Should You Pay for Job Listings?

I’ve invested a considerable amount of time looking at online job boards and recently wrote about my favorite.  Websites with job listings are almost overwhelmingly free, but you may stumble across one or two sites subscription sites and wonder if spending the money will provide you an advantage. Since everyone has a unique situation, I hesitate to say you should or should not purchase a subscription to a paid site, but I have a few tips to help you decide.

• Fortunately, the Internet allows anyone and everyone to be a reviewer, meaning there’s lot of information to help you make a decision. During my last few months teaching, I came across TheLadders.com, which claimed to have exclusive access to higher-paying jobs for mid-career professionals.  It also offered a résumé critiquing service, included with a paid subscription.  Even though I’d been writing résumés as a side business for a while, I was tempted to have my own résumé critiqued. I thought it would be good to have another professional perspective on my work. But I decided to do a little research before spending the money, and the time was worth it because hardly anyone had anything good to say about their critiques. In 2013, the site became the subject of a class action lawsuit, which you can read about here. Unearthing this information took me less than five minutes, prevented aggravation and saved money. 
• A subscription site should offer more than just job listings. For example, LinkedIn users have to pay to access many of the site’s features, but paying for a subscription also allows you to communicate with other and network online. If you don’t want to pay, there are still plenty of free resources to help you along the path to a new career. Last week I wrote about LinkedIn and why you should create your profile even if you’re not ready to actively look for a new job. 

• Telecommuting and work-from-home jobs appeal to many. Niche sites focusing on these positions might be worth the cost because scams abound in work-from-home positions. FlexJobs.com screens all jobs and only posts legitimate positions, taking a lot of the worry from the equation. The site does not provide you with work, but it does list openings and offers additional resources like skills testing. You are paying for peace of mind, in my opinion, because you are assured that you’re applying to legitimate jobs. Currently, subscriptions begin at $14.95 a month, but searching for “flexjobs promo code” will likely lead you to a code that knocks a few dollars off the cost. I came across SAVE30, which may or may not still be in effect.

Your first choice should always be to utilize free sites. But as I pointed out, there may be an occasion where it’s worth it to invest in a short subscription. Consider it an investment in yourself, which will hopefully pay off in the form of a great new career.

Disclosure: I have no financial relationship with any sites I write about and I have not been asked to promote them. They are simply good-quality sites I like and want to share. If and when I receive compensation of any sort to write about a site I will update accordingly. All product links to Amazon are affiliate links, which means I get a small commission if you purchase the item.