Ray’s Web 2.0 Business Minitests: Doostang.com
by
on November 17, 2006,
A few years ago, people at the MIT and Staford Universities had a good idea: why not create a network so that we can use the internet to help former university members in obtaining good positions with companies or organizations.
I like the MIT and its approach towards sharing knowledge online. Most of their courses and content can be found on their website and you can join their online lectures for free! Doostang shares the same ideals because there is no membership fee and if you want to publish a job, you can do so for free also. No one will be watching you if you directly share your email or phone address on Doostang, because they don’t have a commercial goal with the network.
So I like it, I wish they would open up for everyone to see how it works. They are not a market leader now, LinkedIn is. But I have a feeling Doostang should be because they have a simpler system and don’t have to first obtain a huge number of connections before you can contact someone. Once you are invited and you are in, you can see every job-posting, make job-postings for free, upload your standard resume and contact everyone for free.
There also is a bad side I must say: the contact management. I once made the mistake to invite a bulk of people to Doostang which contained a few people whom after closer consideration, I didn’t want to invite and I just could not make it stop. Even after I had deleted my profile, people were getting re-posted invitations! Horrible, horrible… and potential dangerous for your business.
So my advice is: get on there, use the system, but be very very selective who you want to invite…
SummaryThe Doostang free system is one of the best web 2.0 job portals. I have added a hyperlink for you to find out for yourself. Be careful who you invite, you don’t need a huge network here. Sadly it is a bit too much oriented towards the USA.
| Key-web 2.0 factor | Points (1-10) | Remarks |
| 1) Manage and view profile |
8 |
Good easy upload of resume, good interface |
| 2) Manage contacts |
6 |
Import / export of contact databases possible, be carefull |
| 3) Communication options |
6 |
Email only no IM, but you can name IM/ Skype |
| 4) Effective business use |
6 |
Find new jobs or search for people, US oriented |
| 5) Growing potential |
7 |
Upgrade, integrate services, help the recruitment business of your members |
| 6) Money making potential |
7 |
Maybe it should stay as it is… but charge for ads |
| Total |
40 |
Verdict: simple, free, good but limited scope |
Got any ideas for tests or do you want strategic / consulting advise? Have a look at my profile Regards, Ray
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Svetlana Gladkova
Michael Fidler 
jiri
[Ray] Notchup my Zybka Doostang Faceconnect Blue Chips expert
02/02/2008
Did you get those invitations as well? From Notchup, Faceconnect, Blue Chips Expert, Zubka etc. etc? They all have one thing in common: they promise you referral fees if you bring in your network for recruitment purposes. If you visit those pages they seem quite genuine, they offer networking tools and a dashboard of some sort where you can find out how much your referral network has grown. So why not, you have nothing to loose…or do you?
Well it took me a long time testing these networks to find out what seems to be going on. Apparently there is a great ‘grey’ market for CV’s. The price for a resume depends on your years of experience, your expertise and if a phone number is added or not. The price varies between a couple of dollars to hundreds of dollars for e.g. a resume of an experienced auditor or actuary.
That is what all these Portals have in common as well, they offer you the ability to upload your resume.. They also have in common that they probably will not pay you out anything and that they don’t even have a solid payment system in place in order to do that..
So beware, no one knows for sure, but I have my doubts about these initiatives, just be very careful if you come across a company that offers any kind of resume-upload facility.
What I do know for sure is:
- Notchup: no recruiter will pay you anything to talk to you and surely not for someone they don’t know. So that seems very obvious to me.
- Zubka; I tested it 2 ways; as Jobhunter and as a Recruiter. The vacancy I added as a recruiter never showed up in the system. They also have no payment system in place
- Blue Chips; I became a member over a year ago. It seemed possible.. This one was uncovered by people in my network. It seems that they are selling those CV’s for sure.