I want a job spam

[itrainu]

Are any other SEO's being bombarded with people applying for jobs within their company? I am averaging one a day now!

I would like to respond and politely decline, but it's getting out of control! I have enough of my own email to return!

Is it possible that it is coming from posts that I have made in forums at about.com? The job apps are coming to the same email address that I use to post at about.com but they are addressed to my whole name, which they could have gotten from my profile there I guess.

One way to find out is to change my address there I guess ;-)

Anyone else being spammed by job seekers?

itrainu

[gcross]

I think changing your profile, login name and/or email addy on that possible culprit is probably the best idea. Alternatively, you can direct those possible respondents to a URL with a contact form setup and a leading paragraph that individuals interested in applying for employment need to contact your companies personnel office at such-and-such phone number or email or URL. Put the paragraph first and also make sure that the contact form sends them a confirmation email that reiterates the same message.

[sanity]

Interesting topic. I also get a ton of emails asking for work. Most would get the email addresses off my website so I can't do anything about that. It's just I find I'm getting so many I'm sick of replying. Plus I don't have the time. On the flip side I feel mean for ignoring people who are looking for work.

How do you all handle these emails?

TIA

[amoore]

Would you like to hire someone to handle them for you? My prices are cheap....

(Sorry, couldn't resist the opportunity for a bad joke.)

[Dreamquick]

If they are manually going through your site and getting your email address you are right - there isnt a lot you can do about that, and to be honest if someone took the time to go through my site to contact me I'd be quite nice about it because they have shown some effort / initiative.

If they are using an automated package to harvest & bulk mail then there are several things you can do - the most foolproof is to set up a contact form as then your email address is never exposed and so can't be scraped.

Alternately you could mung your address but still leave it standards compliant (ie swap characters for entity codes) which means that real browsers (including things like Lynx) can understand what you have done enabling real people to contact you, but at the same time 90% of the email scraping bots don't understand what you have done meaning they can't harvest your address.

- Tony

[Nick_W]

Yeah, I get 'em too.. I'm not very kind in my responses.... ;)

Nick

[engine]

I'm getting at least one-a-day and therefore decided to spend a few minutes to create a template in my e-mail package which links to a webpage with our vacancy and recruitment information. The recruitment information on the webpage includes training and student internships. I also link to professional bodies and some SERPs with the appropriate keywords.

I was one of those searching for a job(a long time ago) and I treat them all with respect and consideration, as I would have expected.

[Nick_W]

If I thought they were genuine, so would I be engine.

Mine all seem to come from the same guy though, something about 'respect ethical consderatins of SEO' and boy, it is looooong and booooring!

Nick

[engine]

>all seem to come from the same guy...

Oh dear, that is spam, Nick. Needless to say, I wouldn't reply to ANY of those.

Mailwasher may help you deal with the spam.

[itrainu]

Great discussion!

I'd also like to treat them with respect...not that I ever get respect when looking for a job *grin* I don't even get PFO letters anymore!

I haven't figured out where they are getting my info from as they have my first and last name...and this is not posted on the site. I checked my profile here, and at about... I was wrong about the job seekers coming from about - my info is not there either. I am pretty sure all these people are not doing a whois *grin*

Maybe I should put a mandatory statement on my website that they have to identify where they found me *grin*

I think most of the people looking for jobs with my org (and they are not all SERP) are local to my province (Ontario). One person had an email address from the domain fastcareer.net - I can't find any mention of my site there but I am wondering if there are companies that provide (sell) this information to job seekers.

I'll have to get going on that Outlook template with links to Workopolis, etc. Thanks for the suggestions!

itrainu

[sanity]

Thanks for the replies guys.

I also try to reply if they are genuine. I've set up a templeate which I might customise a bit if appropriate. I guess the alternative is setup an hr@ email with an autoresponder.

Nick_W: I swear I am getting the same email It comes quite regularly and details their "ethical" process. :o

[itrainu]

> Thanks for the replies guys.

And gals of course :-)

itrainu...a gal ;-)

[sanity]

> And gals of course :-)

> itrainu...a gal ;-)

Sorry about that itrainu. Over here the expression refers to both sexes.

sanity - also a gal ;)

[Robert Charlton]

I keep a low profile in SEO, so I haven't gotten many inquiries in that area, but I get a fair number in film and video. I remember what it was like to be out there looking, particularly when I was just starting out, and I try to be to helpful to beginners whose letters or resumes strike me as good and worth responding to.

It's a terrible job market right now, so it's hard to be very encouraging, but occasionally I get responses that my suggestions have helped... and over the years I've run into people who remember kindnesses. There's a saying in the film business that "what goes around comes around," and I think it's true about life in general.

That said, there are a lot of emails that I just have to ignore. It's not possible to answer them all.

[sanity]

I just got a reply from someone who emailed me last week. I found the email engaging so even though we didn't have any work I told the person I liked their approach. They just wrote to say thanks for the feedback.

I was pleased I replied. I guess it's always good to walk in someone else's shoes once in a while.