors needed : Compensation $8000 per cycle - (Stamford, CT)

Thats a new skillset: are you ovulating ladies?

Job seekers & employers are started to take notice. And along with the negative publicity CL gets because of the 'killer' and adult ad catastrophe, the classifieds site is in a race to the bottom when it comes to recruiting. So the question is, why would you want your job listing on a site with a reputation like this? Would you want your legitimate job listed right next to an ad for exotic dancers? I think not.

I have heard employers mention this as well. A few months ago I went to a local SHRM chapter happy hour party where an HR manager echoed similar feelings. 

CL has become one of those giant bulletin boards you see near the supermarket exit where people can post flyers about missing cats and sales jobs with 'unlimited potential'. Sure, people still find work with it (low-level positions) but these days you should probably think twice about using it to recruit for accountants or java programmers. Keep your company's name out of the mud. Use a real job board.

Ref: http://www.businessinsider.com/2008/1/why-craigslist-sucks

Ref: http://www.yelp.com/topic/sacramento-craigslist-sucks

Ref: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20110316125727AA349jY