Hi Thomas,

I’d like to clarify your blog post on charging job seekers, as some may misconstrue that Six Figures charges job seekers to View and Apply for Jobs – we don’t.

Paying to access jobs and career related information is well accepted in the USA and UK and has been done for many years. The model is somewhat newer to Australia. Sites like Six Figures offer the job seeker a choice of level of membership, one being free and the other paid; similar to what you see on sites like LinkedIn.

Six Figures does not charge people to access and apply for jobs, which may also be the point of difference here. Premium Members pay to access other quality, career-related services and benefits pertinent to our Executive audience.

Niche sites and those that charge offer their members value beyond jobs, including relevant resources, guides, services and so on that the generalist sites don’t. It is a very different model all together to that of servicing a membership, which you see with different job site models.

Let’s not forget that charging people to access information that is targeted and relevant saves them time, which in turn saves them money (unless you don’t value your time).

What is terrific is that job seekers today have more options available to them and they can choose free and paid services to assist them with their job search and career.

I love to read about job seekers balking at the idea of "paying to find a job". Recall when most jobs were advertised in print? Did'nt those papers cost money? Boy has the internet spoiled millions in a relatively short period of time. The job seeker is sure to become a revenue source if/when this economy rebounds.

What do I think? I think it's a load of balls. It's just some crappy scam artist oriented businesses out to charge what is otherwise a free service. It's the same as if you started charging to make a post on this blog, would it increase the relevancy of the blog? No. It's just that some people will pay for any old crap so these scam artists, and I use the term loosely, will be able to scrape some profits together out of these misguided fools. Dana, whether or not job seekers paid for a paper, they did not pay any clients or recruitment firm for consideration of their application. You have a point, but it's somewhat mis-represented.

I think it's total unfair for job seekers, where there is thousand of recruitment alternatives!

I have worked in the staffing, recruiting, and the human resources sectors for over 7 years. I help people with their current careers, future career plans, and career transitions.

I created a blog in an effort to pass on my knowledge of the industry, inform professionals of the available resources that provide assistance to job seekers free of charge, provide quality job leads, and much more.