by Benjamin Lomax

Created on: December 11, 2009   Last Updated: December 15, 2011

Monster.com is definitely the big dog of job-search web-sites, the weapon of choice in the war against unemployment. Because of its large reach and immense client base, Monster has some distinct advantages over other web-search engines. Also symptomatic of other biggest kid on the block companies, it suffers some lack of compassion for its end users and glosses over some qualities that many job-seekers desire.

However, any real job-seeker needs to have Monster.com as the base for their job search pyramid. Too many great opportunities are listed there and on no other site, largely because of the cost (employer listings are quite expensive). Also just about every major company lists on Monster because of the overwhelming number of applicants who search there. This is an advantage and a disadvantage, because every ad that you see as an applicant, tens of thousands of other potential applicants are seeing along with you. Often applying through Monster.com is futile, because the employer rarely even responds to the large majority of their applicants. This can be frustrating, as a job you know would be a perfect fit you never get to interview for.

In addition, Monster.com is not particularly friendly to the applicants. The resume download process is crude at best, and it is quite difficult to put a stand-out resume into the text-only file. A way around this is to get the source material from Monster and then send the resume yourself as an attachment via e-mail or by snail mail (or even via fax), but this is quite often impossible, as Monster has far more "Company Confidential" job listings than any other site. For these positions you must apply through a down-loaded resume and cover letter, whose options are very limited when you want to get noticed past the sea of resumes the employer will be receiving. In nearly every case where you submit a resume through Monster, the hiring manager will need a doc attachment, as what the employer gets from Monster is often gibberish.

Also the detail of their listings is often sparse or nearly non-existent. Job descriptions are hazy, salary ranges are rare (even broad ranges), and often even the type of company is not listed. Applicants are forced to either disregard a lot of listings or apply blind and then possibly be contacted and waste time with a job they might never consider if the information was presented up front. Some editing or reviewing by Monster would be a great help, certainly to the applicants and probably to the

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