Question by SedativeChunk: Finding jobs on Craiglist?
This is a serious question for anyone that is a freelance writer, graphic designer, web developer, or whatever that uses or has used Craiglist. I need help figuring out something about Craiglist! I am a freelance web developer and I am trying to find job opportunities on Craiglist (I’m completely new to the service, I’ve never used it till now).
I live near Pittsburgh and Craiglist automatically recognizes it. They have a section special to people who are posting/looking for website developers with freelance jobs, full jobs, and the works. Here is the link to this page:
http://pittsburgh.craigslist.org/web/
For the past couple weeks, I’ve been sending out massive amounts of emails to people on Craiglist to get work. I read a post and if I fill the requirements for the job, I send a super short, clean email out from my gmail account telling them I am interested in the job. I mean, like 60 emails I sent out in the past week to people in Pittsburgh and in all of Pennsylvania. Here is what a common post in the web developer section looks like:
http://pittsburgh.craigslist.org/web/2051968690.html
In the past two weeks, I got TWO responses only! One from a company that collected my resume and never emailed me back and another from a guy that also never emailed me back once I replied to him over setting up a wordpress website.
My main question here is why the hell is no one answering to my emails? Is gmail blocked from the craiglist email service? Am I sending too many emails out and getting blocked by Craigslist? Are all those post on there really just spam or something? This is ridiculous, I spent hours on that site last week shooting out emails and my inbox is completely empty!
Usually if it looks like spam or if it’s a big full time job with a big pay and all the benefits, I won’t touch it because I think it is some garbage. But Some of these jobs look like real postings where people would look for developers. They give some clear goals and and will just say they want a website.
Can anyone else give me some tips/advice? Are people sucking up the jobs lighting fast? Should I just give up on Craiglist or is there a reason why I can’t get any jobs from the site? Any advice would be appreciated. If you are also a web developer and have a good site for finding some work, please share the link!
Best answer:
Answer by Andrew F
There’re probably getting hundreds of emails from this post. I just recently got a job after 4 months of sending out applications and resumes all over the country. The economy sucks. Competition for jobs is way up. Your best bet is to stay positive and keep doing what youre doing
Give your answer to this question below!
May 21, 2011 at 8:15 am
Do not use Craigslist if you are serious about finding a job. The majority of job postings on Craigslist are FAKE. The people posting the ads are not employers and there are no actual jobs to be filled. They are looking to get your email address and any other personal information you choose to share with them. Save yourself time and energy and do not use Craigslist.
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May 21, 2011 at 8:18 am
suck it up, stay strong and keep your head up. you’re in the same boat, or ship rather, as millions of americans without a job. i was recently hired through craigslist only yesterday believe it or not after six months of replying to at least ten job posts a day. though there are many scams on craigslist it is pretty legit and if you have common sense you can tell which posts are legit or not. also don’t limit yourself to craigslist, try monster.com, hotjobs.com and walking through your downtown area with copies of your resume in hand as well. if i were you i’d just go into local businesses and ask if they have/need a website and become my own entrepreneur. times are tough, you have to be creative, resourceful, positive and confident.
good luck and don’t give up!
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