Complaint Review: The Career Network - Internet

A few years ago I registered and posted my resume on a website called Job Animal. They sent potential job matches to my email account, but I never found any jobs that really matched my job qualifications. I stepped up my job search when I lost my job last year.

I then registered and posted my resume on Beyond.com. At the time, I thought it was a wonderful resource. As on Job Animal, I created a whole portfolio that included my job history and education.

When I would find a job I was interested in on Beyond.com, I was often directed to The Healthcare Jobsite and then, clicking on a button to apply for the position, I was directed to Applicant Tree where I would complete a short application form that asked for personal information and asked whether I was interested in information on furthering my education and some other services. It also allowed me to download my resume and asked how I preferred to receive updates on the job posting.

I never received any updates on my application, nor received any calls from the employers. I did receive a lot of telemarketing and hang-up calls, though, which I rarely answered but they were a disruption to my job search.

A few months ago, after spending nearly a year searching for a job, I began having problems attaching my resume on the Applicant Tree job application form until eventually it wouldn't attach to the form at all. I did some research on the Internet and learned that Applicant Tree is affiliated with The Career Network, which is also affiliated with Beyond.com and Job Animal. The Healthcare Jobsite is powered by Beyond.com.

I found I couldn't delete my profile on Beyond.com and when I clicked on the "contact us" link nothing happened. Another victim of the scheme said they tried calling a telephone number listed for them but reached a non-working number. I finally had to change all of the information in my profile in order to get my information off of their website and blocked any emails from Beyond.com, which also stopped emails from The Healthcare Jobsite and Job Animal.

Interestingly enough, all of the harassing telephone calls ceased, too. Until, that is, I was lured in again by a job posting on a legitimate job board, which directed me to the same posting on The Healthcare Jobsite. The job posting looked like it had been tailored just for me and I couldn't resist trying to apply for it.

Hitting the "apply" button directed me to a website called Gigats where there was an application form similar to the Applicant Tree form, with the same questions. As always, I indicated that I wasn't interested in furthering my education. When I tried to submit the form, a message appeared welcoming me back to Beyond.com and claiming that my profile had been created although I wasn't prompted for a password or anything.

When I checked the website of the company I tried applying with, there was no such position opening listed. I briefly received more of the harassing telephone calls, but figured out how to again remove my personal information from the Beyond.com website.

I am still very upset about this scam because I wasted a lot of time for almost a year, applying for quite a few jobs through Applicant Tree. I really feel that I am due compensation for the loss of wages since this scam did divert me from my actual job search. I had already spent my life savings going back to school, and the time I have left to start a new career is very limited because of my age and a disability that was exacerbated in my last job, and now I feel like I have been robbed again of a career.