FlexJobs and ASP.NET Review

Most job search websites are free, such as my 3 favorites: Dice.com, Monster.com, and Careerbuilder.com (please share your favorite sites). However, since I typically only do telecommute work, I thought I might check out the website: Flexjobs.com

Today I'm going to relate my experience with Flexjobs. Flexjobs is a website that goes through the internet and pulls out telecommute jobs in numerous industries. In November, they were offering a half-price special, so I purchased a year's membership for $25.00 knowing that my contract would end in February and it might come in handy.

[Update August 3, 2011: It wasn't worth the money or effort for me. I said in my comments below, I have never heard from their support department as to why they have not provided a .NET category. I have  never been contacted by a job provider on their site. And I have never seen any jobs that are in my line of work. It might be great for JAVA / PHP developers, but not for .NET.]

Job Search:

When you search for jobs, the only category for an ASP.NET developer is: Web & Software Dev. Underneath that are several subcategories: JAVA, SQL, PHP, HTML & JAVASCRIPT. None of them include ASP.NET. You can include keywords: ASP.NET and specifically request this in your search. You  may also specify your level of telecommuting, job type, and flexibility. I specified ASP.NET key word and telecommuting full time. As of today, it pulls up 3 jobs, that were posted: 12/14, 12/29/ and 1/7.

Somewhere on the site they ask if you're not getting the desired results, to let them know. I let them know more than once that I'd like to see an ASP.NET category and to find more jobs of that type, but they never replied.

Once your search results are returned, you may then view the description as displayed on their site. At the bottom is a button to click to take you to the original job posting. Sometimes the link will take you to your favorite free sites, and other times it will take you to the company's website. Mind you, all postings are ultimately public, but what you're paying for is that Flexjobs has taken the time to find these jobs on the internet for you, put them in one searchable place, and help you find them easily. I don't typically search on company websites, so this is worth $25 of my time, but it would be worth more of my time if they would add an ASP.NET category and try to find more jobs under this category.

Job Notifications:

They do send out daily Job Notifications if you request. However, the job notifications are based on your Categories, not your key words. So I return to the site and find jobs in very non-applicable categories. Also, for some reason, their results in the daily notices always return 2 of each listing.

Resume and Online Profile:

They allow you to upload a resume, fill out forms for an online resume, certifications, etc. They even allow you to upload code samples. This part is very detailed. However, I haven't yet received any feedback from anyone interested in my resume, so I don't see this site as a good resource for expecting someone to find me. My top sites for having people find me are Monster and Dice.

My Final Recommendation:

Although I have not yet found a job using Flexjobs, I have only recently started looking as of 4 days ago since my contract is ending in February. For my discounted $25 a year rate, it seems to be worth the cost; but would have more appeal if they would work on the ASP.NET aspect of the site. I'll see how the rest of this year goes before I consider renewing though.

It just surprises me that with .NET being such a large player in the industry, that they haven't added that category and don't respond to my emails. Perhaps it's because there are few .NET users using the site to make it worth their effort. Not sure! LOL.