Why paying for a job post sucks

I was reading Laurie Ruettimann's Punk Rock HR (which is daily for me) article/post/list of places where one could look for a job (I even gave it a shot myself - fingers and toes crossed that anything comes back). I don't believe any of the sites on this list were sites that had pay-per-post searching (i.e. CareerBuilder and Monster).

I remember hearing that there are company's hiring out there, they just aren't making a big deal out of it. But the idea is that smart companies are looking at the talent they have, identifying positions that they wish had better results, and finding people that can do the job better than the incumbent. I think this is brilliant. Smart companies do this. And that's why they are smart, and that's why they will be ahead of the curve after the economy turns.

I really believe that the lesser-known sites (that Laurie pointed out) might be the wave of the future in the job posting world. For a few reasons.

1) People looking for a job, that are REALLY looking, will find the right posting. What happens from there is that you find people that really know the industry, the job, the area, etc. It makes sense that smarter people - people in the know - will find the right postings.

2) CareerBuilder and Monster are an avalanche waiting to happen. Let's appreciate the ads that they post for a second. But still here's what every HR person experiences when they post a job on CareerBuilder or Monster...

• Day 1 - The job post goes up, everything's spelled correctly, the job description is accurate (even though you neglected to mention that they have to sit next to the loud guy in the office), and you are excited to see what the job search market has to offer.
  
• Day 2 - You enter work to see that 133 people applied for the job in a matter of 16 hours. At least you'll find a winner in this group.
  
• Day 3 - You enter work to see that 389 more people applied for the job in a matter of 16 hours.
• Day 3.5 - You've told 15 staffing companies/head-hunters to f*ck off. You're not paying them 15-50% of the first year salary to find a freaking office admin type.
  
• Day 4 - Now that you are up to 1423 resumes, you'll start looking through these bad boys to get the ten best candidates in from of the hiring manager.
• Day 4.5 - 10 employees have given you resumes of their friends, because the friends saw the job posting and TheBoss want you to at least courtesy interview each one. And the person giving you the resume will not leave your office until you say that (A) The candidate is gold-plated awesomeness, and (B) the employee referal program will give them $5000 if the person gets hired and doesn't show up to work naked for at least six months.
  
• Day 5 - You've gone through 588 resumes. But 253 have come in, so you've only realy made about a 335 resume dent in the virtual pile of resumes.
• Day 5.5 - You have 27 voicemails from people who "want to schedule a one-on-one meeting with you to discuss the position that is available." You are thinking about bringing vodka to work.
  
• Day 6 - You've lost faith in humanity. Of the now 2109 resumes that you have 5% didn't actually attached a resume, they just what CareerMonster to email them that they applied for a job so Workers' Comp or Unemployment keeps paying them. 50% didn't actually read the job description and/or have done no work in relation to the job. 10% are beyond ridiculously overqualified for the job. 25% might be able to do the job, but the last job that they did in relation to this job was six years ago, and since then they've been out-of-work, done-time, or been a bartender. Leaving you the good 10%, just 210 of the candidates that have given you a resume.
  
• Day 6.5 - You've just held your pee for as long as you possibly can because two people are in the lobby that refuse to leave until you talk to them, and the brillant architects that designed the building put the restrooms in a place where you HAVE to walk through the lobby to pee.
• Day 7 - You want to delete the posting. Over the weekend, another 1100 resumes came in including the seventh and eighth submission from Marty T. Jacobs, Jr., PE, CEBS, PHR, MBA, CPM, MCSE, CIC, CLU, Esq. Clearly, if the first application didn't work, the ninth that just came in will.
  
• Day 7.5 - Twenty-two production employees all saw the office job and think that sitting at a desk all day in climate-control isn't work have asked what goes into have a job. You just bruised your head by banging it into your desk.
• Day 8 - You eliminate the candidated who came from a company either too big or too small.
• Day 8.5 - You check you're office mailbox and find 37 faxed resumes, who the f*ck FAXES resumes any more? Marty T. Jacobs, Jr., PE, CEBS, PHR, MBA, CPM, MCSE, CIC, CLU, Esq. submitted a resume via fax.
  
• Day 9 - You meet with the hiring manager who picks the best five of the, now 4123 resumes that you've received.
• Day 9.5 - Marty T. Jacobs, Jr., PE, CEBS, PHR, MBA, CPM, MCSE, CIC, CLU, Esq. is waiting in the lobby to personally hand you his resume.
  
• Day 10 - The head accountant asks if you've made a hire yet, you say no, but you've just set phone interviews. Then the head accountant (glad he gets to tell someone bad news, isn't of the situation being reversed - as usual), smiles and says that the money for that position in the budget just got cut. But you should do the phone interviews anyway, just in case there is a slim chance that the budget money re-appears. In a totally, unrelated story, TheBoss is taking the office babe to a conference in Las Vegas for a week, flying first class, and staying at The Wynn.