A bold advertising move catapults this job board into notoriety

Yahoo! HotJobs (NASDAQ:YHOO), previously known as hotjobs.com, is an online job search engine. It has been known as Yahoo! HotJobs since 2002 when Yahoo! purchased the company through an unsolicited bid, undercutting efforts by Monster.com to acquire the company. Yahoo! HotJobs provides tools and advice for job seekers, employers, and staffing firms. According to Compete.com, the site averages about 503,000 visitors per month.

Yahoo! HotJobs' services are free to job seeking users and include posting up to ten versions of a resume. Once signed on, job searches can be saved, allowing ongoing results to be emailed to the user. Job seekers have the ability to pull up statistics that feature the number of times an employer/recruiter reviewed their resume and a complete history of cover letters and resumes the job seeker has sent. Various tools within the site allow users to calculate ideal salaries and research employee stock options as well as have a "Job Tip of the Day" emailed to them. The Career Tools tab lists other resources, like resume building, interviewing advice, and an education center. Additionally, using the “HotBlock” unique to Yahoo! HotJobs, applicants can block some or all of HotJobs' companies from viewing their resumes.

Yahoo! HotJobs provides employers access to their resume search engine and the ability to post, edit and delete job ads at anytime and as often as they like at no additional cost. Employers are given access to a variety of communication devices, including letter templates and notes, as well as the ability to track their postings.

Hotjobs.com was founded by Richard Johnson in 1996. Johnson had previously founded the RBL Agency with Ben Carroccio, a boutique employment agency for technologists. The initial website was launched in early 1996 as RBL Agency which then evolved into the Online Technical Employment Center (OTEC) in 1999 and only featured technical jobs.

The company's first advertising effort was as a Yahoo! site of the week, which at the time could be purchased for $1000. In 1999 hotjobs.com startled the world when it bought a $1.6 million commercial during Super Bowl XXXIII, a bold move considering that its total revenues were approximately $2.5 million. McCann-Erickson Detroit was hired for the production. It proved to be a savvy investment, generating over $25 million in publicity. Immediately following the commercial, hotjobs' servers were overwhelmed with requests. The company went public in late 1999. By 2000, hotjobs.com had grown to $100 million in revenue, catching the eye of Yahoo! who soon purchased the company in a $436 million dollar deal that was set to position Yahoo! HotJobs as second only to Monster in the online recruitment market.

Interview at SHRM 2008