To say that things with Monster.com have been a bit chaotic lately would be an understatement. After dealing with two major data breaches in 2007 and 2009 that caused identity theft issues for millions of users, the company was notified by NASDAQ that it could be delisted from the market because it was not reporting its earnings on time. Monster managed to stay on NASDAQ, but the road has not been any smoother.
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Monster.com used to be the king of the hill. The comScore website announced in 2006 that Monster.com was one of the top 15 websites out of over 100 million sites around the world. Those numbers were based on traffic and a lot of the important metrics such as bounce rate and time on each page. Being in the top 15 out of 100 million is pretty impressive, but the good times at Monster.com have not lasted. From 2007 to 2011, Monster.com’s stock has plummeted 66 percent. In 2014, Monster.com decided to try and get back on top of the job board mountain.
Monster.com’s Plan For The Future
Monster.com has actually put together a plan that involves several steps to increase exposure for candidates and allow employers greater access to information. Monster.com boasts a million available jobs at a time for job seekers and one million candidates to choose from for employers. The company intends to expand its database of information for both employers and job hunters, while allowing cloud access for employers that will make it easier for employers to access the database from mobile devices.
Monster.com is also planning on reaching out to investors to get more cash to execute its long-term plans. More cash, in most cases, means more stability and that sense of stability can help improve the stock price. As the stock price goes up, the value for shareholders increases and Monster.com is back on top of the world again.
The Problem With Monster’s Plans
Job boards such as Indeed.com and job board software providers like RealMatch offer extremely integrated services. Employers can use Indeed.com to screen resumes and reduce the amount of preliminary work they have to do to find the right candidates. RealMatch provides job board software for digital publishers and job boards that includes Real-Time Job Matching technology, also saving hours of preliminary work for employers as they find the best candidate matches. Services like these are something that Monster.com is just starting to consider. Several of Monster.com’s competitors have been offering this integrated service for years.
Monster.com’s problem is that it was unable to adjust its business model as technology changed. Instead of continually innovating new solutions, Monster.com sat back and just let its database grow. There was no attention paid to security (as millions of users found out) and there was little thought of creating integrated services for employers. While the competition was pulling away from Monster.com, the industry giant was still wading in its own waters and adding very little value to its users.
Can Monster Make A Comeback?
As a company that has been around since 1999, Monster.com understands the value of marketing. The company’s short-term prospects of increasing stock prices and getting back some of its market exposure are very high. All Monster.com needs is a catchy Super Bowl commercial and it can ride that wave for a few months. But when the initial hoopla dies down, Monster.com will be in trouble.
None of Monster.com’s newest plans address the issues of security, employer services and innovation. The initial marketing drive may bring an increase in database numbers and bump the stock price a little, but Monster.com is going to need a major overhaul if it is going to compete with Indeed.com and the other top job boards.