Is free really free? How much is your time worth? In economic down times, vendors often scramble to keep their businesses alive or try to gain market share in order in hopes of charging more in the future. In doing so, they many times disguise products as being ‘free.’ The most recent ‘free’ offering comes from our friends over at Monster.com.
Monster.com recently announced its’ Keep America Working campaign, which will offer free job fairs to employers in some 140 markets. Now, Monster has been hosting job fairs in Las Vegas for a few years now and have earned the reputation of being the worst job fair promoter in the market. Employers just don’t see the value. Beyond the hefty sign-up fee, the Monster job fair has been known to attract just a few hundred of the least qualified jobseekers. Employers have literally packed up their exhibit booths and walked out the door in hopes of adding some productivity to their day by returning to the office….rather than stare at the few vendors brave enough to stick around.
Today, Monster feels that if it offers free booths maybe more employers will come out, granting Monster sales reps the opportunity to sell them their primary product - job postings on Monster.com. The fundamental problem - is attending a bad job fair worth your time? The set-up, the time standing around yielding questions from unqualified candidates and the reporting of applicants but no hires? And really…..how much is your employment brand worth to attach to an event that has never been successful?
So, you ask …….”How can a Monster.com Job Fair be so unsuccessful when Monster operates one of the largest job boards on the Internet?” The reason is simple - Monster only markets to their own database of jobseekers, of which the majority block or assume the message is just another piece of Monster Spam. I have a Monster account (as well as accounts for all of our competitors) just to monitor the amount of crap that they send me that I never asked for. Fortunately, my Outlook filter drops Monsters’ Spam into a folder that I only visit periodically. Believe me - it receives plenty of junk mail from Monster.
To host a successful job fair in Las Vegas, the promoter must have reach beyond just one medium. They must partner with other community groups to attract the right type of jobseekers to the event. Take a look at a partial list of sponsors for our Opportunity Boulevard Career Fair. Nearly every radio & television station through our partnership with the Nevada Broadcasters Association, the majority of publications through Greenspun Media Group, Relocating job seekers through Las Vegas Publications, older workers through AARP and jobseekers of the Recruiting Nevada Network. Each one of our partners places a crucial role in Opportunity Boulevard’s success. If just one organization tried to hold the same caliber of event, it would not be a success.
Now, I do give Monster an A+ for their marketing efforts. They are good at attracting national attention. But as we all know, employment is done at the local level. And when a product is known to be a ‘crap product’ - does giving it away for free make it any better?
If you have not seen this video - is quite funny: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DhirLBqTag
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