Looking for an employers perspective of Monster.com

[krp8128]

As an employer or business owner, what is your usual procedure regarding a resume when using Monster?

I uploaded mine last night in Word. It shows up in monster and prints with the formatting screwed up, but if you download the file it looks fine. If I use the editor to fix how it looks, it prints great but the download has bad formatting....


Feels like a catch 22, so do most people print or download?

[smalls]

upload PDFs. never had any formatting problems downloading PDFs from there, but word docs can be finicky bitches

[hemas]

upload PDFs. never had any formatting problems downloading PDFs from there, but word docs can be finicky bitches

Ding ding... PDF is the way to go these days.

Always use PDFs, unless there is a pressing matter on why something should be presented in a native format.

[krp8128]

Unless I am missing something obvious....



you can't upload a pdf. That was my first choice as well....

[BCtransplant]

Slight threadjack, but do any employers actually hire from online employment sites? Any HR peeps or hiring managers care to comment?

I'm reasonably employable, and I'm not sure I've ever even had an interview generated from posting / replying on Monster. I've had much more success through recruiters and placement agencies, and even through cold-calling for that matter.

[Diesel]

OP - I'm in corporate HR and recruiting. I don't often have time to search on Monster. More often, we'd post a position to the board and then you would follow a link to submit your information to us directly. Typically the formatting is fine. Sometimes it's jacked to the point that we know that it came from the systems since no one would be retarded enough to make a resume look like that on purpose. Well, almost no one. The content is the most important thing to me.

To the threadjacker...Monster and the like have their uses, but they're stupidly expensive to the employer (I have seen invoices> 100K) and in this economy they're saturated with people willing to do or apply for anything.
When I post a position to Monster, it's a given that I'll get over 100 resumes within a week.

I tend to use niche sites and networking sites a bit more. So LinkedIn is good, as well as industry-specific certification sites (ISM for supply chain, SHRM for HR as a couple of examples), MBA sites, or local organization sites.

[Platinum Pete]

My Dad is a recruiter and he uses Monster to find candidates. He looks past formatting BS because he knows what he's looking for (certs, titles, company names) and knows he'll get a better crafted resume once he pitches you on the job he wants to get you into.

[smalls]

huh. haven't used monster in awhile (haven't done any hiring in awhile). must have changed their formatting requirements.

but yeah, what the above have said. if an employer is considering a candidate from a job-search site, they will usually overlook the formatting errors. content is what will get their attention, not egregious indentations.

[JoeStrummer]

Reply to OT question. . . .

I have a couple of recruiters that occasionally source candidates for me from Monster and Careerbuilder. Occasionally I have posted jobs there but all I usually get are Country Buffet hostesses apparently applying for every job on the planet.

I might be an exception but in my opinion if I have to resort to Monster to find an employee, I did something very wrong.

[COUTCA]

OP - I'm in corporate HR and recruiting. I don't often have time to search on Monster. More often, we'd post a position to the board and then you would follow a link to submit your information to us directly. Typically the formatting is fine. Sometimes it's jacked to the point that we know that it came from the systems since no one would be retarded enough to make a resume look like that on purpose. Well, almost no one. The content is the most important thing to me.

To the threadjacker...Monster and the like have their uses, but they're stupidly expensive to the employer (I have seen invoices> 100K) and in this economy they're saturated with people willing to do or apply for anything.
When I post a position to Monster, it's a given that I'll get over 100 resumes within a week.

I tend to use niche sites and networking sites a bit more. So LinkedIn is good, as well as industry-specific certification sites (ISM for supply chain, SHRM for HR as a couple of examples), MBA sites, or local organization sites.

This man speaks truth. I don't think I could have said it any better.

When we're doing recruitments and such, we're much more likely to reach out to those niche-specific sites. Need a civil engineer? Go to ASCE (American Society of Civil Engineers). Need a planner? Go to APA (American Planning Association). You get the picture.

Monster tends to be a waste of my time, and personally, I haven't used it since I was a college kid looking for a job. It's not a bad place to search for entry level jobs - and some mid-level jobs, but as a corporation, I'm not going to spend my time and money looking there.

[COUTCA]

By the way - if you want a job, and they aren't advertising through Monster (as in, you must apply through Monster), then apply directly through the company.

[krp8128]

By the way - if you want a job, and they aren't advertising through Monster (as in, you must apply through Monster), then apply directly through the company.

Unfourtunatly, I am just beyond a "college kid' and looking for an entry level job...

The nice thing about Monster is once my profile is set up, it does the searching for me, and will pop things up that I really wouldn't have found otherwise (i.e. didn't know XYZ corp existed). Other than that, I have been doing a ton of searching and applying on company webpages.


Thanks guys, my resume is staying up formatted so it looks correct in word.

[COUTCA]

Understood. I was in your boat as well. Using Monster as a search engine isn't a bad way to go, and you seem to already be taking the advice of applying with the company direclty instead of via monster.

Happy to give more advice if/when needed! lol

[Diesel]

This (wo)man speaks truth. I don't think I could have said it any better.

Fixed it for ya.

If you're just out of college, Monster is a good resource for entry level jobs. If you have targeted a profession, (marketing, for example), start joining local marketing organizations. Then network through them.

It's a tough time to be out looking...you've got some very experienced competition who are willing to work for pennies on the dollar right now. Remember, your resume should be designed to catch the interest of the reader in a few seconds. We're weighing it against hundreds of others. The trick is to stand out without looking too desparate. Easier said than done.

More unsolicited feedback...typically entry level resumes are a lot of padding. One of my clients just had me review his daughter's resume. She is fresh out of college and had a few internships, however she padded so much into her jobs that her resume was 2 pages, and it read like she was at a Director level in each of her positions. Remember that anything you list on the resume is fair game, so if it's on there, be prepared to speak to it.

Best of luck!

[atomicboy]

She is fresh out of college and had a few internships, however she padded so much into her jobs that her resume was 2 pages, and it read like she was at a Director level in each of her positions.

I hope you gave her some advice to wack that thing in half and not embellish. Unless you have been working for 15 years at a couple of places your resume should never be longer than a page. I once had a green college grad apply with a 6 page resume...yes 6 pages . I felt sorry for the kid and instructed him on resume 101...didn't get the job though.

You gave some great feedback to the others.

[Diesel]

Thanks!

I did give her dad my candid advice. I was a little worried how he'd take it, however he seemed to completely understand my points, and passed it along to his daughter. Hopefully she took them to heart.

I have another candidate that I know through the bike world...his experience is good, but his resume is atrocious. After three rounds of "You can't get an interview because your resume blows", and his justification and defense of said blowing resume, I've stopped trying to help him with it. If he can't figure out the correlation of this resume and his 2 years of stay-at-home-dad time, he needs more help than I can provide.

On the one page resume thing...Yes and no. In this job climate, it's rare to find someone who has spent 4 years at a company, let alone 15. If they have 10 years of experience with, say, 5 different companies, 2 pages is completely normal. I'd frankly rather see that than see them not accurately describing their job responsibilities because they're trying to color within the lines of a one pager.

[BCtransplant]

Speaking of recruiters, am I correct in assuming that most (all?) have a few specific companies that they typically place people with? I assume it's like anything else - they have a network of HR people in certain companies that they have a relationship with and prefer to work with, which is fine, but at times I think it's a disservice to the job-seeker if this is not communicated up-front.

Obviously recruiters that are industry-specific are candid about this, but I have found many that would have you (the job-seeker) believe that they will actively market you wherever you like, but you end up with interviews at a few select companies that don't really fit your search profile. (And then you get hired, and find that the same recruiter placed virtually everyone in the company, and seldom places anyone elsewhere...hypothetical case of course...)

Basically, I feel like I know what I'm looking for, know my skill set and what I can offer, and generally know what companies I'd like to work for. What I'd like from a recruiter is someone to open some doors at said companies, or perhaps identify similar companies / opportunities that I may have overlooked in my research.

[khakis]

since we've drifted to a bit of resume talk...how does a cover letter change things with regard to length of resume? No way in hell I can get education and relevant experience (both equally important at this stage of my career) all on the first page. They fit on the first two pages and then I usually include a third page of detailed relevant skills/honors/associations.

I would hope that a prospective employer wouldn't have such a short attention span as to immediately toss out my app because they open my resume and see "page 1/3," but I've been disappointed before

[Diesel]

BCTransplant: If you're talking headhunters, then yes, they do have their bread and butter client companies as well as new ones. Most quality recruiters have specialties (IT, Engineering, HR, Finance, etc). Companies work with them because they have an established network in those fields.

Khakis: I wish I could give you a better answer. I seldom read cover letters. However I know recruiters and hiring managers who love them. Generally I think they're a waste of time and space...you're just trying to say, "hire me" differently than all of the other candidates. However, I think they're critical for explaining what's not on the resume...so if you're in Philly and planning to relocate yourself to Colorado, or if you've had 30 jobs in the last year, or that you've been out of work since 2008. The cover letter is a great way to address any of these types of issues.

Lately I've seen a trend of including the cover letter as Page 1 of the resume. Meaning it's all the same word doc. This actually forces me to read it, which if anything is great for comic relief. We had one last week that started out, "I was born and raised by my mother." Really? You were born by your mother??

Three pages might be a bit much for a non-project based resume. How many years of experience do you have? How many related skills/honors/associations do you list? And how related are they? I've seen some odd stuff on a resume in this space...just wanting to make sure you're using it wisely.

[Rip'nStick]

Fixed it for ya.

If you're just out of college, Monster is a good resource for entry level jobs. If you have targeted a profession, (marketing, for example), start joining local marketing organizations. Then network through them.

It's a tough time to be out looking...you've got some very experienced competition who are willing to work for pennies on the dollar right now. Remember, your resume should be designed to catch the interest of the reader in a few seconds. We're weighing it against hundreds of others. The trick is to stand out without looking too desparate. Easier said than done.

More unsolicited feedback...typically entry level resumes are a lot of padding. One of my clients just had me review his daughter's resume. She is fresh out of college and had a few internships, however she padded so much into her jobs that her resume was 2 pages, and it read like she was at a Director level in each of her positions. Remember that anything you list on the resume is fair game, so if it's on there, be prepared to speak to it.

Best of luck!

Seconded. Keep it to the point. Networking and info interviewing are the way you get jobs now. Know your business up and down, before you get in. Good luck.

[khakis]

Three pages might be a bit much for a non-project based resume.

My resume and career are very project based. How does that change things?

[Diesel]

That's a little tougher. I've seen resumes from IT contractors that are 6+ pages long, detailing each project. Some of my IT hiring mgrs geek out over these resumes...they love it. Others like it less. Personally, I prefer a general resume, with a project based addendum.

What are you using now?

[khakis]

What I do is closer to IT than I care to admit...depending on the job description I'm responding to, my resume will start with last two or 3 jobs detailing the big and/or interesting projects, followed by the grad school part, which is basically a set of blurbs outlining each of the components of my project. This puts me at the end of pg 2, then I stick a few categorized outlines of skills/experience, continuing education/conferences attended/etc. Lately I have been putting a list of interests in there too because I liked my mission statement but have taken it off because everything I've read said they are worthless. Thanks for your responses...you're probably used to getting paid for this...

[Diesel]

Hopefully the responses are helpful. I do get paid for this, but the truth is that I don't really have the opportunity to help pp with their resumes. I've faced this job market, and I'd love to be able to help people get jobs. It sucks out there.

Khakis, I'll be sending you a PM.