Craigslist’s Dirty Little Secret

Posted on April 25, 2007
Filed Under Online Recruiting, Advertising Mistakes, Employment Websites, Socially Responsible Recruiting |

One ”value” that sets Recruiting Nevada Job Boards apart from all others is our firm commitment to socially responsible recruiting. Socially responsible recruiting can be evaluated in many aspects and you hear us most compare it to local level recruiting and the effects of cannibalization of our own talent.

Another area of socially responsible recruiting is our commitment to society and making sure our job boards only contain “real” jobs and, equally as important, morally-acceptable jobs.

Yes - Las Vegas is “Sin-City.” Yes - A stripper can earn a great living. Yes - prostitution is legal outside of Clark County. Yes - We live in an adult playground. Yes - A jobseeker has the ability to choose what he or she does for a living.

But - that does not mean that Recruiting Nevada needs to support these type of employment opportunities? Our answer is NO.

We have a strict policy to not accept any jobs from adult-oriented businesses. We do this to protect a valuable audience we cater to - the high school student.

Most job boards do not maintain such a strict advertising policy and will take money from any company that offers it. Some online classified systems allow companies to post these ads at no charge. Hence, why there are so many of them. This refers back to my ‘The Problem With Cheap’ post. One such company is Craigslist.

We have heard positive results from employers using Craigslist and have even used it ourselves in the past. And let’s face it - the price is right - FREE. However, we are not certain about the impact of placing credible employment opportunities next to adult-oriented ads has on a business. What impact does that have on an employer’s brand? How does it effect the perception of that company in the eyes of a jobseeker?

A recent study has found that Craigslist caters to the adult-oriented businesses. A blog post titled Craigslist’s Dirty Little Secret, exposes much of this. It is worth reading. A ways back, I also did a post on a prostitution ring busted on the East Coast, using Craigslist as their advertising outlet.

Just something to consider - The company we keep sometimes reflects who we are.