Is craigslist good for hiring salespeople?

15 replies
In my area craigslist costs $25 to post a job ad. Compared to monster.com, career builder, and most other job sites this is a deal considering the amount of traffic that craigslist gets. On the other hand, I've heard that craigslist has a not so great reputation both for the jobs listed, and also the quality of people who apply for jobs from craigslist.

Is this just a bad stereotype, or a legitimate cause for concern when attempting to hire a salesperson from craigslist?

Thank you for your time
#craigslist #good #hiring #salespeople
  • Profile picture of the author Jason Kanigan
    You are very likely going to have a tough time finding a good candidate for a salesjob through CL. I ran an agency for a management consultancy firm a few years back. We had to go through three 'rounds' of candidates before getting anyone of note. Most were completely unqualified and gave up in under two hours. This was for a working at home prospecting role. First couple rounds we got stay-at-home moms and psychiatrists who wanted something to do until their regular work bounced back. Not a good fit.

    So if you go this route, expect it to take awhile and to sort through the junk. Oh and offering sales training to the hirees made absolutely no difference. Most simply did not show up or stick with it. Make sure you get references, and only hire those with genuine TM experience.

    Your best option is to hire someone who seems good for $10/hr and give them 10 hours of work. Try them out for the hundred bucks. You limit your exposure, they feel they're earning a decent wage.
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  • Profile picture of the author webwizdevelop
    It depends on which area you are living in but before hiring someone from the craiglist you should search for their name and company name on the google and see the reviews if exists there. You should do your own research before hiring them
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  • Profile picture of the author serryjw
    Let me turn it around..WHAT/WHO are you looking for. I know several people that are looking for a REAL sale jobs.THEY have to go through dozens of ads before they find someone worth talking to. Experienced/Qualified salespeople are worth the investment IF YOUR company/product is real.
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    • Profile picture of the author Anthem40
      Originally Posted by serryjw View Post

      Let me turn it around..WHAT/WHO are you looking for. I know several people that are looking for a REAL sale jobs.THEY have to go through dozens of ads before they find someone worth talking to. Experienced/Qualified salespeople are worth the investment IF YOUR company/product is real.
      I have to think that even the average sales person is not going to consider CL as a good source for finding a sales job. Most the ads on there are IM sub contracting roles and look extra skeezy, so you would need to work hard on your positioning if you plan to play there.
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      95% of IM'ers have great relationships with clients who also advertise offline and with other people. Stop missing out on that cash and leverage into it. PM me if you are an established marketer and want to find out how.
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      • Profile picture of the author iAmNameLess
        Originally Posted by Anthem40 View Post

        I have to think that even the average sales person is not going to consider CL as a good source for finding a sales job. Most the ads on there are IM sub contracting roles and look extra skeezy, so you would need to work hard on your positioning if you plan to play there.
        I would have agreed with you a while back, but many cities Craigslist has added a posting fee. A lot of those sketchy jobs have fallen off the map, at least in cities where they require a fee. You make a great point though, whether a lot of the jobs are bad or not, you have to work on your positioning. Even with the posting fees in my city, you have to sell people to work for you especially if you are a startup company.

        CL has been good to me for providing applicants.... the quality though, is not always there. You have people who can't spell, their only jobs being in fast food, and a lot of people who have no potential. Every job posting I put up, I get around 40-60 applicants, and maybe... MAYBE... 5-10 are worth talking to. If you schedule 10 interviews, 5 don't show up. You might get one good sales person for every 100 applicants. Of course.... maybe your interviewing skills are better than mine, and maybe you have a better job ad than I do, so your numbers could be different.
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  • Profile picture of the author serryjw
    Anthem...I have to disagree. It is cheap for businesses to post, mostly free, so they can reach millions. WHERE else can a business reach that many? Unfortunately there are very few REAL sales jobs with salary and benefits...there is mostly distributors or resellers.
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    • Profile picture of the author Anthem40
      Originally Posted by serryjw View Post

      Anthem...I have to disagree. It is cheap for businesses to post, mostly free, so they can reach millions. WHERE else can a business reach that many? Unfortunately there are very few REAL sales jobs with salary and benefits...there is mostly distributors or resellers.
      You don't disagree at all. What good salesperson is going to spend more than 2 minutes on a site without REAL sales jobs?
      Signature
      95% of IM'ers have great relationships with clients who also advertise offline and with other people. Stop missing out on that cash and leverage into it. PM me if you are an established marketer and want to find out how.
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  • Profile picture of the author tjcreation
    I've found good salespeople through Craiglist. It all depends on what you are offering and how many resumes you are willing to read and digest before you interview. I usually send an email to the people I am considering interviewing asking them to call me. If they can't pick up the phone and contact me, I don't bother. If they call, I figure they deserve a shot.
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  • Profile picture of the author biggoogle
    I found a genuine superstar on CR.

    Best of luck.
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  • Profile picture of the author laurencewins
    What country do you live in? That can affect how you advertise. If it's Australia, I can give you tips but for other countries I don't have that same expertise.
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    Cheers, Laurence.
    Writer/Editor/Proofreader.

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  • Profile picture of the author socialentry
    I posted for two months through craigslist but got zero replies.
    Way too many bums on it, it looks like they've all been burned by MLM or they found telemarketing too hard or something else.

    Maybe I have been ghosted, I don`t know.

    In Canada, Kijiji is where its at.
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  • Profile picture of the author MartinBuckley
    I find and hire all my sales reps for my pizza discount card business from ads I post on Craigslist, so for me it has worked very well.

    All the best,

    Martin
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  • Profile picture of the author Gary Pettit
    Yes...Craigslist is awesome for find Salespeople.... pretty much for finding anything for that matter
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  • Profile picture of the author Matt Lee
    Yeah, I think so too. Just make sure to have a good screening process.
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    "One of the Most Successful Offline WSO's Ever!
    Get More High $$$ Clients with this Small Business Marketing PLR Magazine
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  • Profile picture of the author owais211
    Banned
    Hiring sales person through craigslist is a challenge. The price is high but you must be very smart to pick the suitable one from bunch of spam.
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