Web 2.0 Job Networking thingy

November 26, 2006 9:07 PM

Jobsteris a 'web 2.0' answer to the perplexing puzzle of searching for employment or employees online. It allows you to tag yourself by skills, rank those skills and interact with other folks around the globe about where they work. Their search feature culls listings from every major job listing site on the net into one place as per your interests. It is a very clever design and offers some very intriguing features that, though they feel a bit 'beta-like', are already worth the visit if you are, like me, looking for work. I already like it a whole lot more than the many alternatives.
posted by BrodieShadeTree (39 comments total)

I have nothing to do with jobster, at all. I have had an account with the site for 2 months or so, and I find it very useful. They have rolled out many improvements recently, and they seem to have a crack team working over there. I really like the way it encourages referrals and networking around various key dot.com type employers.
posted by BrodieShadeTree at 9:09 PM on November 26, 2006

Can we please stop naming things -ster now?
posted by flaterik at 9:29 PM on November 26, 2006

Can we please stop naming things -ster now?

So much for my soon-to-be-launched MetaFiltster.
posted by Robot Johnny at 9:30 PM on November 26, 2006 [2 favorites has favorites]

Stupid. A real web2.0 answer the 'finding jobs' is sites like linked in where people search for suitable employees through social networks. I'm looking for a plumber? I look up plumbers in my 'social net' and then I can ask people I know if they're any good.
posted by delmoi at 9:33 PM on November 26, 2006

Can we please stop naming things -ster now?

Yes please. Also everyone please visit my new jobs site, jobbr.
posted by delmoi at 9:36 PM on November 26, 2006 [1 favorite has favorites]

Yes please. Also everyone please visit my new jobs site, jobbr.

I prefer JobFilter, JobSpace and Jigg.
posted by solid-one-love at 9:48 PM on November 26, 2006

While you're at it, please visit my new job-search site, Slackr. We're still in beta and should have the search function working soon.
posted by strangeleftydoublethink at 9:53 PM on November 26, 2006 [1 favorite has favorites]

An intriguing idea, indeed... in a few months, someone's going to roll out a meta-meta-job searcher called JobdeedCareerHotster and they'll make just as much money as the other aggregators.
posted by VulcanMike at 9:55 PM on November 26, 2006

It is nice to know that Web 2.0 is as broken as Web 1.0 and Web 1.5.

The pages won't take an e-mail address with a + .
posted by rough ashlar at 9:57 PM on November 26, 2006

RJ, that's mighty close to my new site MetaFister, coincidence or intellectual property theft?
posted by Pollomacho at 10:03 PM on November 26, 2006

Wasn't the Web 2.0 job site done some time ago? Maybe this one won't pollute the listings with volunteer "opportunities" which can't be filtered out; apparently part of being Web 2.0 is having a trust fund, or at least living with one's parents.
posted by IshmaelGraves at 10:03 PM on November 26, 2006

yes, it's web 2.0 all right. I remember the bad old days of trying to find a job by typing my search into a normal-sized text field.

You just have to laugh now, but it was all we knew at the time!
posted by drjimmy11 at 10:08 PM on November 26, 2006 [1 favorite has favorites]

Wasn't the Web 2.0 job site done some time ago?

Yes it was.

I have had an account with the site for 2 months or so, and I find it very useful

On what criteria are you judging this site "useful" if it hasn't found you a job after 2 months?
posted by scottreynen at 10:08 PM on November 26, 2006

I am not *quite* looking in earnest yet.... I am still in the 'hey, wonder if there are any jobs worth sending out my resume/worth my time' phase.
posted by BrodieShadeTree at 10:17 PM on November 26, 2006

"Sorry, we didn't find any jobs like that."

Sweet. I'm the only one.
posted by Balisong at 10:26 PM on November 26, 2006

Puh. Lease.

Everyone knows that you have to go jobby for your Web 2.0 job needs.

Just don't think too hard about what the word "jobby" actually means.
posted by sparkletone at 10:46 PM on November 26, 2006

Everyone knows that you have to go jobby for your Web 2.0 job needs.

Apparently you hadn't read the top of the site:

"NEWSFLASH: Jobby has officially been acquired by our good friends at Jobster."
posted by o0o0o at 11:15 PM on November 26, 2006

Of course, these sites still take money from employers and therefore aren't out for the best interests of job seekers. Of course, I'm biased. (self link)
posted by Kickstart70 at 11:37 PM on November 26, 2006

After sending out literally hundreds of digital resumes to no avail, I've narrowed down a list of the people that online job-searching might actually help:

1. The grossly overqualified
2. Pathalogical Liars
3. Batman
posted by tehloki at 12:07 AM on November 27, 2006

After sending out literally hundreds of digital resumes to no avail, I've narrowed down a list of the people that online job-searching might actually help

Heard that. Sent out hundreds and the only times I ever heard a peep from the prospective employer they wanted to lowball me and put me "on contract", with no guarantees of work or pay. Yeah, right.

And twice I have applied for jobs where I might well be the most qualified applicant in the country (both involved, to some degree, designing and maintaining production flow improvement systems for real-time transcription and editing). I have beautiful, glorious references. I have press. Results: nothing, zippo, nada. I can only assume that, like most of the other ads I've replied to, some agency was just looking to fill a perceived gap in their files.

So I make appointments with places I'd like to work, and once a month I take the day off and talk with them. More fruitful in a networking sense, at the very least.
posted by solid-one-love at 12:25 AM on November 27, 2006

So I make appointments with places I'd like to work, and once a month I take the day off and talk with them. More fruitful in a networking sense, at the very least.

That is the best possible thing you can do. My sense is that the vast majority of job ads (newspaper, Dice, Monster, HotJobs, external company job boards, even) are placed by companies needing to satisfy internal HR criteria, and that suitable candidates have already been identified for those already -- some internally, and others by the tack that you have taken above.
posted by psmealey at 4:27 AM on November 27, 2006

Nice but all jobs are in the USA...
posted by theemperorhasnoclotheson at 4:49 AM on November 27, 2006

Actually I've gotten most of my job interviews via this process:

1) post resume on dice.com
2) wait for recruiters to call me.
posted by delmoi at 5:22 AM on November 27, 2006

RJ, that's mighty close to my new site MetaFister...

Fists fisting fists? Ooh, kinky.
posted by nebulawindphone at 5:22 AM on November 27, 2006

My experience with online job-seeking has been along the lines described by tehloki and solid one-love. Very frustrating.
My most recent find has been typical. A firm in my area was looking for someone who would do marketing/advertising development, planning and management, graphic design, copywriting, web development, web design, audio recording/editing, video recording/editing, photography, image editing...all for $15/hr.

Of course, the ad was cloaked in all the thick ad-speak possible..."results-oriented", "high-energy", "unleash your creativity", etc. The pay level wasn't revealed until after the first round of phone interviews and completion of the "demonstration project" they insisted candidates complete...just to make sure you had the necessary skills.

I was rejected because I had too many years experience (and they felt I wouldn't go for the low pay) The job remains open after two months.
posted by Thorzdad at 5:25 AM on November 27, 2006

How will online job search help the dark knight?
posted by MonkeyAround at 5:29 AM on November 27, 2006

Plenty of turnover in Robins these days.
posted by Smart Dalek at 5:36 AM on November 27, 2006 [1 favorite has favorites]

I do like the "job searching trends" call out, as the potential for identifying meaningful metrics/trends a well articulated set of metrics (assuming widespread adoption of the site) could well be high. But, I think the market is pretty well saturated with job sites at the moment. It's hard to see how this could benefit anyone other than companies looking to reduce fees for job ad placements or headhunter fees.
posted by psmealey at 5:36 AM on November 27, 2006

Is Linked In actually any good? I don't know anybody that uses it.
posted by empath at 6:33 AM on November 27, 2006

Is Linked In actually any good? I don't know anybody that uses it.

I've used it more or less consistently since 2001. I have not found it to be useful for identifying job or contract leads, but it's a very good tool for keeping tabs and staying in touch with old colleagues.

One downside is that you can get spammed a lot by headhunters claming to "know" you from previous jobs. But, like with Myspace or Friendster, you can deny them access.
posted by psmealey at 7:45 AM on November 27, 2006

Is Linked In actually any good?

Well, it isn't a jobs site. But if you believe that the purpose of social networking is to make professional contacts or keep them up-to-date, then LI is a lot closer to what you want than anything else.

It's too bad that psmealey's was about the only non-snark comment (that was actually about the topic). Part of the decline of MetaFilter. ZOMG somebody is trying to make money! Where's my noose?
posted by dhartung at 8:02 AM on November 27, 2006

I attended a web 2.0 conference in DC back in September where the jobster CEO Jason Goldberg spoke. I've got an MP3 recording of his talk up on my web site for those interested. I also highly recommend the keynotes from Andrew Mcafee of Harvard Business School and Rajen Sheth of Google.

Apparently Jobster is more for people that have jobs already rather than the unemployed. The way Goldberg tells it would you rather have applications for SQL DB admins that are uneployed or from those who are currently working for Widgets, Inc.

The problem with web 1.0 sites (Goldberg says) like Dice or Monster is that when a company submits a listing they get 10,000 applications from every Tom, Dick and Harry who have been sitting on their ass for the past 6 weeks. With Jobster employers can directly target individuals that are already doing what they're looking for.

The site was actually created with investment capital Boeing and a few other heavy users of the site.
posted by daHIFI at 8:22 AM on November 27, 2006

Can we please stop naming things -ster now?

But I can still use the naming scheme for my auto-erotic site, MeFister, right?
posted by pmbuko at 8:26 AM on November 27, 2006

The way Goldberg tells it would you rather have applications for SQL DB admins that are uneployed or from those who are currently working for Widgets, Inc.

That sounds great in theory, but as a hiring manager for a small tech firm for the past 10 years, the reality is quite different. I always need to the best candidate for the job on a technical, cultural or personal fit. Someone doing the job I need (again rare enough to start) might be a shallow job hopper who's going to flip again in six months. Someone sitting on his ass for six weeks might actually be hungrier and more committed. At any rate,you can usually figure this out in a 15-20 minute interview.

That approach seems to give even more weight to already unimaginative HR models that almost always give you the most mediocre performers available.

Anything to avoid having to read or interpret a resume or talk to a person, I guess.
posted by psmealey at 8:35 AM on November 27, 2006

Man, do all these 'job 2.0' sites use the same designer? Every site I've looked at from this thread looks like some bastard child of flickr and a busy board.
posted by lumpenprole at 8:55 AM on November 27, 2006

Apparently you hadn't read the top of the site:

"NEWSFLASH: Jobby has officially been acquired by our good friends at Jobster."

When I go jobby, I tend to read books, not websites. Using my laptop is kinda difficult when sitting on the toilet.
posted by sparkletone at 10:36 AM on November 27, 2006

I'd like to beat the snot out of whoever coined the term "web 2.0" ... nothing is different. It's the same damn web as before.

www.jobspace.com is being squatted ... nice name potential there.
posted by Dillenger69 at 10:52 AM on November 27, 2006

I'd like to beat the snot out of whoever coined the term "web 2.0"

You'll have to find 'em first - no one appears willing to take credit...
posted by scheptech at 8:22 PM on November 27, 2006

It could be done, but beating the entire userbase of Flickr, digg, and boingboing over the head with Steve Jobs is kind of a two-man job.
posted by tehloki at 1:48 PM on November 28, 2006