Continuing the Top Ten Sites For Semi-Active Job Search series, Craigslist earns 5th place, delivering a user experience best described as classic Craigslist – minimalistic, exclusive, and functional.
Minimalistic: Surely there is a better word for the Craigslist interface, but it escapes me at the moment. For this test I needed to create an agent, scout, or alert, to let me know when ‘auto sales’ jobs in Boston were posted to Craigslist.
Nowhere on the Craigslist search results page is there an option to save a search as an email agent. But, if you scroll to the bottom of the results page, you will find a RSS link followed by a question mark.
As a certified (HFI) usability analyst, I understand the importance of keeping interfaces uncluttered; but Craigslist takes minimalism to an extreme. Why not say ‘Save as RSS feed’?
Exclusive: Craigslist seems to take a geek-centric view of the world. It’s as if their interface says ‘email (the most used Internet application) is so old school that we don’t offer that option. Our users are into new technologies like RSS – but just in case you aren’t up to speed yet, click on this question mark for a helpful explanation.’
OK … if it’s really simple, why is a three-paragraph explanation necessary? And if you need to read the explanation, do you now have enough information to save a search as an RSS feed? No, you don’t.
Functional: And yet, Craigslist works – and for this test, it worked better than AJB, Jobster, JobCentral, and HotJobs in returning ‘auto sales’ jobs in Boston.
Being the best for semi-active job search requires strength in four areas: 1) tools for saving and managing saved searches; 2) effective communication strategies (email or RSS); 3) broad coverage of available jobs; and 4) an accurate search/match engine.
Four sites outperformed Craigslist by providing better tools for saving and managing searches, broader coverage of the job market, additional communication options, and more accurate search engines. Thus, Craigslist earns 5th place for semi-active job search.
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