WEST PALM BEACH, FL -- When local artist and decorator Jacqueline Bloom found the demand for her high-end outdoor furnishings drying up this year she went looking in the newspaper's help wanted section.
"I saw a position at the Flagler Museum," she said.
Right after applying for the job on palmbeachpost.com, Bloom noticed a pop-up for a survey.
"The survey said it would highlight my name, have an agent call the employer on my behalf and place my application, I believe, at the top of the pile," she said.
The offer came from a program called "Highlight Yourself" based in Atlanta.
The company claims applicant's resumes will be "pushed to the top of the hiring manager's inbox." For $39.95 they'll do that plus send a spotlight email about you to the hiring manager and the employer would be contacted on your behalf. For $59.95 - they call it the works - you get your resume pushed to the top of the manger's inbox, a spotlight email sent to the employer, the employer is contacted on your behalf and you get notified the manager has viewed your resume.
"This just seemed like the more you paid, the better chance you'd have of getting the position, which was totally outrageous," said Bloom. "I just couldn't believe it. It's like a bribe."
David Carson, the public affairs director at the Flagler Museum, was asked if he had heard about this program.
"No, we had not. We do not participate in this program and in fact, we were unaware of this feature until it was brought to our attention," said Carson.
"We wouldn't treat any application that way," he said.
Carson said the hiring managers at the Flagler Museum didn't even know about the "Highlight Yourself" program.
"They were surprised to hear that this feature was offered and they stated to me that the purchase of any such package has no influence on any application," said Carson.
Lauren Manning, a representative with "Highlight Yourself" told us: "Our program offers job seekers an edge in this economy. With our technology, their resume goes into the hiring manager's inbox. It basically let's the employer know that the job seeker is very interested in the position. We know when the resume has been opened, but we don't know who viewed it or how long it was viewed."
Steve Dubin, the Palm Beach Post's online sales manager told us: "This a wonderful tool to help qualified candidates, but in no way does it replace equal opportunity. It's no different than paying to attend a networking event," he said.
"We do everything possible for job seekers to know there are no guarantees," said Dubin.
It's the reason the Better Business Bureau warns consumers to understand any job service before signing up.
"This can be the opportunity I've been looking for to have a greater presence given and my application to be known, and that's a problem," said Mike Galvin, of the Better Business Bureau.
"I tried to think if I was being too critical, but anytime I think about it, it just seemed totally wrong," said Bloom. "Of all the jobs I've ever had, I've never run into anything like this."
Lauren Manning at "Highlight Yourself" and its parent company, Appvault, LLC, said in this day and age of technology, it's a matter of positioning, placing your resume in a way that it gets seen.
The Palm Beach Post stands by the product, saying it is delivering what it advertises.
E.W.Scripps, owns several newspapers in South Florida. Scripps Treasure Coast newspapers works with Appvault, LLC, but decided to opt out of the response manager system saying, "We feel it is not in our best interest to charge someone to search for a job."
