This came up on my radar and I took a look at it. And this big fat old turkey is unimpressed. Anytime you have to hunt for how much something costs that to me is a big red flag. In looking at it, I had three observations:
(1) It suffers from what I call LinkedIn syndrome — you can only have one resume — so how can you customize for the oppty under consideration;
(2) It’s three blind mice — who is looking at your resume, who is submitting it duplicatively (I lost a job that way), and who are you selling into.
(3) It costs the seeker money.
So it has a lot of negatives in my mind. Any one of these would turn me off.
YMMV
*** begin quote ***
Plan A – $39.95
Resume Distribution
One time fee – 3 distributions. We will email your profile to recruiters, employers and corporate hiring managers that have registered at ResumeSpider to receive your information. These targeted leads are matched by your desired job function, industry and location.
Plan B – $69.95
Resume Distribution Plus
(Valued at $79.90)
Same as Plan A. We also provide you their contact information, track who has opened and evaluated your resume, and give you access to the SpiderTalk private messaging system.
Plan C – $99.95
Combo Package
(Valued at $119.85)
Same as Plan B. In addition, you now have access to our Industry List containing 100s or 1000s of company contacts. We do not send your resume to this list; however this list provides you a minimum of one key contact name at companies targeted by their office locations and their respective industries. If you are applying to job ads, you usually don’t know who received your resume, so this information can very helpful because now you have a name to contact.
*** end quote ***
# # # # #
Reinke Faces Life 
I just got spammed by Resume Spider (that’s never a good sign, is it?) and a subsequent Google search led me here. My suspicions seem to be pretty much confirmed. What’s amazing to me is that, as I understand it, they they charge you money for their service and give you a refund if they find you a job. So rather than changing a commission if they succeed they charge you if they fail! That’s backwards, my friends.
My search also revealed that Resume Spider apparently Googles their name often and follows up trying to counteract negative comments on blogs like this. Virtually every negative post I found had a reply from Resume Spider. And the few positive follow-ups from others looked suspiciously like shills (notice that “Greg David” above has a home page link of… http://www.resumespider.com).
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Earl
I have used Indeed for several months and found the jobs posted are better than most. I would recommend Indeed over resumespider any day. It is free and you can get job alerts on a regular basis. Good luck in your job hunting. Networking works to. Call old friends you worked with in the past.
David
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Well Greg,what can I say except that I totally disaggree with you……..
Maybe you are (1) one company in a hundred that uses them, but most companies never see the resumes that are sent because the IT deaprtments block their resumes as SPAM. So how much of a fee do they pay you to push their employment search service at your conferences or meetings?
Know what SPAM is?
They (the mailings)never make it to the right people, get deleted from their company mail servers.
How do I know this, because a few of the 600 plus that were sent out, told me to stop sending them to them…….I told them I couldn’t.
Their IT departments are having to remove them from the CAUGHT emails and dump them every day so the mail server can handle the real business emails within and outside as well..
The others that I called to see if they really got them and reviewd them, the ones that were reported back to me, that were supposelied viewed, also told me they never got opened, never made it to the HR departments or the Hiring managers.
So in closing,,,,,I did my homework, but not till after I had done the mailings with not one darn contact whatso ever for an interview or not even a phone call follow up.
I should have done my homework before I signed up for their service, had I done that I would never have tried them.
I was one of the lucky ones, I got my refund, others were not so lucky……
Rick
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I cannot comment on the experience that others here have had, but I can tell you that our firm uses ResumeSpider as well as many other organizations to receive resumes on those in active search mode. For us, it is a great tool and we are pleased to be able to help those in need.
Each month, I spend a significant amount of time and effort speaking at employment conferences and job workshops and despite what is written here, I regularly receive positive and good feedback on ResumeSpider. Can’t tell you why a handful of people each month do in fact share positive feedback while others here have not experienced it—can only share what I hear.
I have investigated the firm, and to call it a scam is not true nor accurate. They are an established and legitimate firm. Having observed them and many like them for the last several years, I personally have had no negative experiences with them, nor has anyone at any of the employment conferences I speak at shared such commentary.
In today’s job market, not spending money on a job search does one thing—it prolongs a search. If you are new to the job market, do your homework and spend some money. You may choose to use ResumeSpider or another tool like it, or you may not. But I can tell you that getting your resume into the proprietary databases of all the search firms and corporations that do utilize such services like we do is invaluable. I would estimate that someone already in our database before we have a search they fit, is more than 5 times likely to be considered versus someone who hears of the search and tries to network their way in or sends their resume in response to hearing of the opening.
Do the homework yourself and make an informed decision.
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Resume Spider is a scam! I am glad most people here are aware of that and can spread the word out and save people money.
Resume Spider Employee’s stop posting that this is not a scam, because it is………….
DON’T FALL FOR IT PEOPLE
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Thanks for all the feed back on spider monkey( oops, I mean resumespider. You have saved me time, $$ and aggrevation.
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Well after many emails and conversations, I got my refund back for my money spent.
Nice to see the other comments from the so called people that are so called signed up to recieve their blasting..as noted by Stacy and John,
Just as I told Steve at Spider, they never open them, never receive them because of spam blocking programs….
To those reading this, follow the advise of others, don’t pay to use them. Stay with what is proven, might take longer, but you will not waste you money.
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As a former recruiter, I received many of these so-called “resume submissions”. In my estimation, I received 1 resume in 5 years that was even remotely related to what my company did. Most of them were blocked by our various firewalls and such. If they did get through, I usually deleted them quickly.
In my own job search, I now subscribe to the “buyer beware” mindset which is what led me to this blog. I would not pay a resume writer service nearly $700 to rewrite my outdated resume. What makes Steve think that I am going to pay up to $100 plus to have someone spam my resume to countless inboxes to have them deleted instantly.
One last point, the “networking” that he describes in his response is not true networking. That is simply list building through cold calling. What I really want to know is how OFTEN these lists are updated. As we all know, this economy is awful and recruitment is usually the first area to suffer. Names are worthless if they are no longer valid.
I will stick to The Ladders, Indeed, CraigsList and the job portals (CareerBuilder, Monster, etc…)
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After reading the comments here and reviewing the RS services, I can see why so many are flying the red flag.
Thanks to all, saved me $70.00. I’ll give indeed and monster a shot.
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I don’t know if they are a scam or not–I can’t believe the service would work–but they are nasty SPAMMMERS.
I have clicked to remove myself from their lists a number of times. Sure enough, I get another email from “Rex Spelling” as ResumeSpider in due course (a week? two weeks later?).
I am now blocking them with spam filters.
They suck.
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I don’t know if it’s fair to describe ResumeSpider as a “scam,” but the Big Warning Flag is that it’s basically a more elegant version of the old “resume blasting” services from a a decade ago. You know, the ones that job hunting advice for the *last* decade has basically warned us not to use.
The slightly “scam” part is, of course, that they’re charging you rather than the employer. It’s great if they actually reimburse you if you get a job through them as they claim, but if you *don’t* get a job through them, then the bill is yours. I avoid any service that *requires* job seekers to pay, and have a strong antipathy toward services that are technically free, but constantly pressure job seekers to spend more money with them like JobFox.
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Well,, I have to add my name to those that SCAMMED by these guys……..
They did a mailing for me, 650 sent out, 98 were opened and read or evaluated as they say,,,,8 or 9 did reply to the mail site to say I was not a fit, but 98 out of 650 is les than 15% return on my investment…
I agree, why would I senf out another mailing to the same industries to only have them do the same.
Seems to me the number of the ones that did not even open and evaluate my resume, tells me they also have JUNK / SPA< [rotestions on their servers that prevent the mailings from even going to the right people.
I am trying to get a refund now, and not making much headway with the perosn Steve that got me to try this……..
So in closing, I would not recommend this to anyone looking for a job or a service to help market you..
I am even think of sending in complaints to Consumer Agency to have them looked into If they refuse to refund my hard earned money………
DO NOT WASTE YOU MONEY ON THESE FOLKS……..
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I also almost signed up for Resume Spider, but didn’t and had very positive results from looking on indeed.com and Monster.com. Monster is a great, great service; the best. They also offer resume distribution for a price, but it’s on an if you want it level. If you want to spend your money on having help with distributing your resume, I would go with someone with a reputable name and established reputation and reliability. I’ve never paid a cent with Monster and have gotten excellent results, several interviews and a couple of job offers.
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RESUME SPIDER SCAM
MY MOST RECENT EMAIL TO THE SPIDER SCAMMERS IN AN ATTEMPT TO GET A REFUND:
SCAM ALERT! SCAM ALERT! SCAM ALERT! SCAM ALERT!
“Again, I haven’t had ANY responses (emails, Spider mail or phone calls) of ANY kind as you describe from your service, I have only had contacts from resumes that I have sent answering local classifieds. In addition, my response rate from your sight should be increasing, according to your sight and I have had “zero” as in NO responses. Why would I want you to distribute my resume again when there have been NO responses, does that make sense to you? Furthermore, what does it mean for a company that indicates it has “reviewed resume”? Am I supposed to call all 150 plus of these so called ‘respondents”, waste their and my time to convince them that I am an “A” player and should have been called by them? I have secured previous positions with the resume submitted to your sight, beating out several hundred candidates, more than once. Results oriented recruiters, the good ones, don’t work like that.
Once again, don’t waste any more of our time, if your goal is my satisfaction, remove my account and credit me for the amount charged or do a prorated amount at the very least.”
MPC
USE: Indeed.com, Monster, SimplyHired or your local Sunday paper and your results will be just as 100% GUARANTEED as “Resume Spitter” and won’t cost you a dime……
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Thanks guys for all your posts. I checked out the link on Gustavo’s post and, it’s true, ResumeSpider is ALSO a business opportunity. I don’t necessarily have a problem with that as long as the company provides a quality service for the cost of its membership, and I think therein lies the real discussion.
I paid $55 for a Premium Package to advertise my car on Cars.com, but you know, it sold in 41 days at my asking price. Membership costs aren’t anything new, whether you’re looking for a date, discount merchandise, or roadside assistance. The point is, just becuse there is a cost for a service doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a scam. I think one also needs to be realistic about employment expectations in this job market, and if your education, skills and employment history reflect the position you’re applying for.
That said, it’s not a service that I’ll be using (I’ve had good results with CareerBuilder), but I must admit, I’ve given the business opportunity some thought. Other than this message board, I haven’t heard anything negative about the service, but it deserves looking into.
Good luck to everyone.
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Thanks for this page- I almost paid for this and I cannot afford to throw any money away right now.
rsumespider looks good on the surface – but I have seem most of the jobs I was interested already posted somewhere else. So I do not think this program is that necessary.
I will jsut keep checking the other free services and the one I subscribed to that I like IHIRE Hospitality, careerbuilder, Yahoo’s job site and Craig’s list.
Good luck out there- it is a tough market for us right now.
Rick
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I heard about resume spider from a recruiter. Being the skeptic that I am I looked it up and found this page.
Why would this recruiter be so enthusiastic about it ? Here is your answer:
https://www.resumespider.com/afhome_.phtm
Easy Referrals Mean Big Commissions for You!
I wonder if just like with eHarmony and others you start receiving emails when your membership is about to expire…
Follow the money …
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I used them 3 years ago and I’m going to use them again today. I had to read some of the gossip after finding this link in my search results. Typical unimpressive crying and playing the blame game. Probably spider’s competition trying to run their name thru the mud.
Just contact spider yourself and get informed to see if it is right for you. Be positive and take ownership over YOUR job search. Peace!
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I opened my wallet to get my credit card to sign up for Resume Spider …but I thought it would be smart to Google it to see if I could find any feedback. You folks saved me $39.
Off topic, I noticed a reference from Kris regarding indeed.com. Iwould appreciate any feedback on this site.
Thanks
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I wish I had read this before plunking down $70 of my hard earned cash. It appears that their “members” are no more than Johnny come lately freelancers looking to make a buck off of your unemployment situation.
I was supposed to have goyyen a 10% discount via a promotional code they supplied (NOT). When I called them on it; they never answered me!
Save your money — it’s bad enough you have none coming in — why throw what you have away?
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Thanks Debbie, Kris and especially Steve, you just save me some money! Keep this posting right here so other people can see.
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I’m going to ditto Debbie…it’s a waste of money…they claim to send your resume out to a huge number of recruiters and companies….I’ve had 2 responses that led no where…you’re better off looking for jobs at indeed.com and submitting the resume on your own.
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I have to agree with Debbie, just another scam. I have several friends who took his bait, paid their money, and poof! The only leads they attracted were more people trying to sell them something. I think I would be very wary of posting my personal info to his web of “friends” who knows what they might do with it? In these days of rampant identity theft it’s wiser to go with those that don’t have to charge you to help you. Just my three cents– (inflation).
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Don’t bother. I have been with resumespider for 1 year and have had no results.
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Steve,
Interesting idea you have.
How would one find out how many companies you have in your database and how many are immediatly hiring for specific group of jobs prior to signing up?
I am interested in your service but as we all know the USA
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Hi,
I found your posting this morning and would like to respond. It seems you may be somewhat confused on what we do so I would like to have an opportunity to get more information to you.
ResumeSpider is not a job board; like Monster, Careerbuilder, or HotJobs. We are not like Linkedin either. If we were like any of these I would agree with your 3 points.
We are a career specific networking tool that offers a common-sense solution to decreasing the time it takes for you to develop a targeted list of contacts. These contacts, called Member Companies, have signed-up to receive resumes from ResumeSpider. Furthermore, the online reporting feature provides accountability by tracking the progress of your campaign. Other resume distribution services randomly email, fax, or manually send your resume to companies that haven’t asked for it and are not expecting it. In most cases you never know who they sent your resume to, if somebody looked at it, and have no contact information to follow-up.
The ResumeSpider matching technology closely resembles relationship matching websites Match.com and eHarmony. Job Seekers are matched to Member Companies in the network based on their job function, industry experience and desired locations. Then your profile is emailed to those select Member Companies. ResumeSpider has 1000s of companies in their network and adds 400-500 new companies, on average, every month. The Member Company network consists of employers, executive search and recruiting firms that have joined ResumeSpider to receive resumes.
Most would agree that networking is a very important activity in any job search and should be incorporated as soon as possible. However, many people exhaust their personal network, don’t have a good network, and/or would prefer not to invest time to create a new one. For example, to do this on your own, you need to call into a company, find out if they hire your profile, then get a contact name, phone number and email address. Now duplicate that task 250 or 500 or 1000 times. Unfortunately this effort can take weeks or months with our own time and resources. Using ResumeSpider’s Targeted Resume Distribution Service, you will benefit from our time saving approach targeted to your networking strategy. It is important to remember that your time is worth something!
On average 80-85% of the jobs that were open were filled WITHOUT ever being advertised to the public. Furthermore, employers don’t want to pay $500-$2500 to post a job and search the online databases, especially with no guarantee they will find a candidate. That is why they only advertise their critical or hard to fill positions. Bottom line – don’t limit a job search to scouring the jobs ads. ResumeSpider is not the lone solution either and should be used with many other sources too.
I’m not sure if you are in the career industry, but I will say that most job seekers that use ResumeSpider are referred from professionals in the career industry; Career Coaches, Resume Writers and Executive Recruiters. Regardless, you seem to be very open-minded towards discussions like this, so I look forward to hearing back from you soon.
Best Regards,
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