Website Review #4 - Myopportunity.com

Hello again. I am back on schedule with my fourth review of the month!

Today I will be reviewing Myopportunity.com, which is another website focusing on a serious topic; this time in the form of business networking. This is a relatively new site that I found under a list of alternatives to professional platform LinkedIn, let me tell you a bit more about it:

Opportunity is a business networking website which works in a similar way to LinkedIn, however it is much more different in terms of generating leads and finding like-minded professionals to interact with. The website is described as a great option for individuals to build business relationships, find employment opportunities and even connect on a personal level. When compared with LinkedIn, Opportunity is an easier platform to work with and has its features spanned out across various categories rather than being crowded all over the place, and the site itself has a strong focus on building professional relationships so you don't even need to create a large profile to gain traction or stand out from other individuals. That's too much work for someone who just wants to communicate freely with anyone without any fuss!

The Myopportunity.com homepage - The presentation is as professional and positive as it gets. How inviting is this for the user? 

When you register with Opportunity, you just need to answer a few general questions such as preferred industry, locations, interests, and your current skill set. It's a simple process that won't take very long and once you enter the account portal it's all yours! You can edit your profile at any time if you want to change any details. As an additional bonus, you can also add your LinkedIn profile link or invite your LinkedIn contacts to join if you want to increase exposure. One of the best features in the Opportunity profile is the 'networking pitch' where you explain more  about your current employment, your role at work and interests outside of work. The networking pitch is important as you want to attract the right professionals with the same pathways as you and they will most certainly want to be interested in what you have to offer.

The main section of the account portal is the lead generation page, where there is a long list of professionals compiled together based on the interests and industry experience that you add to your profile. Feel free to contact as many professionals as you like as there is no boundaries for communication here. My first experience with contacting someone from Opportunity was actually quite good. A few months ago I interacted with a guy who worked in an IT company and talked about where we were at in terms of business and professional life. It was a very normal, short conversation and it just goes to show that these individuals are very serious about maintaining business relationships and they are not playing around. With Opportunity, you are basically interacting with the right people at the right time.

The Opportunity account portal and leads page, where you can build relationships with your leads based on experience and personal interests. (Names, pictures and locations of individuals have been blocked out for privacy reasons.)

Now before I finish I would like to remind you that some of the features on Opportunity are part of an extensive PRO upgrade that requires payments every month or so. Some special PRO features included in the upgrade include extra profiles for employment, dating and sales, mass messaging to all your leads and profile verification. You can even interact with special professionals who have a PRO upgrade and verified profiles! If you would like to go the extra mile and get the full package then I suggest you go ahead and try it for yourself. I haven't bought the PRO upgrade myself but I am thinking of doing so in the future. It would be nice if there was a free trial for the PRO features so you could try them out before paying for the full upgrade.

In conclusion, I believe that this website is an excellent platform for business networking and works as a great companion piece to LinkedIn. The professionals that use Opportunity for business relations are real, legitimate people and there are no fake profiles found. Anyone who is willing to maintain strong business relationships and build their professional image can use Opportunity to their full advantage. It has a clean web design and professional presentation, good functionality and interactive nature. 

Final Rating: 8/10

That's it guys! Another review done and dusted! See you on Wednesday for the next one!

Website Review #3 - Monster.com

Hello again! Just a quick heads-up from yesterday that I am feeling much better now and I would like to thank my readers for their patience as I cook up another website review! 

Today I will be reviewing Monster.com, which is completely different to the last two websites as it focuses on a more serious topic rather than leisure activities. Don't be fooled by the name, it is not as scary as you think! I am also relatively new to this site so I may be a bit slow in recognizing some of its features but I can work my way through it without any issues. Anyway, lets move on:

Monster is an American job search and career advice website that has lasted for more than 20 years. It is one the more popular and recognizable employment sites on the web and is a global leader in connecting job seeking candidates to potential career opportunities. Just like any other job search website, Monster has it's own jobs board which houses several jobs in various categories that candidates can apply for depending on their skill level, experience and compatibility.

Monster.com Homepage - Very clean and spacious presentation, shows off a professional image
that is appealing to job seekers.

Now you might be thinking, does this website do more than just match candidates with jobs? What other features are available to enhance the job search? What makes this website better than the others? Well if you delve a little bit further into Monster, you will find separate pages dedicated to career advice, resources, resume tips and salary tools; so there is always a wealth of information available on the site to assist you with your job search. You are also welcome to create a job seeker account and fill in the necessary details about your employment history, education, skills and more to add to your profile. It just goes to show that Monster isn't just about the job search at hand and that there is definitely more to discover if you dig deeper.

Another really great takeaway is that when you create a job seeker profile with Monster and upload your latest resume on their site, you are automatically eligible to have your resume assessed by a professional resume team hired by Monster. This is an excellent hidden feature that isn't easy to find on other employment websites. When I sent my resume through to the team at Monster for a professional resume assessment I was given some thorough, much needed advice on how my resume should be presented and what I should include. I trust that Monster's professional resume team is extremely knowledgeable in knowing about resume presentation and encourage all job seekers to try it out for themselves! And guess what, there's more to come! The next fantastic Easter egg in this site is that once you edit your resume and profile, you can choose whether or not you would like your account to be public and seen by recruiters! Yes, that's right! Recruiters can search through hundreds of profiles on Monster and they might get the opportunity to view yours and potentially contact you! My resume has been viewed 2 times so far, I know it is a slow start to begin with as there are a lot of profiles for them to skim through but once you tailor your profile and resume to the right standards then it will be deemed as satisfactory to the recruiter's eyes!

This is Monster's jobs board, where you type in the preferred job and location and it will automatically find similar jobs that could be the 'right fit' for the candidate.

Another thing I would like to add is all of the jobs on Monster are located in the US, as it is an American-based website. So if you are someone who is looking for work in other countries (or remote/work from home jobs within your country), there is a separate section dedicated to international jobs so you can find the right career in your preferred location.

From what I have seen so far, it looks like Monster is designed to actually help you with your job search and not leave you behind like some other casual job search sites. With it's built in features, impeccable web design and key functions, it gives off a very strong-willed demeanor and professional presentation that is inviting to the user. Their career resources are legitimate and the use of personal anecdotes in their advice section is a great source of inspiration for job seeker candidates.
Everything about this site is real. It is not trying to deceive you in any way. In conclusion, I think that Monster has the potential to go even further and add more helpful features for today's job seeker candidates.

Final Rating: 8/10

Thanks for reading my review! Unfortunately that is it for this week as I have missed out on Monday's review, but I will definitely be back on schedule next Monday so I will see you then!