Salon Technology | Hotjobs hoax

Dec. 23, 1999 | Julie, a freelance Web producer, arrived 15 minutes early for a hot job interview at the CBS news studios on West 57th Street in Manhattan. She was daydreaming about her chances of being a producer at CBS when she found her attention drawn to the reception desk, where several people were being turned away. When the clock struck 10 a.m., time for her to approach, she found out why: Julie (who asked to be identified by her first name only) wasn't scheduled for an interview, and neither were about a dozen others. The job posting was "an Internet hoax," the receptionist said.

The job had been posted to both the New York New Media Association site and HotJobs.com. When Julie responded to it, she got an e-mail that said, "Greetings. Your resume looks wonderful! We sincerely apologize for the delay in getting back to you. If you are still interested in the position, we would like to have you meet with our HR person, Valerie Fields, on Friday Dec. 10 at 10 a.m. at our West 57th St. offices." It was signed, "the CBSNews.com staff."

The anonymous sign-off "should have tipped me off," says Marsha, another would-be interviewee. Of course, the fact that there is no CBSNews.com (it's just CBS.com) should have alerted her too. Once she arrived, says Marsha, the folks at CBS told her: "You've been had. There's no one by that name here." But the ruse apparently meant to humiliate her didn't end horribly -- at least the receptionist told her to "leave your résumé."

No one at the New York New Media Association could be reached, but Robert Liu, a spokesman for HotJobs.com, said in an e-mail, "I was not aware of such dubious practices involving Internet job postings ... HotJobs.com has always taken measures to ensure that nothing like that would happen." Indeed, both sites require listers to have memberships and passwords, raising the probability that the perpetrator is someone already affiliated with the listings site.

Of course, such a prank could easily be used to less savory ends than merely frustrating a handful of people -- most of them women -- with fake appointments. What if someone went to similar lengths to post a job, but lured an applicant to a location where they would be vulnerable to mugging, rape or some other attack?

Liu says HotJobs has a staff devoted to performing "extensive reviews" of job-posting clients. "In fact, we won't even allow recruiting agencies to post jobs," he writes. "All the jobs on the site (as we like to say) are 'real jobs@real companies.'"

Meanwhile, Marsha is unfazed by the experience. "In retrospect, this cybervillain probably saved me," she said. "I hear Bryant Gumbel has a bit of an ego."
salon.com | Dec. 23, 1999

- - - - - - - - - - - -

About the writer
Frank Houston is a regular contributor to Salon.

Sound off
Send us a Letter to the Editor
Send e-mail to Frank Houston

- - - - - - - - - - - -

Get a printer-friendly version

E-mail a friend about this article

Backflip this article to find it again

- - - - - - - - - - - -

Search Salon


Search..Archives..Contact Us..Table Talk..Ad Info..Investors