HR Article

Shark Infested Surfing !!

Shark Infested Surfing

I ve been using the internet since its heyday around mid 1997.
One of the first things I learned as I incorporated usage of the internet into my recruiting practice is to be wary of sharks when entering the surf .

It became quickly apparent that price gougers seemed to be waiting at every off ramp on the information superhighway. Here are just a few of my expensive lessons which may help others avoid making similar mistakes.

1. Always obtain competitive pricing and quotes from different web developers before choosing one!

I had once hired a now defunct design firm (term used loosely as the original design seemed like something my 6 year old daughter could have put together) to create my first IRES web site. It was very plain looking and cost me about $2,000 to boot. Less than a year later I asked how much it would cost to be able to Upload current job openings onto the site without having to program in html. I was told an admin program could be built, and installed for about $800.00 and fifty dollars per month to maintain it. This program would allow me to access the site using an ordinary browser (such as Internet Explorer), enter a password, and upload job descriptions and titles each week.

I quickly found out a month or so later after purchasing this admin program that I had been had Big Time! Turns out such programs that perform these functions are widely available as shareware . This means they are provided to programmers and designers (or your son or daughter for that matter) entirely for free!! I have such a cgi program now operating on www.iresinc.com (look under the articles archive link at the bottom of the articles/news page) and it doesn t cost me one penny to maintain monthly either! I lost about one thousand dollars (the $800.00 to set up plus the few months I paid the monthly fees) as a result of not having adequate knowledge. The company I used was DFX marketing here in N.J. which thankfully, no longer exists. I have vowed I would not let myself get bitten by this type of shark again!

2. Make sure you choose the right web designer .

Depending on your needs, you may not need a designer at all. You may need a cgi programming expert (these are the programs which operate classified ads, or listings of any type). Then again, you may actually need a GRAPHICS specialist if what you really want is an attractive home page that grabs attentions.

After investing $3,000 on my first web site ($2,000 for original site plus another $1,000 for an automated job listings page), I scrapped it for a nicer looking site which cost me another $1,500 last year (January, 2000). I still didn t like the look and felt it was an uphill struggle getting the designer (she really knew little about graphics) to provide the spiffy look I sought.

Finally, this year, I paid another $550.00 to a Canadian graphics expert which gave me precisely the look I had been seeking since 1997! The irony is, the most attractive work which pleased me the most turned out to be the LEAST expensive! Turns out I never needed a Web Designer in the first place (especially if you will be providing copy content, text, and general layout) what I needed all along and everyone failed to tell me was a Graphics Specialist !

3. If they don t ask you in-depth questions, and don t provide a contract in writing, don t do business with them!

This year, when I found out my hosting company was acquired, and hence, moving all web sites to the parent company s servers I found myself in need of a cgi programmer again that could fix broken links created by the hosting server move.

One company, which convinced me they were able to do this work, asked for a $250 deposit. They stated it would only require $550 to complete the fixing of the broken links . I thought this was high for what should be routine work, but agreed anyway.
Just as the work was proceeding the designer s wife stepped in and began changing prices. My husband should have said $750 she said in one call. Then an hour or so later the same day, changed it to $1,000 . Apparently she thought she had Bill Gates cousin on the other end and kept raising the fee.

Furious with what I considered highly unprofessional behavior, I cranked up my pc and pointed my browser to cgi programmers conducting search after search.
I found one that had been doing such work for 15 years. He stated it should take no more than two hours work and charged me $80.00 per hour a total of $160 for the same work another wanted to charge $1,000 for!!

This would be a difference of one hundred percent in pricing ! I know use David Black of Houston, Texas for nearly ALL my web work as I have found this gentleman to be the most trustworthy and straightforward of all I ve ever dealt with.

Before hiring ANYONE to outsource your web site related work, DO YOUR HOMEWORK first! And don t be shy to quickly cancel any working relationship that is not moving forward to your liking!

If you have any doubts, I suggest placing a clause in your web related contracts that state if you are dissatisfied you can cancel at anytime and not be liable for any further payments.

by Frank G. Risalvato, CPC CEO IRES, Inc.

Mr. Risalvato is an author/lecturer and writer on the subject of Internet recruiting
and his articles appear in several business publications nationally.

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