So much potential – such poor execution. Of the 10 sites in this comparison (see the initial post for background) HotJobs is the only site that disappointed me. As a member of the elite ‘big three’ job boards, HotJobs has a unique business model, a strong brand, and the resources of parent Yahoo – they should be competing for first place.
Yes, HotJobs finished ahead of Monster in this comparison; but that’s a function of differing business models rather than superior execution. Whereas Monster displays only the jobs ads entered directly on their site, HotJobs supplements their native content with jobs indexed on other web sites (see Yahoo! HotJobs – The Hybrid Job Board). In theory, combining content in this way gives HotJobs a huge advantage over Monster in terms of market coverage.
In reality, HotJobs delivered 18% coverage compared to 12% for Monster. While a significant difference, other hybrid job sites in this comparison delivered coverage scores ranging between 28% and 86%. So, what happened to HotJobs?
Marc Cenedella, publisher of TheLadders (a great site!) and previous SVP of HotJobs, has a post on his blog titled Goodbye HotJobs!:
“… I really did believe that we had set HotJobs up for success by marrying it to one of the world's premier internet brands (at that time, THE world's premier internet brand.) So it's sad that the energy and optimism of this e-mail haven't been justified by subsequent events. HotJobs has dropped to a distant third. 9 out of 11 of the top people at HotJobs were gone within 6 months, and the remaining stragglers have now left. And the place has lost that old HOTJ feeling -- the manic, exuberant, juvenile atmosphere of "hey, let's put on an internet company!"
I had drinks with one of the new HotJobbers the other night, and none of the history has been passed down. None of the tradition, none of the pride or legacy, none of the crazy celebrations, none of the misguided sense that we deserved to be #1. And so it's sad to see that loss. Because what's been lost isn't just the spirit of HotJobs, but a beautiful, inspiring example of the entrepreneurial best in all of us.
And for that, we are all the poorer.”
Amen Marc! Hopefully HotJobs will rediscover its way, and again challenge the leaders. But at the moment, for our hypothetical jobseeker, HotJobs is the 8th best choice.
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