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Forum Quote:
"Hey! Wouldn't it be nice if everyone who blogs would put a notice up in their blogs about these job openings? Then we could ALL help ourselves by helping etsy!!"
Bitches Auxiliary Response:
If this isn't objectionable, then I need Prozac
Am I just too bitter to get it? Seriously? I'm not putting an ad on my blog for their open job positions unless they PAY for that ad. I sure as heck won't be recommending people apply for positions there. And for pete's sake, why is this our job?
Oh wait, I know---now that my vintage store has screeched to a stop, I have time on my hands to PR and HR. Nevermind, clearly I should be happy for my new focus in life. Heh.
Please, tell me this is sarcasm and I'm too dense to get it!
16 Comments:
This one was such a funny post. Like any of us now need to take on the responsibilities of a company's HR... posts like tahat must make admin cringe anyway. I'm sure they do not need seller's help on things like this.
I like how people proceeded to point out that Etsy has not listed the jobs on any known and respected job search site.
I remember last year they had a contest, a hundred dollars to spend on Etsy if a member found someone they hired.
Hmmm yeah...we do all your promotion and now we're taking over HR. Where's our fucking paychecks?
I've seen this type of group mindset at another online mall type venue. A group of sellers who had no life but the site forums began to view themselves as employees of the site and the owners/admin as their 'bosses'. Forgetting that they were the customers who should be treated with care and respect. This is very similar. The venue I refer to is still around. There are other similarities with Etsy. If this is not coincidental, then Etsy borrowed part of their game plan from a bunch of losers. Sad.
Please pass the barf bag. My blog is about ME, for now, anyway.
I agree with el-stinko, sort of shades of the Stockholm Syndrome.
el stinko has a great point. People can feel too much "ownership" in the forums. Etsy is a business site that we are a part of, but we're not frigging shareholders in it, and they can run however they would like to.
Etsy fosters this sort of ownership/partnership syndrome. They rely on us to report forum posts that violate rules, they rely on us to flag listings and/or sellers that violate TOU. They rely on us to report Alchemy violations and they rely on us to assist people looking for help in the forums.
Then, they give us a forum for ideas to improve the site, ask for our input on various site features, Who wouldn't think they have earned the right to voice their opinions on how things are run?
Maybe it doesn't give us the right to question or demand or even expect, but the fact that they rely so heavily on their customers to do their jobs sure gives the illusion that we have some say.
Someone mentioned that you wouldn't walk into walmart and start demanding that they use paper instead of plastic and you wouldn't try to tell them how to run things. Well, if walmart told you that you could sweep the floors if you felt like it and provided you with brooms, and told you that you could straighten the shelves if you wanted to, and that if you wanted to help the customers out, why knock yourself out! I would imagine that some people would become very invested in Walmart and their future and feel very much a 'part of the team' and entitled to voice opinions on how the business is run. Walmart (Etsy) wants you to feel invested in them, it makes you loyal and grateful when they make it appear they are listening to you. It makes you shell out that .20 because they 'care' about you.
Oh yeah, Etsy isn't stupid, not by a long shot, but I'm sorry to say that many of it's users are if they believe that.
"It makes you shell out that .20 because they 'care' about you."
No, I'm pretty sure etsy DOESN'T care about me.
But they like my money. I like it too; so at least we have that in common.
they've screwed up by relying on their members to do the work of 60 for them so
its no wonder they're out appliquing pooping swimmys- everyone else is eager and waiting to do their jobs for them
now that they cannot even rely on their own forum police to work responsibly its all coming apart at the seams
get it together people
the stinky one said...
....they rely on us to flag listings and/or sellers that violate TOU....
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... and then after reporting or flagging obvious mistagged items they insult their "volunteers" by not doing anything with the information.
Fun times. A customer alerts Etsy to an issue and then Etsy can't be bothered to say Thank You or correct it.
Makes me want to waste more time flagging, how about you?
What Etsy expects from the shop owners should -- clearly and simply -- be spelled out in the TOU. Sellers also should expect Etsy to stand up to their obligations in the TOU AND keep their customers, the sellers, up to date on planned changes/enhancements to the site, how problems are being addressed and so on.
If sellers know in advance that Etsy expects community members to assist with things like flagging -- and then discover Etsy admin never seems to follow up or communicate why no action was taken -- then sellers rightfully feel that Etsy isn't holding up its end of the agreement.
Sellers need to push for some kind of change to the TOU that makes Etsy responsible for some kind of promotion of the site to buyers and scale down the promotion of the site to new sellers.
Bricks and mortar shopping malls promote the vendors in their mall to the public, but use other channels to advertise available space to new stores. Online should be the same. Shop owners still need to promote themselves, but the venue must promote in a general way.
I do not think Etsy's role is to promote the concept of handmade to crafters who are not sellers. Rather they need to promote handmade to buyers who are looking to purchase something they don't wish to make for themselves.
Etsy's staff vacancies should not be in the forums or the Storque (I like Dorque better). Etsy needs to start establishing some boundaries between the owners/staff and the sellers. Etsy is not a democracy in reality, no matter how many silly threads they start in the forums polling the usual group of participants.
Sometimes I just want to stop flagging and call out all the offending sellers I've flagged. Right in the forums.
Sometimes I just don't care anymore.
Well, calling out seems to get the job done faster, doesn't it? Until that lampwork bead reseller was called out, her little escapades were swept under the rug. Admin dragged their feet and covered for her.
I understand the reason why it's not such a good idea because of false accusations, but when clearly someone is at fault and their actions can be backed up by facts, it sure is an expedient way to get things done.
I like to see people be proactive...however, after the inconsistent treatment of the Street Teams (for example) by Etsy, I think any site user should be cautious about just jumping on the "let's promote Etsy for free" bandwagon.
They love the teams and encourage everyone to join one and promote Etsy...then they ignore the teams, give no support or direction and give them the cold shoulder...they love the teams...they ignore the teams. Etsy's vision for how to treat their most powerful advocates (in light of the fact that they really don't advertise) has been inconsistent at best. (if not at front of house, DEFINITELY behind the scenes, which is why I jumped off the bandwagon).
I'm glad they're less dismissive of the Teams efforts now, but I'm skeptical about it lasting long. Oh I'm HOPING it will last...I'm just not convinced.
Point 2: um...why is it so hard for them to find tech people? Doesn't that seem weird? I guess it's easier to find unicorns than engineers at Etsy :P
Oh, and just to clarify...I agree that site users should stop having a co-dependent relationship with Etsy and feeling too much ownership. The whole Teams concept really only fosters that...but if they're going to use the seller base as a marketing tool they need to consistently acknowledge that relationship in some defined way and not just love and leave the Teams like a crappy boyfriend :)
I figure they either can't find engineers because they:
-don't advertise the jobs except through Etsy/word of mouth.
-don't look at any resumes not in the same locale as the job.
-don't pay enough
-qualified tech geeks don't want their resumes to come within a 100yds of Etsy.
It is probably a bit of all of them.
Good thoughts lessa...
I think they think that hiring friends of friends and cool kids is actually working for them, when it's really totally shooting them in the be-hind. They don't trust hiring outsiders because they actually think what they're doing is working...sigh.
Making connections and recommending friends for a pool of potential employees is one thing. Having that be your whole pool, not such a great strategy.
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