Charging Job Seekers to View or Apply for Jobs

Posted By: Thomas Shaw, 8:00pm Tuesday 15 September 2009

Charging job seekers to help them find work is a very touchy subject. Yes there may be some laws and the RCSA will say it is unethical for Recruiters to double dip etc. Except in the real world, there is nothing stopping a online job site from charging job seekers a fee to access premium content.

I was quite critical in my previous comments regarding a new premium SMS Job Alerts service about to launch. Except later that day, I remembered that there are already existing websites that charge the job seeker to access to premium content or bolt-on products (eg. SMS alerts).

So before you go complain about these sites (which I am sure some of you will kick up your feet and stomp a little) we need to understand the reasons why these job sites are charging the job seeker.

Only serious job seekers will apply for the role
It creates a niche community for your job site
Job seekers want EXCLUSIVE access to jobs, content and extra services that they do not get on other job boards
There is no such thing as a "free job board"
If job seekers are serious about finding work, they will pay for the convenience of these extras

Let's face it. We all need to earn a living, and these premium sites are actually adding value to the job seeker.

In Australia, our leading news publications; News Ltd and Fairfax, will soon charge readers a fee to access the websites news content. SEEK has ruled out charging job seekers, but what about CareerOne (50% owned by News Ltd/Monster) or MyCareer (owned by Fairfax) ??

So if your job site is going start charging the job seeker make sure that

The jobs are 100% unique and not available elsewhere else
The job seekers are financially able to pay for access. Aim at the professional/executive industry
Your marketing has to effectively communicate and convince job seekers that they are paying for exclusive, valuable content

What do you think?