HOTJOBS COM LTD
424B1, 1999-11-12
BUSINESS SERVICES, NEC
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<PAGE>
                                          AS FILED PURSUANT TO RULE 424(b)(1)
                                          REGISTRATION NO. 333-89813

  [LOGO]
 3,600,000 SHARES
 COMMON STOCK

  We are offering 3,600,000 shares of common stock.

  Our common stock is quoted on the Nasdaq National Market under the symbol
  HOTJ. On November 10, 1999, the last reported sale price of our common stock
  was $30.38 per share.

  INVESTING IN OUR COMMON STOCK INVOLVES RISKS WHICH ARE DESCRIBED IN THE "RISK
  FACTORS" SECTION BEGINNING ON PAGE 5 OF THIS PROSPECTUS.

  NEITHER THE SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION NOR ANY STATE SECURITIES
  COMMISSION HAS APPROVED OR DISAPPROVED OF THESE SECURITIES OR DETERMINED IF
  THIS PROSPECTUS IS TRUTHFUL OR COMPLETE. ANY REPRESENTATION TO THE CONTRARY IS
  A CRIMINAL OFFENSE.

<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
                                                                 UNDERWRITING
                                             PUBLIC                DISCOUNTS             PROCEEDS TO
                                         OFFERING PRICE         AND COMMISSIONS            HOTJOBS
                                         --------------         ---------------         -------------
<S>                                      <C>                    <C>                     <C>
  Per share                               $      30.00           $       1.50           $      28.50
  Total                                   $108,000,000           $  5,400,000           $102,600,000
</TABLE>

  The underwriters may also purchase from HotJobs.com up to an additional
  450,000 shares of common stock within 30 days from the date of this prospectus
  to cover over-allotments.

 DEUTSCHE BANC ALEX. BROWN

          ROBERTSON STEPHENS

                       SG COWEN

                               THOMAS WEISEL PARTNERS LLC

  THE DATE OF THIS PROSPECTUS IS NOVEMBER 10, 1999
<PAGE>
                          INSIDE FRONT COVER - ARTWORK

Text: HotJobs.com is an Internet employment exchange. By preventing headhunters
from using our system, www.hotjobs.com provides an uncluttered direct connection
between employers and job seeking professionals. Privacy and control features
for the 'casual job seeker' and back-end functionality for the busy corporate
recruiter increase recruiting efficiency and lower cost.

Graphic: Home page screen shot of www.hotjobs.com.

Text: Softshoe is a web-based, enterprise-wide application designed to manage
and streamline a company's entire recruitment process from job creation to
completed hire.

Graphic: Home page screen shot of www.softshoe.com.

Text: WorkWorld career expos, our local, highly targeted, physical job fairs,
are fully integrated into the www.hotjobs.com system.

Graphic: Home page screen shot of www.workworld.com.
<PAGE>
                               PROSPECTUS SUMMARY

    THIS SUMMARY HIGHLIGHTS CERTAIN INFORMATION CONTAINED ELSEWHERE IN THIS
PROSPECTUS. THIS SUMMARY IS NOT COMPLETE AND DOES NOT CONTAIN ALL OF THE
INFORMATION THAT YOU SHOULD CONSIDER BEFORE INVESTING IN OUR COMMON STOCK. YOU
SHOULD READ THE ENTIRE PROSPECTUS CAREFULLY, ESPECIALLY THE RISKS OF PURCHASING
OUR COMMON STOCK DISCUSSED UNDER "RISK FACTORS." REFERENCES IN THIS PROSPECTUS
TO "WE," "OUR" AND "US" REFER TO HOTJOBS.COM, LTD.

                               HOTJOBS.COM, LTD.

OUR BUSINESS

    We are a leading Internet-based recruiting solutions company. Our suite of
services leverages the Internet to provide a direct exchange of information
between job seekers and employers. We developed these services based on our
experience in the recruiting industry and our in-depth understanding of the
needs of job seekers and employers. By solving many of the problems associated
with traditional recruiting methods, we allow employers to more effectively
manage their recruiting processes to save time and money. According to an August
1999 survey conducted by Opinion Research Corporation International, HotJobs.com
was the sixth most-recognized e-commerce brand among U.S. adults. Over 2,500
member employers with more than 3,000 recruiter Web stations subscribe to our
online employment exchange, WWW.HOTJOBS.COM. Our member employers include:
Amazon.com, Inc., America Online, Inc., CNBC, Drugstore.com, Inc.,
Hewlett-Packard Company, The Home Depot, Inc., Intel Corporation, Merck & Co.,
Inc., Microsoft Corporation, Nike, Inc. and The Walt Disney Company.

    The majority of our revenues are recurring and are primarily derived from
employer memberships to our online employment exchange, WWW.HOTJOBS.COM. Our
employment exchange allows member employers to access our database of over
540,000 job seekers and provides member employers with the tools to post, track
and manage job openings in a real-time environment. We allow job seekers to
identify, research, apply to and evaluate job opportunities, while enabling them
to prevent unwanted access to their resumes. Headhunters are prohibited from
using our employment exchange, ensuring direct contact between job seekers and
member employers.

    We also provide employers with additional recruiting solutions such as our
proprietary Softshoe recruiting software, our WorkWorld job fairs and online
advertising and consulting services. Softshoe is a private label job board and
applicant tracking system that enables companies to define, manage and analyze
their recruiting practices and share relevant recruiting information across
their organizations. Our Softshoe customers include: Coors Brewing Company,
DoubleClick, Inc., Ford Motor Company, Humana Inc., Lucent Technologies, Inc.,
Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Inc., Sabre Inc. and Tricon Global
Restaurants, Inc. Our WorkWorld job fairs integrate with WWW.HOTJOBS.COM,
enabling job seekers and employers to interact online in addition to providing
direct physical interaction at the job fair.

    Revenues from our services have grown rapidly, primarily driven by increased
employer memberships to our WWW.HOTJOBS.COM employment exchange. Our revenues
increased from approximately $397,000 for the period ended December 31, 1997, to
approximately $3.5 million for the fiscal year ended December 31, 1998. Our
revenues for the nine months ended September 30, 1999 were approximately
$12.1 million.

OUR MARKET OPPORTUNITY

    According to industry sources, businesses in the U.S. spent in excess of
$13 billion in 1997 to hire new employees by advertising job openings in
newspapers and by hiring headhunters.

                                       1
<PAGE>
We believe that factors such as the increasing labor shortage and employee
turnover are forcing employers to increase spending for recruiting efforts in
order to maintain and grow their workforce. Prior to the advent of the Internet,
companies relied on traditional recruiting methods including newspaper
advertisements and headhunters. The emergence of the Internet has created an
opportunity to connect job seekers and employers more efficiently and cost
effectively when compared to traditional recruiting methods. We believe that
most of the advantages offered by Internet technology have not been fully
applied to the recruiting market. We believe that an opportunity exists for
HotJobs.com to become the leader in online recruiting solutions.

OUR SOLUTION

    We believe that traditional recruiting methods are expensive and relatively
slow, and that our solution is more comprehensive and efficient than other
online recruiting services. Our solution:

    - offers job seekers, free of charge, detailed and current information on a
      large and growing list of employers and job openings and value-added tools
      to help job seekers plan, execute, monitor and control their job searches;

    - ensures privacy by allowing job seekers to restrict employers from
      reviewing their resumes;

    - excludes headhunters to ensure a direct exchange of information between
      job seekers and employers;

    - combines our WWW.HOTJOBS.COM employment exchange, Softshoe recruiting
      software and WorkWorld job fairs to enable employers to reach job seekers
      through multiple channels; and

    - offers employers workflow management tools to streamline the recruiting
      process.

OUR STRATEGY

    Our objective is to become the leading provider of online recruiting
services worldwide. Key elements of our strategy include:

    - build global brand awareness;

    - accelerate new subscriber growth;

    - continue to enhance site functionality and features;

    - expand our relationship with employers;

    - provide additional career channels in specific fields;

    - expand international operations; and

    - pursue strategic acquisitions.

CORPORATE INFORMATION

    We were incorporated in Delaware on February 20, 1997 as Hot Jobs, Inc. We
changed our name to HotJobs.com, Ltd. on September 23, 1998. Our principal
executive offices are located at 24 West 40th Street, 14th Floor, New York, New
York 10018. Our telephone number at that location is (212) 699-5300 and our
Website address is WWW.HOTJOBS.COM. INFORMATION CONTAINED ON OUR WEBSITE DOES
NOT CONSTITUTE PART OF THIS PROSPECTUS.

                                       2
<PAGE>
                                  THE OFFERING

<TABLE>
<S>                                            <C>
Common stock offered by us...................  3,600,000 shares

Common stock to be outstanding after the
  offering...................................  30,848,419 shares

Use of proceeds..............................  For general corporate purposes, including increasing
                                               our sales and marketing efforts; developing our
                                               infrastructure, products and services; obtaining
                                               additional office space; hiring additional personnel;
                                               and possible acquisitions. See "Use of Proceeds."

Nasdaq National Market symbol................  HOTJ
</TABLE>

    The foregoing information is based on the shares outstanding as of
September 30, 1999. The total number of shares that we assume will be
outstanding after the offering:

    - excludes 2,657,000 shares reserved for future grants under our 1999 Stock
      Option/Stock Issuance Plan;

    - excludes 250,000 shares reserved for future issuances under our Employee
      Stock Purchase Plan; and

    - excludes 5,785,200 shares of common stock issuable at a weighted average
      exercise price of approximately $3.40 per share upon exercise of stock
      options outstanding at September 30, 1999, 3,150,300 of which are
      currently exercisable.

    See "Capitalization" for information with respect to our capitalization as
of September 30, 1999, and our financial information as adjusted to reflect our
capitalization after this offering.

    UNLESS OTHERWISE INDICATED, ALL INFORMATION IN THIS PROSPECTUS ASSUMES NO
EXERCISE OF THE UNDERWRITERS' OVER-ALLOTMENT OPTION.

    Softshoe-Registered Trademark- is a registered trademark of
HotJobs.com, Ltd. Each trademark, trade name or service mark of any other
company appearing in this prospectus belongs to its holder.

                                       3
<PAGE>
                             SUMMARY FINANCIAL DATA
                (IN THOUSANDS, EXCEPT SHARE AND PER SHARE DATA)

    The following table sets forth certain summary financial data for
HotJobs.com. You should read this information together with the financial
statements and the notes to those statements appearing elsewhere in this
prospectus and the information under "Selected Financial Data" and "Management's
Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations."

<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
                                                PERIOD FROM
                                                FEBRUARY 20,
                                              1997 (INCEPTION)                      NINE MONTHS ENDED
                                                     TO           YEAR ENDED          SEPTEMBER 30,
                                                DECEMBER 31,     DECEMBER 31,   --------------------------
                                                    1997             1998           1998          1999
                                              ----------------   ------------   ------------   -----------
                                                                                       (UNAUDITED)
<S>                                           <C>                <C>            <C>            <C>
STATEMENT OF OPERATIONS DATA:
 Revenues:
  Service fees..............................     $       361     $     3,038    $      1,888   $     8,856
  Software license fees.....................              23             225             155           245
  Job fair fees.............................              --              --              --         1,189
  Other.....................................              13             249             190         1,782
                                                 -----------     -----------    ------------   -----------
      Total revenues........................             397           3,512           2,233        12,072
 Cost of revenues...........................              12             505             306         2,186
                                                 -----------     -----------    ------------   -----------
      Gross profit..........................             385           3,007           1,927         9,886
 Operating expenses:
  Product development.......................             174             474             342           665
  Sales and marketing.......................             431           3,085           1,907        15,194
  General and administrative................             725           1,642             929         5,666
  Non-cash compensation.....................              --              --              --         1,540
                                                 -----------     -----------    ------------   -----------
      Total operating expenses..............           1,330           5,201           3,178        23,065
                                                 -----------     -----------    ------------   -----------
        Loss from operations................            (945)         (2,194)         (1,251)      (13,179)
 Net interest income (expense)..............              --             (63)            (28)          149
                                                 -----------     -----------    ------------   -----------
        Net loss............................     $      (945)    $    (2,257)   $     (1,279)  $   (13,030)
                                                 ===========     ===========    ============   ===========
 Deemed dividend attributable to issuance of
  convertible preferred stock...............              --              --              --        16,200
                                                 -----------     -----------    ------------   -----------
 Net loss attributable to common
  stockholders..............................     $      (945)    $    (2,257)   $     (1,279)  $   (29,230)
                                                 ===========     ===========    ============   ===========
 Basic and diluted net loss per common
  share.....................................     $     (0.04)    $     (0.11)   $      (0.06)  $     (1.37)
                                                 ===========     ===========    ============   ===========
 Weighted average shares outstanding used in
  basic and diluted net loss per common
  share calculation.........................      21,300,000      21,044,184      21,117,143    21,364,231
                                                 ===========     ===========    ============   ===========
</TABLE>

<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
                                                                SEPTEMBER 30, 1999
                                                              ----------------------
                                                                             AS
                                                               ACTUAL    ADJUSTED(1)
                                                              --------   -----------
                                                                   (UNAUDITED)
<S>                                                           <C>        <C>
BALANCE SHEET DATA:
  Cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities..........  $27,602     $129,502
  Working capital...........................................   22,290      124,190
  Total assets..............................................   36,613      138,513
  Notes payable, excluding current portion..................      113          113
  Obligations under capital leases, excluding current
    installments............................................      268          268
  Total stockholders' equity................................   24,976      126,876
</TABLE>

- --------------------------

(1) As adjusted information gives effect to our sale of 3,600,000 shares in this
    offering at a public offering price of $30.00 per share, less the
    underwriters' discounts and commissions and estimated expenses of the
    offering.

                                       4
<PAGE>
                                  RISK FACTORS

    AN INVESTMENT IN OUR COMMON STOCK INVOLVES A HIGH DEGREE OF RISK. YOU SHOULD
CONSIDER CAREFULLY THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION ABOUT THESE RISKS, TOGETHER WITH
THE OTHER INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THIS PROSPECTUS, BEFORE YOU DECIDE TO BUY OUR
COMMON STOCK. IF ANY OF THE FOLLOWING RISKS ACTUALLY OCCUR, OUR BUSINESS,
FINANCIAL CONDITION OR RESULTS OF OPERATIONS WOULD LIKELY SUFFER. IN THIS CASE,
THE MARKET PRICE OF OUR COMMON STOCK COULD DECLINE, AND YOU MAY LOSE ALL OR PART
OF THE MONEY YOU PAID TO BUY OUR COMMON STOCK.

          RISKS RELATED TO OUR FINANCIAL CONDITION AND BUSINESS MODEL

WE HAVE A LIMITED OPERATING HISTORY SO IT WILL BE DIFFICULT FOR YOU TO EVALUATE
AN INVESTMENT IN OUR COMPANY.

    We were incorporated and began generating revenues in February 1997.
Accordingly, we have only a limited operating history for you to evaluate an
investment in our company. As a new company, we face risks and uncertainties
relating to our ability to successfully implement our strategy. You must
consider the risks, expenses and uncertainties that an early stage company like
ours faces. If we cannot address these risks and uncertainties or are unable to
execute our strategy, our company may not be successful, which could reduce the
value of your investment.

WE HAVE NOT BEEN PROFITABLE, AND WE EXPECT OUR LOSSES TO CONTINUE.

    We have never been profitable. If our revenues grow at a slower rate than we
anticipate, or if our spending levels exceed our expectations or cannot be
adjusted to reflect slower revenue growth, we may not generate sufficient
revenues to achieve or sustain profitability. In this case, the value of your
investment could be reduced. For the year ended December 31, 1998, we incurred
net losses from operations of approximately $2.2 million. For the nine months
ended September 30, 1999, we incurred net losses from operations of
approximately $13.2 million. As of September 30, 1999, we had an accumulated
deficit of approximately $16.2 million. We expect to continue to lose money in
the foreseeable future because we anticipate incurring significant expenses in
connection with building awareness of HotJobs.com and improving our products and
services. We forecast our future expense levels based on our operating plans and
our estimates of future revenues. We may find it necessary to accelerate
expenditures relating to our sales and marketing, and products and technology
efforts or to otherwise increase our financial commitment to creating and
maintaining brand awareness or developing our products.

YOU SHOULD NOT RELY ON OUR QUARTERLY OPERATING RESULTS AS AN INDICATION OF OUR
FUTURE RESULTS BECAUSE THEY ARE SUBJECT TO SIGNIFICANT FLUCTUATIONS.
FLUCTUATIONS IN OUR OPERATING RESULTS OR THE FAILURE OF OUR OPERATING RESULTS TO
MEET THE EXPECTATIONS OF PUBLIC MARKET ANALYSTS AND INVESTORS MAY NEGATIVELY
IMPACT OUR STOCK PRICE.

    Our quarterly operating results may fluctuate significantly in the future
due to a variety of factors that could affect our revenues or our expenses in
any particular quarter. Fluctuations in our quarterly operating results could
cause our stock price to decline.

    You should not rely on quarter-to-quarter comparisons of our results of
operations as an indication of future performance. Factors that may affect our
quarterly results include:

    - mismatches between resource allocation and consumer demand due to
      difficulties in predicting consumer demand in a new market;

    - the demand for and acceptance of our Website, products, product
      enhancements and services;

                                       5
<PAGE>
    - the timing, amount and mix of subscription, license and service payments;

    - changes in general economic conditions, such as recessions, that could
      affect recruiting efforts generally and online recruiting efforts in
      particular;

    - the magnitude and timing of marketing initiatives;

    - the maintenance and development of our strategic relationships;

    - the introduction, development, timing, competitive pricing and market
      acceptance of our products and services and those of our competitors;

    - the attraction and retention of key personnel;

    - our ability to manage our anticipated growth and expansion;

    - our ability to attract qualified job seekers; and

    - technical difficulties or system downtime affecting the Internet generally
      or the operation of our products and services specifically.

    As a result of the factors listed above and because the online recruiting
market is new and it is difficult to predict customer demand, it is possible
that in some future periods our results of operations may be below the
expectations of public market analysts and investors. This could cause our stock
price to decline. In addition, we plan to significantly increase our operating
expenses to expand our sales and marketing, administration, consulting and
training, maintenance and technical support and research and development groups.
If revenues fall below our expectations in any quarter and we are unable to
quickly reduce our spending in response, our operating results would be lower
than expected and our stock price may fall.

OUR BUSINESS MODEL IS UNPROVEN AND MAY NOT BE ADAPTABLE TO A CHANGING MARKET.

    If we are not able to anticipate changes in the online recruiting market or
if our business model is not successful, we may not be able to expand our
business or to successfully compete with other companies, which could reduce the
value of your investment. Our current business model depends on recurring
revenue from employers using our Website and hosting fees associated with our
application software. Our revenue model and profit potential are unproven. If
current employers decide to discontinue our service and we are unable to replace
them with new employers, our revenues could decrease. It is possible that we
will be required to further adapt our business model in response to additional
changes in the online recruiting market or if our current business model is not
successful.

WE MAY NOT BE ABLE TO OBTAIN SUFFICIENT FUNDS TO GROW OUR BUSINESS AND ANY
ADDITIONAL FINANCING MAY BE ON TERMS ADVERSE TO YOUR INTERESTS.

    We may need additional financing to continue to grow our business. If
additional financing is not available when required or is not available on
acceptable terms, we may be unable to fund our expansion, successfully promote
our brand name, develop or enhance our products and services, take advantage of
business opportunities or respond to competitive pressures, any of which could
reduce the value of your investment. If we are able to raise additional funds
and we do so by issuing equity securities, you may experience significant
dilution of your ownership interest and holders of these securities may have
rights senior to those of the holders of our common stock. If we obtain
additional financing by issuing debt securities, the terms of these securities
could restrict or prevent us from paying dividends and could limit our
flexibility in making business decisions. In this case, the value of your
investment could be reduced.

                                       6
<PAGE>
    We currently anticipate that the net proceeds from this offering, together
with available funds, will be sufficient to meet our anticipated needs for at
least the next 12 months. Because we expect to generate losses for the
foreseeable future, income from our operations may not be sufficient to meet our
needs after that period. We expect to raise additional funds in the future in
order to fund our anticipated growth, more aggressive marketing programs or the
acquisition of complementary businesses, technologies and services. Obtaining
additional financing will be subject to a number of factors including:

    - market and economic conditions;

    - our financial condition and operating performance; and

    - investor sentiment.

    These factors may make the timing, amount, terms and conditions of
additional financing unattractive for us.

                   RISKS RELATED TO OUR MARKETS AND STRATEGY

THE INTERNET IS NOT A PROVEN RECRUITING MEDIUM.

    If we are unable to compete with traditional recruiting and job seeking
methods, our revenues and the value of your investment could be reduced. The
future of our business is dependent on the acceptance by job seekers and
employers of the Internet as an effective job seeking and recruiting tool. Of
the 6 million businesses in the U.S., Forrester Research, Inc. estimates that
only 15,000 businesses currently recruit online. The online recruiting market is
new and rapidly evolving, and we do not yet know how effective online recruiting
is compared to traditional recruiting methods. The adoption of online recruiting
and job seeking, particularly among those that have historically relied upon
traditional recruiting methods, requires the acceptance of a new way of
conducting business, exchanging information, advertising and applying for jobs.
Many of our potential employer customers have little or no experience using the
Internet as a recruiting tool, and only select segments of the job seeking
population have experience using the Internet to look for jobs. As a result, we
cannot be sure that we will be able to effectively compete with traditional
recruiting and job seeking methods.

WE WILL ONLY BE ABLE TO EXECUTE OUR BUSINESS MODEL IF USE OF THE INTERNET GROWS.

    If Internet usage does not continue to grow, we may not be able to meet our
business objectives, which could decrease the value of your investment. Internet
usage may be inhibited by any of the following factors:

    - the Internet infrastructure may not be able to support the demands placed
      on it, or its performance and reliability may decline as usage grows;

    - Websites may not be able to provide adequate security and authentication
      of confidential information contained in transmissions over the Internet;
      and

    - the Internet industry may not be able to adequately respond to privacy
      concerns of potential users.

WE MAY NOT BE ABLE TO DEVELOP AWARENESS OF OUR BRAND NAME.

    If we fail to successfully promote and maintain our HotJobs.com brand name,
incur significant expenses in promoting our brand and fail to generate a
corresponding increase in revenue as a result of our branding efforts, or
encounter legal obstacles which prevent our continued use of our brand name, our
revenues and the value of your investment could be

                                       7
<PAGE>
materially adversely affected. We believe that continuing to build awareness of
our brand name is critical to achieving widespread acceptance of our business.
Brand recognition is a key differentiating factor among providers of online
recruiting services, and we believe it could become more important as
competition in the online recruiting market increases. In order to maintain and
build brand awareness, we must succeed in our marketing efforts, provide high
quality services and increase the number of high quality job seekers using
WWW.HOTJOBS.COM. Failure to successfully maintain and build awareness of our
brand could reduce our revenues and the value of your investment.

WE MAY NOT BE ABLE TO SUCCESSFULLY INTRODUCE NEW OR ENHANCED PRODUCTS AND
SERVICES.

    The failure of any new or enhanced products and services to achieve market
acceptance and generate revenue could result in a material adverse effect on our
revenues and the value of your investment. We expect to introduce enhanced
products and services in order to generate additional revenues, attract and
retain more employers, attract more job seekers to our Website and respond to
competition. Any new or enhanced product or service we introduce that is not
favorably received could damage our reputation and the perception of our brand
name.

    WE WILL NOT BE ABLE TO ATTRACT JOB SEEKERS OR EMPLOYERS IF WE DO NOT
CONTINUALLY ENHANCE AND DEVELOP THE CONTENT AND FEATURES OF OUR PRODUCTS AND
SERVICES.  To remain competitive, we must continually improve the
responsiveness, functionality and features of our products and services and
develop other products and services that are attractive to job seekers and
employers. We may not succeed in developing or introducing features, functions,
products or services that job seekers and employers find attractive. This could
reduce the number of job seekers and employers using WWW.HOTJOBS.COM and
materially adversely affect our revenues and the value of your investment.

    WE MAY LOSE BUSINESS IF WE FAIL TO KEEP PACE WITH RAPIDLY CHANGING
TECHNOLOGIES AND CUSTOMER NEEDS.  If we are unable to timely and successfully
develop and introduce new products and enhancements to existing products in
response to our industry's changing technological requirements, our revenues and
the value of your investment could be materially adversely affected. Our success
is dependent on our ability to develop new and enhanced software, services and
related products to meet rapidly evolving technological requirements for online
recruiting software and solutions. Our current technology may not meet the
future technical requirements of employers. Trends that could have a critical
impact on our success include:

    - rapidly changing technology in online recruiting;

    - evolving industry standards, including both formal and DE FACTO standards
      relating to online recruiting;

    - developments and changes relating to the Internet;

    - competing products and services that offer increased functionality; and

    - changes in employer and job seeker requirements.

OUR BUSINESS AND GROWTH WILL SUFFER IF WE ARE UNABLE TO HIRE AND RETAIN HIGHLY
SKILLED PERSONNEL.

    If we are unable to hire and retain skilled personnel, our growth may be
restricted, the quality of our products and services reduced and our revenues
and the value of your investment reduced. Our future success depends on our
ability to attract, train, motivate and retain highly skilled employees.
Competition for highly skilled employees is intense, particularly in the
Internet

                                       8
<PAGE>
industry. We may be unable to retain our skilled employees or attract,
assimilate and retain other highly skilled employees in the future. We have from
time to time in the past experienced, and we may experience in the future,
difficulty in hiring and retaining highly skilled employees with appropriate
qualifications.

WE MAY NOT BE ABLE TO EFFECTIVELY MANAGE OUR EXPANDING OPERATIONS.

    If we are not able to expand our operations in an efficient manner, our
expenses could grow disproportionately to revenues or our revenues could decline
or grow more slowly than expected, either of which could have a material adverse
effect on the value of your investment. We have recently experienced a period of
rapid growth. In order to execute our business plan, we must continue to grow
significantly. We had 50 employees as of December 31, 1998. As of September 30,
1999, the number had increased to 173. We expect that the number of our
employees will continue to increase for the foreseeable future. This growth has
placed, and our anticipated future growth combined with the requirements we face
as a public company will continue to place, a significant strain on our
management, systems and resources. We expect that we will need to continue to
improve our financial and managerial controls and reporting systems and
procedures. We will also need to continue to expand and maintain close
coordination among our products and technology, finance and administration, and
sales and marketing organizations. If we do not succeed in these efforts, it
could reduce our revenues and the value of your investment.

INTENSE COMPETITION MAY RENDER OUR SERVICES AND PRODUCTS UNCOMPETITIVE OR
OBSOLETE.

    Due to competition, we may experience reduced margins on our products and
services, loss of market share or less use of WWW.HOTJOBS.COM by job seekers and
employers. If we are not able to compete effectively with current or future
competitors as a result of these and other factors, our revenues could be
materially adversely affected.

    The market for online recruiting solutions is intensely competitive and
highly fragmented. We compete with companies, including recruiting search firms,
that offer a single database job board solution, such as Monster.com, as well as
newspapers, magazines and other traditional media companies that provide online
job search services, such as CareerPath.com. We also compete with large Internet
information hubs, or portals, such as Excite@Home. We may experience competition
from potential customers to the extent that they develop their own online
recruiting offerings internally. In addition, we compete with traditional
recruiting services, such as headhunters, for a share of employers' total
recruiting budgets. We expect to face additional competition as other
established and emerging companies, including print media companies and
headhunters with established brands, enter the online recruiting market.

    Many of our current and potential competitors have longer operating
histories, significantly greater financial, technical, marketing and other
resources and larger customer bases than we do. In addition, current and
potential competitors may make strategic acquisitions or establish cooperative
relationships to expand their businesses or to offer more comprehensive
solutions.

    We believe that there will be rapid business consolidation in the online
recruiting industry. Accordingly, new competitors may emerge and rapidly acquire
significant market share. In addition, new technologies will likely increase the
competitive pressures that we face. The development of competing technologies by
market participants or the emergence of new industry standards may adversely
affect our revenues and ultimately our competitive position.

                                       9
<PAGE>
LOSS OF ANY OF OUR KEY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL COULD NEGATIVELY IMPACT OUR
BUSINESS.

    The loss or departure of any of our officers or key employees could
materially adversely affect our ability to implement our business plan and could
lower our revenues. Our future success depends to a significant extent on the
continued service and coordination of our management team, particularly Richard
S. Johnson, our President and Chief Executive Officer. We do not maintain key
person insurance for any member of our management team. In addition, certain
members of our management team have joined us within the last year. These
individuals have not previously worked together and are becoming integrated into
our management team. If our key management personnel are not able to work
together effectively or successfully, our business could be materially adversely
affected.

WE MAY NOT BE SUCCESSFUL IN OUR PLAN FOR INTERNATIONAL EXPANSION.

    We may not be able to successfully execute our business plan in foreign
markets. If revenue from international ventures is not adequate to cover our
investment in those ventures, our total revenues and the value of your
investment could be materially adversely affected.

    We believe that our member employers are increasingly attempting to fill
positions in international markets and that job seekers are increasingly seeking
positions in international markets. We believe that expansion into international
markets through a combination of internal business expansion, strategic
alliances and potential acquisitions will increase the number of job seekers who
post their resumes on WWW.HOTJOBS.COM and will increase the number and variety
of jobs available to our job seekers. Our future international operations might
not succeed for a number of reasons including:

    - difficulties in staffing and managing foreign operations;

    - competition from local recruiting services;

    - operational issues such as longer customer payment cycles and greater
      difficulties in collecting accounts receivable;

    - seasonal reductions in business activity;

    - language and cultural differences;

    - legal uncertainties inherent in transnational operations such as export
      and import regulations, tariffs and other trade barriers;

    - taxation issues;

    - unexpected changes in trading policies, regulatory requirements and
      exchange rates;

    - issues relating to uncertainties of laws and enforcement relating to the
      protection of intellectual property; and

    - general political and economic trends.

WE MAY NOT BE ABLE TO SUCCESSFULLY MAKE ACQUISITIONS OF OR INVESTMENTS IN OTHER
COMPANIES.

    If we make an acquisition of a company, we could have difficulty
assimilating the acquired company's operations and personnel, which could
increase our expenses and reduce the value of your investment. If we make other
types of acquisitions, we could have difficulty in assimilating any acquired
products, services, personnel and technologies into our operations. These
difficulties could disrupt our ongoing business, distract our management and
employees, increase our expenses and charges and materially adversely affect our
revenues and the value of your investment. Though we have no present
understanding or agreement relating to any

                                       10
<PAGE>
acquisition of or investment in another company or its business, our business
strategy includes the pursuit of acquisitions. In executing this strategy, we
may incur expenses without being able to identify suitable acquisition
candidates, which could reduce our profitability and the value of your
investment.

        RISKS RELATED TO THE INTERNET AND OUR TECHNOLOGY INFRASTRUCTURE

WE MAY EXPERIENCE REDUCED VISITOR TRAFFIC, REDUCED REVENUE AND HARM TO OUR
REPUTATION IN THE EVENT OF UNEXPECTED NETWORK INTERRUPTIONS CAUSED BY SYSTEM
FAILURES.

    Any system failure, including network, software or hardware failure, that
causes an interruption in the delivery of our products and services or a
decrease in responsiveness of our services could result in reduced visitor
traffic, reduced revenue and could materially adversely affect our reputation
and brand. Our servers and software must be able to accommodate a high volume of
traffic. We have experienced system interruptions in the past, and we believe
that these interruptions will continue to occur from time to time in the future.
We believe that visitor traffic is also dependent on the timing and magnitude of
our advertising. We have experienced monthly fluctuations in visitor traffic,
including short term reductions. Any substantial increase in demands on our
servers will require us to expand and adapt our network infrastructure. If we
are unable to add additional software and hardware to accommodate increased
demand, we could experience unanticipated system disruptions and slower response
times. Any catastrophic failure at one of our co-location facilities could
prevent us from serving our Web traffic for up to several days, and any failure
of one or more of our Internet service providers may adversely affect our
network's performance. Our clients may become dissatisfied by any system failure
that interrupts our ability to provide our products and services to them or
results in slower response times. We do not maintain business interruption
insurance and our other insurance may not adequately compensate us for any
losses that may occur due to any failures in our system or interruptions in our
service.

BREACHES OF OUR NETWORK SECURITY COULD BE COSTLY.

    Because we host HotJobs.com-related data for many of our customers, we may
be liable to any of those customers that experience losses due to our security
failures. As a result, we may be required to expend capital and resources to
protect against or to alleviate security breaches, which could reduce our
profitability and the value of your investment. A significant barrier to
confidential communications over the Internet has been the need for security. We
may incur significant costs to protect against the threat of security breaches
or to alleviate problems caused by these breaches. If unauthorized persons
penetrate our network security, they could misappropriate proprietary
information or cause interruptions in our services. Misappropriation of our
proprietary information or interruptions of our services could result in reduced
visitor traffic. Reduced visitor traffic may result in fewer job seekers posting
their resumes to our WWW.HOTJOBS.COM employment exchange which, in turn, may
discourage employers from subscribing to the employment exchange. We generate a
substantial portion of our revenue from these subscription fees.

COMPUTER VIRUSES MAY CAUSE OUR SYSTEMS TO INCUR DELAYS OR INTERRUPTIONS WHICH
COULD REDUCE DEMAND FOR OUR SERVICE AND DAMAGE OUR REPUTATION.

    Computer viruses may cause our systems to incur delays or other service
interruptions and could reduce our revenues and the value of your investment. In
June 1999, we detected a virus on a file server which supports our office
equipment. The inadvertent transmission of computer viruses could expose us to a
material risk of loss or litigation and possible liability. Moreover, if a
computer virus affecting our system is highly publicized, our reputation could
be materially damaged and our visitor traffic may decrease. Any of these events
could have a material adverse effect on our revenues and the value of your
investment.

                                       11
<PAGE>
WE MAY NOT BE ABLE TO ACCESS THIRD PARTY TECHNOLOGY UPON WHICH WE DEPEND.

    If we lose the ability to access third party technology which we use, are
unable to gain access to additional products or are unable to integrate new
technology with our existing systems, we could experience delays in our
development and introduction of new services and related products or
enhancements until equivalent or replacement technology can be accessed, if
available, or developed internally, if feasible. If we experience these delays,
our revenues could be reduced and the value of your investment could be
materially adversely affected. We license technology that is incorporated into
our services and related products from third parties including Oracle
Corporation for database technology and Thunderstone Software-EPI, Inc. for
full-text indexing. In light of the rapidly evolving nature of Internet
technology, we may increasingly need to rely on technology from other vendors.
Technology from our current or other vendors may not continue to be available to
us on commercially reasonable terms, or at all.

WE COULD LOSE SUBSTANTIAL REVENUES OR INCUR SIGNIFICANT COSTS DUE TO YEAR 2000
ISSUES.

    Any failure of our systems to be year 2000 compliant could reduce our
revenues and the value of your investment. Significant uncertainties exist in
the software industry concerning the potential effects associated with the
failure of computer systems and software to be year 2000 compliant. Computer
systems and software must accept four digit entries to distinguish 21st century
dates from 20th century dates. As a result, many software and computer systems
may need to be upgraded in order to be year 2000 compliant or risk system
failure or miscalculations causing disruptions of normal business activities.

    OUR PRODUCTS AND SERVICES MAY NOT BE YEAR 2000 COMPLIANT.  Year 2000
problems could materially adversely affect our current products and services and
the WWW.HOTJOBS.COM Website, resulting in lower revenues and reducing the value
of your investment. We have completed an assessment of the year 2000 readiness
of our products and services. We believe that all of the products and services
we currently offer were year 2000 compliant at the time of installation or
launch. We have conducted tests internally to validate the compliance of these
products. We cannot be certain, however, that these tests have detected all
potential year 2000 problems. To address potential disruptions, we maintain
off-site backup data for our databases, we have a redundant online database, and
we have one outsourced data center and are developing another outsourced data
center to protect against the failure of the WWW.HOTJOBS.COM Website and its
associated hardware. However, these precautions may not be sufficient to prevent
a failure of our products and systems. Any business disruption due to a failure
of our products or systems to be year 2000 compliant could have a material
adverse effect on our revenues and the value of your investment.

    OUR INTERNAL COMPUTER SYSTEMS MAY NOT BE YEAR 2000 COMPLIANT.  Any business
disruption caused by the failure of our internal systems to be year 2000
compliant could have a material adverse effect on our revenues and the value of
your investment. We have reviewed year 2000 compliance statements made by the
vendors of our software systems, such as accounting and database management
systems, and we have completed an assessment of the year 2000 readiness of our
internal systems. Based on this review and assessment, we currently believe that
our internal software systems are year 2000 compliant. We cannot be certain,
however, that we are aware of all potential year 2000 problems. The failure of
our internal systems could disrupt our business. To address these potential
disruptions, we maintain off-site backup data for our internal systems and
databases. However, these precautions may not be sufficient to prevent a failure
of our internal systems.

                                       12
<PAGE>
    OUR EMPLOYERS' AND JOB SEEKERS' SYSTEMS MAY NOT BE YEAR 2000 COMPLIANT.  If
either employers or job seekers experience sustained difficulty in accessing our
products and services due to year 2000 complications, our revenues could be
materially adversely affected. It is possible that our employers will experience
problems with their Internet sites or internal computer systems due to software
that is not year 2000 compliant, which could lead to disruptions in their
ability to use the services of WWW.HOTJOBS.COM. If employers are not able to use
our services for a period of time, they may cease using our services. Also, if a
substantial number of employers are unable to use our services for a long period
of time, the quality and quantity of jobs available at WWW.HOTJOBS.COM may
decrease, which could discourage qualified job seekers from using our services.
Similarly, if a substantial percentage of job seekers are unable to access our
services due to failures in their computer systems, recruiters may find our
services less valuable and reduce or discontinue their use of our products.

    YEAR 2000 CONCERNS MAY ADVERSELY AFFECT THE PURCHASING PATTERNS OF
EMPLOYERS.  If purchasing patterns of employers are adversely affected due to
year 2000 concerns, our revenues and the value of your investment could be
reduced. Due to year 2000 concerns, many employers that are customers or
potential customers may choose to devote resources to year 2000 compliance
efforts that might otherwise be used to begin or expand online recruiting
efforts. In addition, employers may elect to spend a greater portion of their
recruiting budgets on traditional recruiting methods rather than risk disruption
in their recruiting in the event of technical difficulties related to year 2000
problems.

    YEAR 2000 PROBLEMS COULD DECREASE USE OF THE INTERNET.  Increasing usage of
the Internet is necessary for us to achieve our business objectives. Any
disruptions caused by year 2000 problems could decrease Internet usage
generally, which could cause a reduction in our revenues.

    WE COULD BE SUBJECT TO YEAR 2000-RELATED LITIGATION.  If we are the subject
of any claims related to or are liable for losses resulting from year
2000-related systems failures, the value of your investment could be materially
adversely affected. The failure of our currently supported products and services
to be fully year 2000 compliant could result in claims by or liability to
employers or, possibly, job seekers. We host HotJobs.com-related data for many
of our customers. As a result, any year 2000-related failure of our systems
could destroy a large amount of proprietary data that our customers rely on for
their recruiting efforts.

                       RISKS RELATED TO LEGAL UNCERTAINTY

WE MAY BECOME SUBJECT TO BURDENSOME GOVERNMENT REGULATIONS AND LEGAL
UNCERTAINTIES AFFECTING THE INTERNET WHICH COULD ADVERSELY AFFECT OUR BUSINESS.

    Legal uncertainties and new regulations could increase our costs of doing
business, prevent us from delivering our products and services over the Internet
or slow the growth of the Internet, any of which could increase our expenses or
reduce our revenues and materially adversely affect the value of your
investment. To date, governmental regulations have not materially restricted use
of the Internet in our markets. However, the legal and regulatory environment
that pertains to the Internet is uncertain and may change. In addition to new
laws and regulations being adopted, existing laws may be applied to the
Internet. New and existing laws may cover issues which include:

    - user privacy;

    - civil rights and employment claims;

    - consumer protection;

                                       13
<PAGE>
    - libel and defamation;

    - copyright, trademark and patent infringement;

    - pricing controls;

    - characteristics and quality of products and services;

    - sales and other taxes; and

    - other claims based on the nature and content of Internet materials.

    In addition, any imposition of state sales and use taxes imposed on the
products and services sold over the Internet may decrease demand for products
and services that we sell over the Internet. The U.S. Congress has passed
legislation which limits for three years the ability of states to impose any new
taxes on Internet-based transactions. Failure by Congress to renew this
legislation and the subsequent imposition of state taxes on Internet-based
transactions could adversely affect our future operating results which could
result in a decline in our stock price.

WE MAY BE UNABLE TO OBTAIN A U.S. TRADEMARK REGISTRATION FOR OUR BRAND OR TO
PROTECT OUR OTHER PROPRIETARY INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS.

    FAILURE TO OBTAIN FEDERAL TRADEMARK REGISTRATION FOR WWW.HOTJOBS.COM COULD
DISRUPT OUR PROMOTION OF THE HOTJOBS.COM BRAND.  If we are unable to secure the
rights to use the www.hotjobs.com mark and related derivative marks, a key
element of our strategy of promoting "HotJobs.com" as a global brand could be
disrupted and, as a result, the value of your investment could be reduced. Our
success depends to a significant degree upon the protection of our proprietary
technology, including our Softshoe software and our "HotJobs.com" brand name. To
date, we have not been successful in our efforts to secure a federal
registration for "www.hotjobs.com." In addition, in May 1998, another pending
trademark applicant, who has since abandoned its application, made claims
regarding prior use and ownership of "hotjobs" as a trademark. Adverse outcomes
to these or similar claims or any related litigation, should it occur, could
result in us being limited or prohibited from further using the
"www.hotjobs.com" mark and related derivative marks in the future. See
"Business--Intellectual Property."

    FAILURE TO PROTECT OUR INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS COULD PERMIT OTHERS TO
APPROPRIATE OUR PROPRIETARY TECHNOLOGY.  The unauthorized reproduction or other
misappropriation of our proprietary technology could enable third parties to
benefit from our technology and brand name without paying us for them. If this
were to occur, our revenues and the value of your investment could be materially
adversely affected. The steps we have taken to protect our proprietary rights
may not be adequate to deter misappropriation of proprietary information. We may
not be able to detect unauthorized use of our proprietary information or take
appropriate steps to enforce our intellectual property rights. In addition, the
validity, enforceability and scope of protection of intellectual property in
Internet-related industries is uncertain and still evolving. The laws of other
countries in which we may market our services in the future are uncertain and
may afford little or no effective protection of our intellectual property. If we
resort to legal proceedings to enforce our intellectual property rights, the
proceedings could be burdensome and expensive. The proceedings also could
involve a high degree of risk.

                                       14
<PAGE>
DEFENDING AGAINST INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY INFRINGEMENT CLAIMS COULD BE TIME
CONSUMING AND EXPENSIVE, AND WE MAY BE LIABLE FOR INFRINGING ON THE INTELLECTUAL
PROPERTY RIGHTS OF OTHERS. IF WE ARE NOT SUCCESSFUL IN DEFENDING AGAINST THESE
CLAIMS, WE COULD BE SUBJECT TO SIGNIFICANT DAMAGES AND THE DISRUPTION OF OUR
BUSINESS.

    Successful intellectual property infringement claims against us could result
in monetary liability or a material disruption in the conduct of our business.
We cannot be certain that our products, content and brand names do not or will
not infringe valid patents, copyrights or other intellectual property rights
held by third parties. We expect that infringement claims in our markets will
increase in number as more participants enter the markets. We may be subject to
legal proceedings and claims from time to time relating to the intellectual
property of others in the ordinary course of our business. We may incur
substantial expenses in defending against these third party infringement claims,
regardless of their merit.

WE MAY BE LIABLE AS A RESULT OF INFORMATION RETRIEVED FROM OR TRANSMITTED OVER
THE INTERNET.

    We may be sued for defamation, civil rights infringement, negligence,
copyright or trademark infringement, personal injury, product liability or other
legal claims relating to information that is published or made available on
WWW.HOTJOBS.COM and the other sites linked to it. These types of claims have
been brought, sometimes successfully, against online services in the past. We
could also be sued for the content that is accessible from WWW.HOTJOBS.COM and
through links to other Internet sites or through content and materials that may
be posted by members in chat rooms or on bulletin boards. We also offer email
services, which may subject us to potential risks, such as liabilities or claims
resulting from unsolicited email or spamming, lost or misdirected messages,
security breaches, illegal or fraudulent use of email or interruptions or delays
in email service. Our insurance does not specifically provide for coverage of
these types of claims and therefore may not adequately protect us against these
types of claims. In addition, we could incur significant costs in investigating
and defending such claims, even if we ultimately are not liable. If any of these
events occur, our revenues and the value of your investment could be materially
adversely affected.

     RISKS RELATED TO THIS OFFERING, OUR STOCK PRICE AND CORPORATE CONTROL

WE MAY USE THE PROCEEDS OF THIS OFFERING IN WAYS WITH WHICH YOU MAY NOT AGREE.

    If management uses the proceeds of this offering for purposes which do not
result in increasing our revenues, the value of your investment could be
reduced. Our management will have broad discretion with respect to the
expenditure of the net proceeds of this offering, including discretion to use
the proceeds in ways with which stockholders may disagree. To date, management
is unable to provide an estimated range of the amounts of proceeds to be used
for any of the purposes described in "Use of Proceeds." Investors will be
relying on the judgment of our management regarding the application of the
proceeds of this offering.

OUR STOCK PRICE MAY EXPERIENCE EXTREME PRICE AND VOLUME FLUCTUATIONS, AND
INVESTORS IN OUR STOCK MAY NOT BE ABLE TO RESELL THEIR SHARES AT OR ABOVE THE
OFFERING PRICE.

    Due to fluctuations in the market price of our common stock, you may be
unable to resell your shares at or above the offering price. The market price of
our common stock has fluctuated in the past and is likely to continue to be
highly volatile and subject to wide fluctuations. In addition, the stock market
in general and the market prices of shares in technology companies, particularly
those such as ours that offer Internet-based products and services, have been
extremely volatile and have experienced fluctuations that have often been
unrelated or disproportionate to the operating performance of such companies.
The market price of our

                                       15
<PAGE>
common stock could continue to be highly volatile and subject to wide
fluctuations in response to many factors, some of which are largely beyond our
control. These factors include:

    - quarterly variations in our results of operations;

    - adverse business developments;

    - changes in financial estimates by securities analysts;

    - investor perception of us and online recruiting services in general;

    - announcements by our competitors of new products and services; and

    - general economic conditions both in the U.S. and in foreign countries.

    Our stock price may also experience fluctuations due to approximately
$6.2 million remaining in deferred compensation which we expect to amortize over
the next four years and a $16.2 million beneficial conversion feature,
approximately $15.6 million of which we amortized in the third quarter of 1999.
For a more complete description of the deferred compensation and beneficial
conversion feature, see "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial
Condition and Results of Operations." In the event that our stock price
decreases due to a negative perception of the deferred compensation charge or
beneficial conversion feature, the value of your investment would be reduced.

SINCE OUR STOCK PRICE IS VOLATILE, WE MAY BECOME SUBJECT TO SECURITIES
LITIGATION WHICH IS EXPENSIVE AND COULD RESULT IN A DIVERSION OF RESOURCES.

    Litigation brought against us could result in substantial costs to us in
defending against the lawsuit and a diversion of management's attention that
could reduce the value of your investment. Securities class action litigation
has often been brought against companies that experience volatility in the
market price of their securities. Since our stock price is volatile, we could be
subject to securities litigation and incur higher expenses than expected, which
could reduce the value of your investment.

FUTURE SALES OF OUR COMMON STOCK AFTER THIS OFFERING MAY NEGATIVELY AFFECT OUR
STOCK PRICE.

    The market price of our common stock could decline as a result of sales of a
large number of shares of our common stock in the market following this
offering, or the perception that such sales could occur. Following this
offering, we will have a large number of shares of common stock outstanding and
available for resale beginning at various points in time in the future. These
sales also might make it more difficult for us to sell equity securities in the
future at a time and at a price that we deem appropriate. The shares of our
common stock currently outstanding will become eligible for sale without
registration pursuant to Rule 144 under the Securities Act, subject to certain
conditions of Rule 144. Certain holders of our common stock also have certain
demand and piggyback registration rights enabling them to register their shares
under the Securities Act for sale.

    In connection with this offering, our senior officers and directors and
certain of our stockholders and optionholders, who hold or will hold a total of
21,049,300 shares of common stock agreed, subject to certain exceptions, not to
sell their shares for 90 days after the date of this prospectus without the
consent of Deutsche Bank Securities Inc.

    In addition, we have registered for resale 4,314,200 shares of common stock
reserved for issuance under our Stock Award Plan, 4,500,000 shares of common
stock reserved for issuance under our 1999 Stock Option/Stock Issuance Plan and
250,000 shares of common stock reserved for issuance under our Employee Stock
Purchase Plan. As of September 30, 1999, options to

                                       16
<PAGE>
purchase 5,785,200 shares of common stock were outstanding and will be eligible
for sale in the public market from time to time subject to vesting and, in the
case of certain options, the expiration of lock-up agreements. These stock
options generally have exercise prices significantly below the current price of
our common stock. The possible sale of a significant number of these shares may
cause the price of our common stock to fall.

IT MAY BE DIFFICULT FOR A THIRD PARTY TO ACQUIRE OUR COMPANY WHICH COULD DEPRESS
OUR STOCK PRICE.

    Delaware corporate law, our amended and restated certificate of
incorporation and bylaws, and our Stock Award Plan and 1999 Stock Option/Stock
Issuance Plan contain provisions that could have the effect of delaying,
deferring or preventing a change in control of HotJobs.com or our management
that stockholders may consider favorable or beneficial, which could reduce the
value of your investment. These provisions could discourage proxy contests and
make it more difficult for you and other stockholders to elect directors and
take other corporate actions. These provisions could also limit the price that
investors might be willing to pay in the future for shares of our common stock.
These provisions include:

    - authorization to issue "blank check" preferred stock, which is preferred
      stock that can be created and issued by the board of directors without
      prior stockholder approval, with rights senior to those of common stock;

    - a staggered board of directors, so that it would take three successive
      annual meetings to replace all directors;

    - prohibition of stockholder action by written consent;

    - advance notice requirements for the submission by stockholders of
      nominations for election to the board of directors and for proposing
      matters that can be acted upon by stockholders at a meeting;

    - immediate vesting of options issued under the Stock Award Plan and the
      1999 Stock Option/Stock Issuance Plan in connection with a change of
      control; and

    - the payment of a cash distribution for surrendered options with limited
      stock appreciation rights upon the successful completion of a hostile
      tender offer for more than 50% of our outstanding voting stock.

    See "Description of Capital Stock--Anti-Takeover Effects of Delaware Law and
our Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation and Bylaws" for a more
complete description of these provisions.

OUR EXECUTIVE OFFICERS, DIRECTORS AND EXISTING STOCKHOLDERS, WHOSE INTERESTS MAY
DIFFER FROM OTHER STOCKHOLDERS, WILL HAVE THE ABILITY TO EXERCISE SIGNIFICANT
CONTROL OVER US.

    Our executive officers and directors and entities affiliated with them will,
in the aggregate, beneficially own approximately 51.0% of our common stock
following this offering. These stockholders will be able to exercise significant
influence over all matters requiring approval by our stockholders, including the
election of directors and the approval of significant corporate transactions,
including a change of control of HotJobs.com. The interests of these
stockholders may differ from the interests of our other stockholders.

YOU WILL SUFFER IMMEDIATE AND SUBSTANTIAL DILUTION OF THE VALUE OF YOUR
INVESTMENT.

    Investors purchasing shares in this offering will incur immediate and
substantial dilution in their investments. See "Dilution" for a calculation of
the extent to which your investment will be diluted. To the extent outstanding
options to purchase common stock are exercised, your investment will be further
diluted.

                                       17
<PAGE>
                           FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

    Many statements made in this prospectus under the captions "Prospectus
Summary," "Risk Factors," "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial
Condition and Results of Operations" and "Business" and elsewhere are
forward-looking statements relating to future events and our future performance
within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E
of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, including, without limitation,
statements regarding our expectations, beliefs, intentions or future strategies
that are signified by the words "expects", "anticipates", "intends", "believes"
or similar language. Our actual results could differ materially from those
anticipated in such forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements
included in this document are based on information available to us on the date
hereof, and we assume no obligation to update any forward-looking statements. We
caution you that our business and financial performance are subject to
substantial risks and uncertainties. In evaluating our business, you should
carefully consider the information set forth below under the caption "Risk
Factors" in addition to the other information set forth herein and elsewhere in
our other public filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

                                  MARKET DATA

    This prospectus contains market data related to our business and the
Internet. This market data includes projections that are based on a number of
assumptions. The assumptions include the following:

    - no catastrophic failure of the Internet will occur;

    - the number of people online and the total number of hours spent online
      will increase significantly over the next five years; and

    - Internet security and privacy concerns will be adequately addressed.

    If any one or more of these assumptions turns out to be incorrect, actual
results may differ from the projections based on these assumptions. The
Internet-related markets may not grow over the next three to four years at the
rates projected by these market data, or at all. The failure of these markets to
grow at these projected rates may have a material adverse effect on our business
and the market price of our common stock.

                                       18
<PAGE>
                                USE OF PROCEEDS

    The net proceeds from the sale of the 3,600,000 shares of common stock being
offered by us, at a public offering price of $30.00 per share, less underwriting
discounts and estimated offering expenses, are estimated to be $101.9 million,
or $114.7 million if the underwriters' overallotment option is exercised in
full.

    We intend to use the net proceeds of this offering, and we are currently
using the proceeds from our initial public offering, for general corporate
purposes, including:

    - increasing our sales and marketing efforts;

    - developing our infrastructure, products and services, all of which we have
      yet to identify;

    - obtaining additional office space; and

    - hiring additional personnel.

    In addition, we may use a portion of the net proceeds to acquire or invest
in complementary businesses, technologies, services or products; however, we
have no commitments or agreements, and we are not involved in any negotiations
with respect to any such transaction.

    As of the date of this prospectus, we can neither specify the particular
uses for the net proceeds to be received upon completion of the offering, nor
provide an estimated range of the amounts of proceeds to be used for any of the
purposes described above. Accordingly, management will have significant
flexibility in applying the net proceeds of this offering.

    Pending any use, we will invest the net proceeds of this offering in
short-term, investment grade, interest-bearing securities.

                          PRICE RANGE OF COMMON STOCK

    Our common stock has been quoted on the Nasdaq National Market under the
symbol HOTJ since our initial public offering on August 10, 1999. The following
table sets forth, for the periods indicated, the high and low closing sales
prices per share of the common stock as reported on the Nasdaq National Market:

<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
                                                                HIGH       LOW
                                                                ----       ---
<S>                                                           <C>        <C>
FISCAL YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 1999
    Third Quarter (from August 10, 1999)....................  $ 34.94    $  7.63
    Fourth Quarter (through November 10, 1999)..............  $ 30.38    $ 24.00
</TABLE>

    On November 10, 1999, the last reported sales price of the common stock on
the Nasdaq National Market was $30.38 per share. As of November 8, 1999, there
were 70 holders of record of our common stock.

                                DIVIDEND POLICY

    We have not declared or paid any cash dividends on our common stock or
preferred stock since inception and do not expect to pay any cash dividends for
the foreseeable future. We currently intend to retain future earnings, if any,
to finance the expansion of our business. The payment of dividends will be at
the discretion of our board of directors and will depend upon factors such as
future earnings, capital requirements, our financial condition and general
business conditions.

                                       19
<PAGE>
                                 CAPITALIZATION

    The following table sets forth our capitalization as of September 30, 1999:

    (1) on an actual basis;

    (2) on an as adjusted basis to reflect:

       - our sale of 3,600,000 shares in this offering at an assumed public
         offering price of $30.00 per share, less the underwriters' discounts
         and commissions; and

       - the estimated expenses of this offering.

    The table excludes:

    - 250,000 shares reserved for future issuance under our Employee Stock
      Purchase Plan;

    - 2,657,000 shares reserved for future grants under our 1999 Stock
      Option/Stock Issuance Plan; and

    - 5,785,200 shares subject to issuance upon the exercise of options
      outstanding at September 30, 1999.

<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
                                                                 SEPTEMBER 30, 1999
                                                              ------------------------
                                                               ACTUAL     AS ADJUSTED
                                                              ---------   ------------
                                                                   (IN THOUSANDS)
                                                                    (UNAUDITED)
<S>                                                           <C>         <C>
Notes payable, excluding current portion....................  $     113    $     113
Obligations under capital leases, excluding current
  installments..............................................        268          268

Stockholders' equity:
  Preferred stock, $0.01 par value per share; 10,000,000
    shares authorized actual and as adjusted; no shares
    issued and outstanding actual and as adjusted...........         --           --
  Common stock, $0.01 par value; 100,000,000 shares
    authorized actual and as adjusted; 28,448,419 shares
    issued and 27,248,419 shares outstanding actual;
    30,848,419 shares issued and outstanding as adjusted....        284          308
Additional paid-in capital..................................     47,223      149,038
Deferred compensation.......................................     (6,235)      (6,235)
Accumulated deficit.........................................    (16,233)     (16,233)
Accumulated Comprehensive income (loss).....................         (2)          (2)
Treasury stock at cost; 1,200,000 shares actual and none as
  adjusted..................................................        (61)          --
                                                              ---------    ---------
  Total stockholders' equity................................     24,976      126,876
                                                              ---------    ---------
    Total capitalization....................................  $  25,357    $ 127,257
                                                              =========    =========
</TABLE>

                                       20
<PAGE>
                                    DILUTION

    Our net tangible book value at September 30, 1999 was approximately
$25.0 million, or approximately $0.92 per share. Net tangible book value per
share represents the amount of our total tangible assets reduced by the amount
of our total liabilities and divided by the number of shares of common stock
outstanding. After giving effect to the sale by us of the 3,600,000 shares
offered hereby at a public offering price of $30.00 per share and after
deducting the underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering
expenses, our net tangible book value at September 30, 1999 would have been
approximately $126.9 million, or approximately $4.11 per share. This represents
an immediate increase in net tangible book value of approximately $3.19 per
share to existing stockholders and an immediate dilution in net tangible book
value of approximately $25.89 per share to investors purchasing shares in this
offering. The following table illustrates this per share dilution:

<TABLE>
<S>                                                           <C>        <C>
Public offering price per share.............................             $ 30.00
  Net tangible book value per share at September 30, 1999...   $ 0.92
  Increase in net tangible book value attributable to new
    investors...............................................   $ 3.19
                                                               ------
Adjusted net tangible book value per share after this
  offering..................................................             $  4.11
                                                                         -------
Dilution per share to investors purchasing shares in this
  offering..................................................             $ 25.89
                                                                         =======
</TABLE>

                                       21
<PAGE>
                            SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA
                (IN THOUSANDS, EXCEPT SHARE AND PER SHARE DATA)

    The following selected financial data should be read in conjunction with the
financial statements and the notes to those statements appearing elsewhere in
this prospectus and "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition
and Results of Operations." The statement of operations data for the period from
February 20, 1997 (inception) through December 31, 1997 and for the year ended
December 31, 1998, are derived from our audited financial statements included
elsewhere in this prospectus. The statement of operations data for each of the
nine-month periods ended September 30, 1998 and 1999, and the balance sheet data
at September 30, 1999, are derived from unaudited interim financial statements
of HotJobs.com included elsewhere in this prospectus. The unaudited financial
statements have been prepared on substantially the same basis as the audited
financial statements and, in the opinion of management, include all adjustments,
consisting only of normal recurring adjustments, necessary for a fair
presentation of the results of operations for such periods. Historical results
are not necessarily indicative of the results to be expected in the future, and
results of interim periods are not necessarily indicative of results for the
entire year.

<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
                                                                PERIOD FROM
                                                               FEBRUARY 20,
                                                             1997 (INCEPTION)                        NINE MONTHS ENDED
                                                                    TO             YEAR ENDED          SEPTEMBER 30,
                                                               DECEMBER 31,       DECEMBER 31,    -----------------------
                                                                   1997               1998           1998         1999
                                                             -----------------   --------------   ----------   ----------
                                                                                                        (UNAUDITED)
<S>                                                          <C>                 <C>              <C>          <C>
STATEMENT OF OPERATIONS DATA:
 Revenues:
  Service fees.............................................          $ 361            $ 3,038        $ 1,888      $ 8,856
  Software license fees....................................             23                225            155          245
  Job fair fees............................................             --                 --             --        1,189
  Other....................................................             13                249            190        1,782
                                                                ----------         ----------     ----------   ----------
    Total revenues.........................................            397              3,512          2,233       12,072
 Cost of revenues..........................................             12                505            306        2,186
                                                                ----------         ----------     ----------   ----------
    Gross profit...........................................            385              3,007          1,927        9,886
 Operating expenses:
  Product development......................................            174                474            342          665
  Sales and marketing......................................            431              3,085          1,907       15,194
  General and administrative...............................            725              1,642            929        5,666
  Non-cash compensation....................................             --                 --             --        1,540
                                                                ----------         ----------     ----------   ----------
    Total operating expenses...............................          1,330              5,201          3,178       23,065
                                                                ----------         ----------     ----------   ----------
      Loss from operations.................................           (945)            (2,194)        (1,251)     (13,179)
 Net interest income (expense).............................             --                (63)           (28)         149
                                                                ----------         ----------     ----------   ----------
      Net loss.............................................         $ (945)           $(2,257)       $(1,279)    $(13,030)
                                                                ==========         ==========     ==========   ==========
 Deemed dividend attributable to issuance of convertible
  preferred stock..........................................             --                 --             --       16,200
                                                                ----------         ----------     ----------   ----------
 Net loss attributable to common stockholders..............         $ (945)           $(2,257)       $(1,279)    $(29,230)
                                                                ==========         ==========     ==========   ==========
 Basic and diluted net loss per common share...............         $(0.04)           $ (0.11)       $ (0.06)    $  (1.37)
                                                                ==========         ==========     ==========   ==========
 Weighted average shares outstanding used in basic and
  diluted net loss per common share calculation............     21,300,000         21,044,184     21,117,143   21,364,231
                                                                ==========         ==========     ==========   ==========
</TABLE>

<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
                                                                  SEPTEMBER 30, 1999
                                                              --------------------------
                                                               ACTUAL    AS ADJUSTED(1)
                                                              --------   ---------------
                                                                     (UNAUDITED)
<S>                                                           <C>        <C>
BALANCE SHEET DATA:
  Cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities..........  $ 27,602      $129,502
  Working capital...........................................    22,290       124,190
  Total assets..............................................    36,613       138,513
  Notes payable, excluding current portion..................       113           113
  Obligations under capital leases, excluding current
    installments............................................       268           268
  Total stockholders' equity................................    24,976       126,876
</TABLE>

- ----------------------------------
(1) As adjusted information gives effect to our sale of 3,600,000 shares in this
    offering at a public offering price of $30.00 per share, less the
    underwriters' discounts and commissions and estimated expenses of the
    offering.

                                       22
<PAGE>
                    MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF
                 FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

    THE FOLLOWING DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF OUR FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS
OF OPERATIONS SHOULD BE READ IN CONJUNCTION WITH, AND IS QUALIFIED IN ITS
ENTIRETY BY REFERENCE TO, THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND THE NOTES TO THOSE
STATEMENTS APPEARING ELSEWHERE IN THIS PROSPECTUS. THIS DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS
CONTAINS FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS THAT INVOLVE RISKS AND UNCERTAINTIES. OUR
ACTUAL RESULTS COULD DIFFER MATERIALLY FROM THOSE ANTICIPATED IN THE
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS AS A RESULT OF FACTORS INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO,
THOSE DISCUSSED IN "RISK FACTORS" AND ELSEWHERE IN THIS PROSPECTUS.

OVERVIEW

    We are a leading provider of comprehensive recruiting solutions that
leverage the Internet to exchange information more efficiently between job
seekers and employers. The majority of our revenues are recurring and are
derived primarily from employer memberships to our WWW.HOTJOBS.COM employment
exchange. We also provide additional recruiting solutions to employers such as
our proprietary Softshoe recruiting software, our WorkWorld job fairs, online
advertising and consulting services.

    Founded in February 1997, we began operations with seven employees and we
had grown to 173 employees as of September 30, 1999. Our early operating
activities related primarily to the development of the necessary technological
infrastructure for the operation of WWW.HOTJOBS.COM. In February 1997, we
commercially launched our WWW.HOTJOBS.COM employment exchange. In
September 1997, we began selling our Softshoe software. During 1998, we
experienced significant increases in our revenue from sales of memberships to
our employment exchange and license and hosting fees for our Softshoe software.
In early 1999, we introduced our WorkWorld job fairs and expanded our marketing
programs to increase awareness of the HotJobs.com brand. In May 1999, we raised
net proceeds of approximately $16.1 million in a private placement of our
Series A Preferred Stock. In the three months ended September 30, 1999, we
raised net proceeds of $23.3 million in our initial public offering.

    We classify our revenues as follows:

    - Service fee revenue, consisting of subscription fees paid by employers for
      memberships to our WWW.HOTJOBS.COM employment exchange and software
      hosting fees paid by customers of our software. We sell memberships to
      each employer on a per recruiter basis and bill the employer monthly,
      quarterly, semi-annually or annually. Membership entitles each recruiter
      to post a specific number of jobs on WWW.HOTJOBS.COM simultaneously.
      Software hosting fees consist of recurring monthly fees to maintain an
      employer's Softshoe database as well as the hosting of a miscellaneous
      proprietary software product.

    - Software license revenue, consisting of license fees paid by our Softshoe
      customers as well as license fees relating to a miscellaneous proprietary
      software product.

    - Job fair revenue, consisting of fees from employers that rent booths at
      our WorkWorld job fairs.

    - Other revenue, consisting of fees derived from single-ad job postings on
      WWW.HOTJOBS.COM, banner advertising, which we sell on a monthly and
      extended-term basis, barter revenue, co-operative advertising revenue, and
      other Softshoe-related services, including system customization and resume
      scanning services, which we bill on a monthly and extended-term basis.

                                       23
<PAGE>
    We recognize revenue as follows:

    - Service Fee Revenue. We provide subscriptions for membership to our
      employment exchange for a minimum term of three months and a maximum term
      of 24 months. We recognize subscription revenue over the subscription
      term. We provide hosting services to Softshoe customers on a monthly
      basis, and we recognize hosting revenue in the month we provide the
      service. These hosting fees are contracted separately from the software
      license.

    - Software License Revenue. We recognize software license revenue ratably
      over the four year estimated useful life of the software, in accordance
      with Statements of Position 97-2 and 98-9 issued by the American Institute
      of Certified Public Accountants.

    - Job Fair Revenue. We recognize job fair revenue in the month in which the
      job fair takes place.

    - Other Revenue. We recognize revenue related to these services over the
      period of delivery of service. Other revenue also includes barter revenue,
      which consists of fees generated from exchanges of services with other
      vendors. We recognize barter revenue over the period that we receive the
      benefit.

    We classify our cost of revenue and operating expenses as follows:

    - Cost of Revenue. Cost of revenue consists of compensation associated with
      network operations staff, technology support contract fees, Internet
      access, job fair expenses, resume scanning services, barter expenses and
      depreciation expense.

    - Product Development Expense. Product development expense consists
      primarily of costs associated with the compensation of product development
      personnel. Our product development expenses constitute all of our research
      and development expenditures.

    - Sales and Marketing Expense. Sales and marketing expense consists
      primarily of advertising and promotional expenses, public relations
      expenses, conference expenses, printing fees, sales and marketing
      compensation, including base salary and sales commissions, and
      telemarketing communications expenses. Sales commissions have remained
      relatively constant as a percentage of revenues, and we expect this to
      continue. However, the timing and magnitude of marketing initiatives have
      caused, and will continue to cause, fluctuations in sales and marketing
      expense as a percentage of revenues.

    - General and Administrative Expense. General and administrative expense
      consists primarily of compensation for administrative and executive staff,
      fees for professional services, bad debt expense and general office
      expense.

                                       24
<PAGE>
    The following table sets forth, as a percentage of total revenues, the
results of our operations for the period ended December 31, 1997, the year ended
December 31, 1998 and the nine months ended September 30, 1998 and 1999.

<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
                                                  PERIOD FROM                                NINE MONTHS
                                                  FEBRUARY 20,                                  ENDED
                                                1997 (INCEPTION)    YEAR ENDED              SEPTEMBER 30,
                                                TO DECEMBER 31,    DECEMBER 31,       -------------------------
                                                      1997             1998             1998             1999
                                                ----------------   -------------      --------         --------
                                                                                             (UNAUDITED)
<S>                                             <C>                <C>                <C>              <C>
Revenues:
  Service fees................................          91%              87%              85%              73%
  Software license fees.......................           6                6                7                2
  Job fair fees...............................          --               --               --               10
  Other.......................................           3                7                8               15
                                                      ----              ---             ----             ----
    Total revenues............................         100              100              100              100
Cost of revenues..............................           3               14               14               18
                                                      ----              ---             ----             ----
    Gross profit..............................          97               86               86               82

Operating expenses:
  Product development.........................          44               13               15                5
  Sales and marketing.........................         109               88               85              126
  General and administrative..................         183               47               42               47
  Non-cash compensation.......................          --               --               --               13
                                                      ----              ---             ----             ----
    Total operating expenses..................         336              148              142              191
                                                      ----              ---             ----             ----
      Loss from operations....................        (239)             (62)             (56)            (109)
Net interest income (expense).................          --               (2)              (1)               1
                                                      ----              ---             ----             ----
      Net loss................................        (239)%            (64)%            (57)%           (108)%
                                                      ====              ===             ====             ====
</TABLE>

    We have incurred substantial losses in every fiscal period since our
inception. For the year ended December 31, 1998, we incurred net losses of
approximately $2.3 million. For the nine months ended September 30, 1999, we
incurred net losses of approximately $13.0 million. As of December 31, 1998, and
September 30, 1999, we had accumulated deficits of approximately $3.2 million
and $16.2 million, respectively. Our net losses and resulting accumulated
deficit are primarily due to the costs we incurred to develop our online
employment exchange and software products in advance of substantial revenue and
to expand our sales and marketing programs.

    We intend to devote significant resources to advertising and brand-marketing
programs designed to attract new employers to subscribe to WWW.HOTJOBS.COM and
new job seekers to use the site. We anticipate increasing advertising spending
in specific periods in the future. This will result in sales and marketing
expenses increasing as a percentage of total revenues in these periods. As of
November 4, 1999, we had commitments of approximately $6.6 million for various
advertising campaigns through December 2000. These commitments include
broadcasting, print, online and outdoor advertising. We expect growth in the
number of member employers of WWW.HOTJOBS.COM to result in substantial growth in
subscription fees. Our strategy contemplates that revenue from employer
memberships will likely be the single largest source of revenue for us in the
immediate future.

    As a result of our expansion plans and our expectation that operating
expenses will increase significantly in the next several years, especially in
the areas of sales and marketing and brand promotion, we expect to incur
additional losses from operations for the foreseeable future. To the extent that
(1) increases in our operating expenses precede and are not subsequently
followed by commensurate increases in revenue, or (2) we are unable to adjust
operating

                                       25
<PAGE>
expense levels accordingly, our operating losses may exceed our expectations for
those periods. We cannot be sure that we will ever achieve or sustain
profitability.

DEFERRED COMPENSATION

    We recorded deferred compensation net of options forfeited of $7.8 million
in the first nine months of 1999, representing the difference between the
exercise price of stock options granted and the fair value for accounting
purposes of the underlying common stock at the date of the grant. The deferred
compensation cost will be amortized over the vesting period of the options. We
currently expect to amortize the following amounts of deferred compensation as
follows:

<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
FOR THE YEAR ENDING:
- --------------------
<S>                                                           <C>
December 31, 1999...........................................  $2.0 million
December 31, 2000...........................................  $1.9 million
December 31, 2001...........................................  $1.9 million
December 31, 2002...........................................  $1.5 million
December 31, 2003...........................................  $0.5 million
</TABLE>

BENEFICIAL CONVERSION FEATURE

    As of May 10, 1999, due to our sale of 1,620,000 shares of Series A
Preferred Stock with a conversion price that was below the expected initial
public offering price of our common stock, we recorded a beneficial conversion
feature of $16.2 million. Prior to the conversion of the Series A Preferred
Stock into common stock, we began to amortize the value of the beneficial
conversion feature over the four-year period from the date of issuance of the
preferred stock to the date on which the preferred stock was first convertible
into common stock, assuming no acceleration of the date of conversion. All of
the preferred stock automatically converted into common stock upon completion of
our initial public offering and all of the unamortized value of the beneficial
conversion feature was immediately recognized as a dividend to preferred
stockholders. We amortized an aggregate of approximately $566,000 of the
beneficial conversion feature in the three months ended June 30, 1999. We
amortized the remaining approximately $15.6 million of the beneficial conversion
feature in the three months ended September 30, 1999, which increased our net
loss per common share by $0.76 in the nine months ended September 30, 1999.

NINE MONTHS ENDED SEPTEMBER 30, 1999 COMPARED TO NINE MONTHS ENDED
SEPTEMBER 30, 1998

    REVENUES

    Our total revenues increased to approximately $12.1 million for the nine
months ended September 30, 1999, from approximately $2.2 million for the nine
months ended September 30, 1998. The increase in our total revenues was due to
increased revenue in all of our revenue categories.

    SERVICE FEES.  Service revenue increased to approximately $8.9 million for
    the nine months ended September 30, 1999, from approximately $1.9 million
    for the nine months ended September 30, 1998. This increase resulted
    primarily from an increase in the number of employers subscribing to
    WWW.HOTJOBS.COM and, to a lesser extent, an increase in the hosting fees
    generated by a larger number of licensees of our Softshoe software.

    SOFTWARE LICENSE FEES.  Software license revenue increased to approximately
    $245,000 for the nine months ended September 30, 1999, from approximately
    $155,000 for the nine months ended September 30, 1998. This increase was due
    primarily to an increase in the number of companies that license our
    proprietary Softshoe software.

                                       26
<PAGE>
    JOB FAIR FEES.  Job fair revenue increased to approximately $1.2 million for
    the nine months ended September 30, 1999, from $0 for the nine months ended
    September 30, 1998. We held our first job fair in February 1999.

    OTHER FEES.  Other revenue increased to approximately $1.8 million for the
    nine months ended September 30, 1999, from approximately $190,000 for the
    nine months ended September 30, 1998. This increase primarily relates to the
    inception of single-ad job postings and barter revenues.

    COST OF REVENUES

    Our cost of revenues increased to approximately $2.2 million for the nine
months ended September 30, 1999, from approximately $306,000 for the nine months
ended September 30, 1998. As a percentage of revenue, cost of revenues increased
to 18% for the nine months ended September 30, 1999, from 14% for the nine
months ended September 30, 1998. This increase resulted primarily from costs
associated with job fair revenues and barter revenues, each of which were
initiated in 1999. We incur higher marginal costs associated with both job fair
and barter revenues than with our other revenue sources.

    OPERATING EXPENSES

    PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT EXPENSE.  Product development expense increased to
    approximately $665,000 for the nine months ended September 30, 1999, from
    approximately $342,000 for the nine months ended September 30, 1998. This
    increase reflects our continuing efforts to provide enhanced content and
    features in our products and services and resulted primarily from increased
    salaries and related expenses associated with hiring additional technology
    personnel.

    SALES AND MARKETING EXPENSE.  Sales and marketing expense increased to
    approximately $15.2 million for the nine months ended September 30, 1999,
    from approximately $1.9 million for the nine months ended September 30,
    1998. As a percentage of revenue, sales and marketing expense increased to
    126% for the nine months ended September 30, 1999, from 85% for the nine
    months ended September 30, 1998. The increase in sales and marketing expense
    was primarily due to the expansion of the HotJobs.com marketing campaign,
    including approximately $2.0 million for a television advertisement during
    the Super Bowl in January 1999. In addition, sales and marketing expense
    increased due to the hiring of additional sales and marketing personnel.

    GENERAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSE.  General and administrative expense
    increased to approximately $5.7 million for the nine months ended
    September 30, 1999, from approximately $929,000 for the nine months ended
    September 30, 1998. General and administrative expense increased primarily
    due to increased salaries and related expenses associated with hiring
    additional administrative personnel.

    NON-CASH COMPENSATION EXPENSE.  We recorded approximately $1.5 million of
    non-cash compensation expense for the nine months ended September 30, 1999,
    which represents the amortization of approximately $7.8 million of deferred
    compensation, net of options forteited recorded for the nine months ended
    September 30, 1999 in connection with stock options granted below the market
    value during the nine months ended September 30, 1999. Deferred compensation
    of approximately $7.8 million will be amortized over the periods during
    which the related options vest. The remaining deferred compensation of
    approximately $6.2 million will be amortized through August 2003 as the
    options vest.

                                       27
<PAGE>
    NET INTEREST INCOME (EXPENSE)

    Net interest income increased to approximately $149,000 for the nine months
ended September 30, 1999, from a net interest expense of approximately $28,000
for the nine months ended September 30, 1998. Net interest income reflects the
investment of our excess cash, which resulted from the sale of Series A
Preferred Stock in May 1999 and our initial public offering in the three months
ended September 30, 1999. Prior to the sale of the Series A Preferred Stock, we
were a net borrower of funds and had recorded net interest expense.

YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 1998 COMPARED TO PERIOD ENDED DECEMBER 31, 1997

    REVENUES

    Our total revenues increased to approximately $3.5 million for the year
ended December 31, 1998, from approximately $397,000 for the period ended
December 31, 1997. The increase in our total revenues was primarily due to an
increase in service fees and other fees associated with the sale of
miscellaneous proprietary software.

    SERVICE FEES.  Service fee revenue increased to approximately $3.0 million
    for the year ended December 31, 1998, from approximately $361,000 for the
    period ended December 31, 1997. This increase resulted primarily from an
    increase in the number of employers subscribing to WWW.HOTJOBS.COM and, to a
    lesser extent, an increase in the hosting fees generated from a larger
    number of licensees of our Softshoe software.

    SOFTWARE LICENSE FEES.  Software license revenue increased to approximately
    $225,000 for the year ended December 31, 1998, from approximately $23,000
    for the period ended December 31, 1997. This increase was due to an increase
    in the number of customers who purchased licenses for our Softshoe software.

    JOB FAIR FEES.  We held our first WorkWorld job fair in 1999. Therefore, we
    did not generate any job fair revenue in either 1998 or 1997.

    OTHER FEES.  Other revenue increased to approximately $249,000 for the year
    ended December 31, 1998, from approximately $13,000 for the period ended
    December 31, 1997. The increase is primarily due to the sale of a
    miscellaneous proprietary software product and an increase in fees related
    to customizing Softshoe applications.

    COST OF REVENUES

    Our cost of revenues increased to approximately $505,000 for the year ended
December 31, 1998, from $12,000 for the period ended December 31, 1997. As a
percentage of revenue, cost of revenues increased to 14% for the year ended
December 31, 1998, from 3% for the period ended December 31, 1997. This increase
resulted primarily from an increase in our network operations staff as well as
an increase in depreciation expense.

    OPERATING EXPENSES

    PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT EXPENSE.  Product development expense increased to
    approximately $474,000 for the year ended December 31, 1998, from
    approximately $174,000 for the period ended December 31, 1997. This increase
    resulted primarily from increased salaries and related expenses associated
    with hiring additional technology personnel required to enhance the content
    and features of our products and services.

    SALES AND MARKETING EXPENSE.  Sales and marketing expense increased to
    approximately $3.1 million for the year ended December 31, 1998, from
    approximately $431,000 for the period ended December 31, 1997, and decreased
    as a percentage of revenue to 88% for the

                                       28
<PAGE>
    year ended December 31, 1998 from 108% for the period ended December 31,
    1997. The increase in sales and marketing expense was primarily due to costs
    associated with advertising and increases in sales compensation and
    commissions related to an increase in the number of our sales and marketing
    personnel.

    GENERAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSE.  General and administrative expense
    increased to approximately $1.6 million for the year ended December 31,
    1998, from approximately $725,000 for the period ended December 31, 1997.
    General and administrative expense increased primarily due to increased
    salaries and related expenses associated with hiring additional personnel.

    NET INTEREST INCOME (EXPENSE)

    Net interest expense increased to approximately $63,000 for the year ended
December 31, 1998, from $0 for the period ended December 31, 1997. This increase
resulted from increased borrowings, as well as increased capital expenditures
under capital leases.

    TAXES

    At December 31, 1998, we had a net operating loss carryforward of
$3.1 million. This carryforward is available to offset future taxable income and
expires at various dates through 2018. We have recorded a valuation allowance of
an equal amount to fully offset the deferred tax benefit. The valuation
allowance increased approximately $551,000 for the year ended December 31, 1998.

UNAUDITED QUARTERLY RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

    The following table sets forth a summary of our quarterly results for each
of the seven quarters ended September 30, 1999. This information was derived
from unaudited interim financial statements that, in the opinion of management,
have been prepared on a basis consistent with the financial statements contained
elsewhere in this prospectus and include all adjustments, consisting of only
normal recurring adjustments, necessary for a fair statement of such information
when read in conjunction with the financial statements and notes thereto. The
results of operations for any quarter are not necessarily indicative of the
results of operations for any future period.

    Our revenue has increased in each consecutive quarter since inception as a
result of increased market acceptance of our employment exchange service and
Softshoe software product. Product development expense steadily decreased
through the second quarter of 1999 as a percentage of revenue due to a faster
increase in revenue relative to product development expense. Sales and marketing
expense increased between the fourth quarter of 1998 and the first quarter of
1999, primarily as a result of increased advertising expenditures. Sales
commissions have remained relatively constant as a percentage of revenues, and
we expect this to continue. However, the timing and magnitude of marketing
initiatives have caused, and will continue to cause, fluctuations in sales and
marketing expense as a percentage of revenues. General and administrative
expense has increased in every quarter since inception due to an increase in
personnel, facilities and increased spending on internal operational and
financial infrastructure.

    In light of the evolving nature of our business and limited operating
history, we believe that period to period comparisons of our historical
operating results may not be meaningful and should not be relied upon as
indications of future performance. Although we have experienced

                                       29
<PAGE>
sequential quarterly revenue growth since inception, our historical revenue
growth rates are not necessarily indicative of future revenue growth rates.

<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
                                                                        QUARTER ENDED
                                         ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                         MARCH 31,   JUNE 30,   SEPT 30,   DEC 31,    MARCH 31,   JUNE 30,   SEPT 30,
                                           1998        1998       1998       1998       1999        1999       1999
                                         ---------   --------   --------   --------   ---------   --------   --------
                                                                        (IN THOUSANDS)
<S>                                      <C>         <C>        <C>        <C>        <C>         <C>        <C>
Revenues:
  Service fees.........................    $ 347      $ 627      $ 914      $1,150     $ 1,960    $ 2,844    $ 4,052
  Software license fees................       45         51         59          70          78         83         84
  Job fair fees........................       --         --         --          --         216        314        659
  Other................................        5         15        169          60         395        544        843
                                           -----      -----      -----      ------     -------    -------    -------
      Total revenues...................      397        693      1,142       1,280       2,649      3,785      5,638
Cost of revenues.......................       77         89        139         200         588        644        954
                                           -----      -----      -----      ------     -------    -------    -------
      Gross profit.....................      320        604      1,003       1,080       2,061      3,141      4,684

Operating expenses:
  Product development..................       90        112        140         133         157        187        321
  Sales and marketing..................      524        629        754       1,177       3,229      4,031      7,934
  General and administrative...........      274        280        375         713         823      1,671      3,172
  Non-cash compensation................       --         --         --          --          --        165      1,375
                                           -----      -----      -----      ------     -------    -------    -------
      Total operating expenses.........      888      1,021      1,269       2,023       4,209      6,054     12,802
                                           -----      -----      -----      ------     -------    -------    -------
        Loss from operations...........     (568)      (417)      (266)       (943)     (2,148)    (2,913)    (8,118)
Net interest income (expense)..........       (7)        (6)       (15)        (35)        (68)        12        205
                                           -----      -----      -----      ------     -------    -------    -------
        Net loss.......................    $(575)     $(423)     $(281)     $ (978)    $(2,216)   $(2,901)   $(7,913)
                                           =====      =====      =====      ======     =======    =======    =======
</TABLE>

<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
                                                                        QUARTER ENDED
                                         ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                         MARCH 31,   JUNE 30,   SEPT 30,   DEC 31,    MARCH 31,   JUNE 30,   SEPT 30,
                                           1998        1998       1998       1998       1999        1999       1999
                                         ---------   --------   --------   --------   ---------   --------   --------
<S>                                      <C>         <C>        <C>        <C>        <C>         <C>        <C>
AS A PERCENTAGE OF TOTAL REVENUES:
Revenues:
  Service fees.........................       88%        91%        80%         90%         74%        75%        72%
  Software license fees................       11          7          5           5           3          2          1
  Job fair fees........................       --         --         --          --           8          8         12
  Other................................        1          2         15           5          15         15         15
                                           -----      -----      -----      ------     -------     ------     ------
      Total revenues...................      100        100        100         100         100        100        100
Cost of revenues.......................       19         13         12          16          22         17         17
                                           -----      -----      -----      ------     -------     ------     ------
      Gross profit.....................       81         87         88          84          78         83         83

Operating expenses:
    Product development................       23         16         12          10           6          5          6
    Sales and marketing................      132         91         66          92         122        107        141
    General and administrative.........       69         40         33          56          31         44         56
    Non-cash compensation..............       --         --         --          --          --          4         24
                                           -----      -----      -----      ------     -------     ------     ------
      Total operating expenses.........      224        147        111         158         159        160        227
                                           -----      -----      -----      ------     -------     ------     ------
        Loss from operations...........     (143)       (60)       (23)        (74)        (81)       (77)      (144)
Net interest income (expense)..........        2          1          1           3           3          0          4
                                           -----      -----      -----      ------     -------     ------     ------
        Net loss.......................     (145)%      (61)%      (24)%       (77)%       (84)%      (77)%     (140)%
                                           =====      =====      =====      ======     =======     ======     ======
</TABLE>

LIQUIDITY AND CAPITAL RESOURCES

    Since inception, we have financed our activities primarily through funding
from OTEC, Inc., a line of credit, cash from operations, the private placement
of equity securities and our initial public offering. In May 1999, OTEC provided
us with approximately $3.8 million to fund our

                                       30
<PAGE>
operations. Effective May 10, 1999, we raised net proceeds of approximately
$16.1 million from the sale of our Series A Preferred Stock in a private
placement. In the three months ended September 30, 1999, we completed our
initial public offering of 3,350,000 shares of our common stock for gross
proceeds of $26.8 million, and net proceeds of approximately $23.3 million.

    Net cash used in operating activities was approximately $2.1 million during
1998 and approximately $6.2 million for the nine months ended September 30,
1999. Net cash used in operating activities resulted primarily from our net
operating loss of approximately $13.0 million, which resulted from costs
incurred to support our sales and marketing efforts and the increased personnel
required to manage our growing operations combined with a higher level of
accounts receivable due to increased billing which was partially offset by
increases in accounts payable and accrued expenses.

    Net cash used in investing activities was approximately $497,000 during 1998
and approximately $26.6 million for the nine months ended September 30, 1999. We
used net cash in investing activities to purchase marketable securities of
approximately $24.6 million and for capital expenditures.

    Net cash provided by financing activities was approximately $2.8 million
during 1998 and approximately $35.7 million for the nine months ended
September 30, 1999. Net cash was provided by financing activities primarily from
approximately $16.1 million in net proceeds we received in May 1999 from a
private placement of our convertible preferred stock and approximately
$23.3 million of net proceeds from our initial public offering in the three
months ended September 30, 1999, which was partially offset by the repayment of
approximately $3.8 million to OTEC.

    As of September 30, 1999, we had approximately $3.0 million of cash and cash
equivalents and $24.6 million of marketable securities. As of November 4, 1999,
our principal commitments consisted of $6.6 million for various advertising
campaigns through December 2000.

    As of June 30, 1999, we had $180,000 outstanding under our line of credit.
On July 28, 1999, we repaid $180,000 in principal along with interest due under
this line of credit. On September 16, 1999, we terminated this line of credit
and entered into a Loan and Security Agreement with Silicon Valley Bank for a
$4.0 million revolving line of credit and a $1.0 million equipment line of
credit. This agreement has a term of one year and bears interest at an annual
rate of the bank's prime rate plus 75 basis points. The equipment line of credit
has a term of 42 months and bears interest at an annual rate of the bank's prime
rate plus 100 basis points.

    We believe that the net proceeds of this offering, together with our
existing cash and cash equivalents and marketable securities, will be sufficient
to meet our anticipated cash requirements for working capital and capital
expenditures for the next 12 months. Our capital requirements will depend on a
number of factors, including market acceptance of our products and services, the
amount of our resources we devote to WWW.HOTJOBS.COM and expansion of our
operations and the amount of our resources we devote to promoting awareness of
the HotJobs.com brand. Consistent with our growth, we have experienced a
substantial increase in our sales and marketing expenses, capital expenditures
and operating lease arrangements since inception, and we anticipate that these
increases will continue for the foreseeable future. In addition, we will
continue to evaluate possible investments in businesses, products and
technologies, the consummation of any of which would increase our capital
expenditures.

    Although we currently believe that we have sufficient capital resources to
meet our anticipated working capital and capital expenditure requirements beyond
the next 12 months, unanticipated events and opportunities may require us to
sell additional equity or debt securities, increase our current line of credit
or establish new credit facilities to raise capital in order to

                                       31
<PAGE>
meet our capital requirements. If we sell additional equity or convertible debt
securities, the sale could dilute the ownership of our existing stockholders. If
we issue debt securities, increase our credit facility or establish a new credit
facility, our fixed obligations could increase and result in operating covenants
that would restrict our operations. We cannot be sure that any such financing
will be available in amounts or on terms acceptable to us.

YEAR 2000 COMPLIANCE

    Many currently installed computer systems and software products are coded to
accept or recognize only two-digit entries in the date code field. These systems
and software products will need to accept four-digit entries to distinguish 21st
century dates from 20th century dates. As a result, computer systems and
software used by many companies and governmental agencies may need to be
upgraded to comply with such year 2000 requirements or risk system failure or
miscalculations which could cause disruptions of normal business activities.

    STATE OF READINESS.  We have made a preliminary assessment of the year 2000
readiness of our information technology ("IT") systems, including the hardware
and software that enable us to provide and deliver our products and services.
Our year 2000 readiness plan consists of:

    - quality assurance testing of our internally developed proprietary
      software;

    - contacting third-party vendors and licensors of material software and
      services that are both directly and indirectly related to the delivery of
      our products and services;

    - assessing our repair and replacement requirements; and

    - creating contingency plans in the event of year 2000 failures.

    We performed a year 2000 simulation on our software during the second
quarter of 1999 to test system readiness, and found no anomalous behavior in our
systems. We have been informed by our material software component vendors and
our Internet service providers that the products we use are, or will be, year
2000 compliant. We purchased or developed our systems within the past two years,
and we therefore believe that we do not have legacy systems that have been
historically identified to have year 2000 issues. We have applied vendor patches
for relevant software to bring them into compliance with vendor-defined year
2000 standards. We have engaged an outside firm to audit our application code.

    We are currently assessing our non-IT systems and will seek assurance of
year 2000 compliance from providers of material non-IT systems. Until testing is
complete and we contact these vendors and providers, we will not be able to
completely evaluate whether our IT systems or non-IT systems will need to be
revised or replaced.

    PRODUCTS.  Under most of our Softshoe license agreements, we warrant that
our Softshoe software is free from programming defects arising from year 2000
issues. Our obligation is to remedy the defect or replace the product. We
believe that our Softshoe product is free of year 2000 defects.

    COSTS.  To date we have not incurred any material costs in identifying or
evaluating year 2000 compliance issues. Based on our assessment to date, we do
not anticipate that costs associated with remediating our non-compliant IT
systems or non-IT systems will be material. We expect that our existing
employees or consultants will perform any significant work pertaining to year
2000 compliance.

    RISKS.  We are not currently aware of any year 2000 compliance problems
relating to our technology or our IT or non-IT systems that would have a
material adverse effect on our business, results of operations or financial
condition. However, we may discover year 2000

                                       32
<PAGE>
compliance problems in our technology that will require substantial revisions.
In addition, we may need to revise or replace third party software, hardware or
services incorporated into our material IT and non-IT systems, all of which
could be time consuming and expensive. If we fail to fix our technology or to
fix or replace third party software, hardware or services on a timely basis, the
result could be lost revenues, increased operating costs, the loss of customers
and other business interruptions, any of which could have a material adverse
effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition. Moreover,
the failure to adequately address year 2000 compliance issues in our technology
and our IT and non-IT systems could result in claims of mismanagement,
misrepresentation or breach of contract and related litigation, which could be
costly and time-consuming to defend. In addition, we cannot assure you that
governmental agencies, utility companies, Internet access companies, third party
service providers and others outside our control will be year 2000 compliant.
The failure by such entities to be year 2000 compliant could result in a
systemic failure beyond our control, such as a prolonged Internet,
telecommunications or electrical failure, which could also prevent us from
delivering our products and services to our customers, decrease the use of the
Internet or prevent users from accessing the Websites of companies with whom we
have entered into business alliances, which could have a material adverse effect
on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

    CONTINGENCY PLAN.  On September 15, 1999, we adopted a contingency plan for
the failure of one or more critical system components as a result of year 2000
bugs in one or more proprietary and third party systems. While no outage is
anticipated and all tests to date have indicated that our systems are year 2000
compliant, the plan identifies first, second and third-level technical
alternatives that can be implemented to minimize or eliminate down time in the
event of component or system failures.

    WORST CASE SCENARIO.  Based on our assessment completed to date, we believe
that the reasonably likely worst case scenario with respect to year 2000 issues
could be:

    - portions of WWW.HOTJOBS.COM may be down while programmers fix our systems
      or the systems of ISPs or other third parties;

    - temporary data loss could occur while back-up copies of data are retrieved
      from tape;

    - lengthy outages could occur while programmers work to repair or restore
      corrupted or missing database files; and

    - our internal corporate, billing and accounting system may be down while
      programmers fix our system.

    Although these events could have an adverse effect on our business in the
short term, we do not believe that year 2000 issues will materially and
adversely affect our business, results of operations or financial condition over
the long term. While we will have system engineers on-site over the year 2000
date change, we can give no assurance that all expectations will be realized.

RECENT ACCOUNTING PRONOUNCEMENTS

    In June 1997, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) issued
Statement of Financial Accounting Standards (SFAS) No. 131, Disclosures about
Segments of an Enterprise and Related Information, which supersedes SFAS
No. 14, Financial Reporting for Segments of a Business Enterprise. This
statement changes the way that public business enterprises report segment
information, including financial and descriptive information about their
selected segment information. Under SFAS No. 131, operating segments are defined
as revenue-producing components of the enterprise which are generally used
internally for evaluating

                                       33
<PAGE>
segment performance. SFAS No. 131 became effective for HotJobs.com fiscal year
ending December 31, 1997, and we have determined that under the guidelines of
SFAS No. 131 we did not have any separately reportable business segments as of
December 31, 1998.

    In February 1998, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants
issued Statement of Position 98-1, Accounting for the Costs of Computer Software
Developed or Obtained for Internal Use. SOP 98-1 establishes the accounting for
costs of software products developed or purchased for internal use, including
when such costs should be capitalized. We do not expect SOP 98-1, which is
effective January 1, 1999, to have a material effect on our financial condition
or results of operations.

    In June 1998, the FASB issued SFAS No. 133, "Accounting for Derivative
Instruments and Hedging Activities," which establishes accounting and reporting
standards for derivative instruments, including derivative instruments embedded
in other contracts, and for hedging activities. SFAS No. 133 is effective for
all fiscal quarters of fiscal years beginning June 15, 2000. This statement is
not expected to affect us because we currently do not engage or plan to engage
in derivative instruments or hedging activities.

                                       34
<PAGE>
                                    BUSINESS

GENERAL

    We are a leading Internet-based recruiting solutions company. Our suite of
services leverages the Internet to provide a direct exchange of information
between job seekers and employers. We developed these services based on our
experience in the recruiting industry and our in-depth understanding of the
needs of job seekers and employers. By solving many of the problems associated
with traditional recruiting methods, we allow employers to more effectively
manage their recruiting processes to save time and money.

    The majority of our revenues are recurring and are primarily derived from
employer memberships to our online employment exchange, WWW.HOTJOBS.COM.
Headhunters are prohibited from using our employment exchange, ensuring direct
contact between job seekers and member employers. We also provide employers with
additional recruiting solutions such as our proprietary Softshoe recruiting
software, our WorkWorld job fairs and online advertising and consulting
services.

    Revenues from our services have grown rapidly, primarily driven by increased
employer memberships to our WWW.HOTJOBS.COM employment exchange. Our revenues
increased from approximately $397,000 for the period ended December 31, 1997, to
approximately $3.5 million for the fiscal year ended December 31, 1998. Our
revenues for the nine months ended September 30, 1999 were approximately
$12.1 million.

INDUSTRY BACKGROUND

    RECRUITING MARKET

    We believe that companies cannot be competitive without implementing
successful recruiting practices. According to industry sources, businesses in
the U.S. spent in excess of $13 billion in 1997 to hire new employees by
advertising job openings in newspapers and by hiring headhunters.

    We believe that several factors are causing an increase in spending on
recruiting efforts:

    INCREASED LABOR SHORTAGE.  We believe that demographic trends such as the
aging of the Baby Boomers and decreasing birth rates, together with the
continued growth in the U.S. economy, are combining to cause a tight labor
market. For example, according to a 1998 recruiting survey prepared by
Interbiznet.com, over 60% of the recruiters surveyed experienced labor
shortages. As a result, the recruiting process now focuses less on selecting
qualified employees from a ready pool of candidates and more on managing a
scarce resource.

    INCREASED EMPLOYEE TURNOVER.  We believe that employees currently change
jobs more often than they have in the past and that even satisfied employees are
increasingly investigating job opportunities. According to the U.S. Bureau of
Labor Statistics, the average person entering the workforce today will work for
between eight and ten different employers. This makes it more difficult for
employers to retain qualified, experienced individuals and increases the number
of hirings that must occur each year in order to maintain or grow an employer's
workforce.

    INCREASED URGENCY TO REDUCE TIME TO HIRE.  Forrester Research, Inc.
estimates that unemployment among "knowledge workers" is less than 1% relative
to overall unemployment of 4.2%. Because of the shortage in highly skilled job
seekers, qualified candidates must be hired quickly or they may be lost to
competitors. The ability to quickly hire qualified employees may have a
significant influence on the future success of a company.

                                       35
<PAGE>
    Prior to the advent of the Internet, companies traditionally relied on a
combination of five recruiting methods. These five methods include newspaper
classifieds and other print advertisements, traditional job fairs, on-campus
recruiting, internal referral programs and headhunters. The key limitations of
each of these methods include:

    NEWSPAPER CLASSIFIEDS AND OTHER PRINT ADVERTISEMENTS

    - multiple intermediaries including media buyers and media placement agents
      are typically involved before an advertisement is placed;

    - several weeks to several months may pass from the time a job is advertised
      to the time the recruiter can respond to resumes in which he or she is
      interested; and

    - it is typically cost prohibitive to provide a full description of either
      the employer or the job opportunity and to advertise jobs nationally.

    TRADITIONAL JOB FAIRS

    - employers have limited time to meet with job seekers whom they have not
      pre-screened; and

    - job seekers often must visit each company's booth prior to determining the
      specific jobs that are available.

    ON-CAMPUS RECRUITING

    - the number of candidates requesting interviews typically exceeds the
      employers' available time slots; and

    - employers must visit multiple campuses and have limited time to meet with
      all qualified candidates.

    INTERNAL REFERRAL PROGRAMS

    - incentive programs may divert an employee's attention away from performing
      his or her job, thereby reducing productivity; and

    - referring employees may be more concerned about the quantity than the
      quality of referrals.

    HEADHUNTERS

    - placement fees are costly and employers only have access to limited
      applicant pools; and

    - job seekers generally receive limited information about the specific
      companies and positions for which they apply and do not have direct
      contact with the employer.

    ONLINE RECRUITING MARKET

    The emergence of the Internet has created an opportunity to connect job
seekers with employers more efficiently and cost effectively when compared to
traditional recruiting methods. Online recruiting can automate the recruiting
process, providing more informative and responsive real-time interaction between
job seekers and employers, and has the potential to lower the cost and time to
hire. Job seekers are empowered with access to an aggregation of information
about employment opportunities worldwide not previously available to them in one
place. We believe that a significant online recruiting marketplace will emerge
as more job seekers and employers embrace the advantages the Internet brings to
the recruiting process. In

                                       36
<PAGE>
addition, Internet-based solutions may replace more expensive client/server
recruiting software and change the way companies manage and distribute
information about job seekers throughout their organizations.

    International Data Corporation estimates that the total number of individual
Internet users worldwide will grow from approximately 69 million in 1997 to
320 million in 2002. As Internet usage becomes more widespread, companies from a
broad range of industries are expected to conduct an increasing percentage of
their recruiting over the Internet. Of the 6 million businesses in the U.S.,
Forrester estimates that only 15,000 businesses currently recruit online, but
this figure is estimated to increase to 124,000 by 2003. Forrester forecasts
that by 2003, most large companies, 60% of medium-sized companies and 20% of
small companies will use the Internet for recruiting purposes.

    MARKET OPPORTUNITY

    We believe that most of the advantages offered by Internet technology have
not been fully applied to the recruiting market. While online job boards have
improved the aggregation of job postings and job seekers, they have not
fundamentally improved workflow throughout the recruiting process. Additionally,
few Web-based commercial software applications are available to help employers
manage their internal recruiting processes. We also believe that most employers
are in the early stages of understanding how to use the Internet to increase
their competitiveness in recruiting.

    We believe that many of the current online recruiting offerings suffer from
the following limitations:

    - LACK OF PRIVACY. Most online recruiting solutions do not allow job seekers
      to restrict access to their resumes. We believe that many experienced
      professionals will not post their resumes on a job board if there is a
      chance that they may be detected by their current employers.

    - HEADHUNTER POSTINGS. Many of the current online recruiting offerings give
      headhunters complete access to their sites, resulting in a high cost
      intermediary between employers and job seekers. In addition, employers
      have to compete with headhunters for the job seekers they are looking to
      hire. Job seekers do not know whether the jobs to which they are applying
      are from actual employers or are merely ads placed by headhunters looking
      for applicants for whom they can charge a fee.

    - LACK OF SCREENING PROCESS. Many of the current online job boards offer no
      or only limited testing and screening capabilities. Many sites stress the
      size of their resume database and the number of people who visit the site
      each month. This focus on quantity rather than quality results in the
      recruiter receiving an excessive amount of unwanted resumes.

    - LACK OF FUNCTIONALITY. Many online job boards serve only to attract
      candidates without providing employers with the tools they need to manage
      the recruiting process within their organizations. Additionally, these job
      boards generally lack the ability to help employers compile and analyze
      job seeker data.

    - UNFAVORABLE PRICING MODEL. Most recruiting Websites charge companies to
      list openings for a fixed period of time on a price-per-ad basis. We
      believe that this is inefficient for companies with ongoing recruiting
      needs. Jobs that have been filled remain posted, attracting unwanted
      applicants, while unfilled jobs need to be posted again and again until a
      person is hired.

                                       37
<PAGE>
    Because our recruiting solution does not suffer from these limitations, we
believe that an opportunity exists for HotJobs.com to become the leader in
online recruiting solutions.

THE HOTJOBS.COM SOLUTION

    We provide comprehensive online recruiting solutions for employers and job
seekers. Our solutions include our online employment exchange, WWW.HOTJOBS.COM,
our browser-based proprietary recruiting software, Softshoe, and our WorkWorld
job fairs. Additionally, we provide strategic consulting and development
services focused on improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the recruiting
process for employers. As companies increasingly utilize the Internet to improve
their recruiting processes, we believe that our solution enables our customers
to leverage the lower cost and real-time communication enabled by the Internet
while retaining many of the positive attributes of traditional recruiting
methods.

    BENEFITS TO JOB SEEKERS

    Our WWW.HOTJOBS.COM employment exchange empowers job seekers to find
employment opportunities posted directly by employers at no cost to the job
seeker. Key features of our solution for job seekers include:

    - DIRECT ACCESS TO A LARGE AND GROWING LIST OF EMPLOYERS. Our
      WWW.HOTJOBS.COM site offers job seekers direct access to job postings from
      over 2,500 member employers. Unlike most online recruiting services, we
      exclude headhunters from our site to ensure direct contact between our job
      seekers and member employers. Job seekers can search for and apply to
      specific job openings or submit their resumes to our resume database,
      providing our member employers with access to their resumes unless blocked
      by the job seeker.

    - PRIVACY. Through the use of the HotBlock feature, job seekers can prevent
      the viewing of their resumes. With this feature, job seekers can eliminate
      unwanted solicitations and avoid detection by their current employers.

    - PERSONALIZATION. We enable job seekers to set up their own career home
      page, My HotJobs, free of charge and provide them with tools to manage
      their job searches. We also provide job seekers with the ability to set up
      personal job search agents, enabling them to create customized and
      automated searches based on their specifications, such as job type or
      geographic preference. This service also provides job seekers with email
      notification during a specified period of time of any new jobs added to
      the system which match the job seeker's specifications.

    - DETAILED, CURRENT INFORMATION. We provide in-depth company and job
      descriptions, enabling job seekers to apply for those jobs for which they
      are most qualified and minimizing the need for additional research.
      Additionally, each job posting includes a date stamp, giving the job
      seeker information about the age of a particular job posting.

    - JOB SEARCH TOOLS. We provide job seekers with the ability to store job
      search information, including a "shopping cart" to store multiple job
      search results as well as cover letter storage related to specific job
      inquiries. Additionally, job seekers can keep track of currently active
      jobs for which they have applied and can analyze the effectiveness of
      their job searches by tracking the number of times their resumes appear in
      an employer's search and are subsequently viewed.

    - CAREER RESOURCES. We provide job seekers with career resources, including
      a bookstore, original editorial content and job seeker message boards.

                                       38
<PAGE>
    BENEFITS TO EMPLOYERS

    We provide employers with a comprehensive Internet-based recruiting solution
focused on reducing the cost and time to hire a new employee. This comprehensive
solution includes WWW.HOTJOBS.COM, our online employment exchange, our Softshoe
recruiting software, our WorkWorld job fairs and related advertising and
consulting services. We developed our solution to provide employers with access
to a high quality pool of job seekers and the tools necessary to manage the
workflow involved in the recruiting process. Key features of our solution for
employers include:

    - FLEXIBLE PRICING MODEL. We offer employers a fully automated,
      cost-efficient means to recruit job seekers online. Our pricing model
      allows employers to choose between different levels of service to meet
      their needs. Depending upon the employer's requirements, employers may
      choose to pay periodic subscription fees to become a member of our online
      employment exchange based on the number of the employer's recruiters that
      have access to the exchange, to utilize our online software on a
      subscription fee basis or to purchase customized consulting services.

    - DIRECT ACCESS TO A LARGE NUMBER OF JOB SEEKERS. Through our employment
      exchange, we offer member employers access to our growing job seeker
      database which currently contains more than 540,000 resumes. We do not
      allow headhunters to search our resume database or to place job
      advertisements on our job board. By limiting access only to member
      employers, we provide direct access to our pool of job seekers and
      eliminate competition for candidates from headhunters.

    - REAL-TIME JOB POSTING, TRACKING AND MANAGEMENT TOOLS. We provide member
      employers the ability to post, track and manage job openings in a
      real-time environment. Our solution enables a member employer to remove a
      posting once a position has been filled and replace it with a new posting.
      We believe that this reduces unnecessary expenditures of time and money
      experienced in traditional recruiting methods.

    - REDUCE UNWANTED RESUMES. Because we do not charge on a per-word basis, our
      solution allows employers to provide in-depth job descriptions, allowing
      candidates to self-select jobs for which they are qualified. Additionally,
      employers can pre-screen applicants using online testing and remove a job
      posting as soon as it is filled. We believe these functions minimize the
      receipt by employers of unqualified or untimely resumes.

    - VALUE ADDED RECRUITING MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE. In addition to our online
      employment exchange, we provide our proprietary browser-based recruiting
      software to help employers better manage the entire recruiting process.
      Softshoe provides private label job board and applicant tracking
      capabilities, enabling employers to coordinate online and traditional
      recruiting methods and to share information throughout their entire
      organization. This enables improved coordination and communication among
      recruiters, hiring managers and executive management.

    - DISTRIBUTION OF JOB POSTINGS. Through our relationships with third-party
      Websites, we are able to offer our member employers the ability to place
      their HotJobs.com job postings onto high-traffic third party Websites
      including Yahoo!, Alta Vista, Usenet and America's Job Bank at no
      additional cost. We have also entered into arrangements with
      theglobe.com, Inc., E*Trade Group Inc., About.com, Inc. and TechRepublic,
      Inc. providing direct access to WWW.HOTJOBS.COM from their sites.

                                       39
<PAGE>
THE HOTJOBS.COM STRATEGY

    Our objective is to become the leading global provider of online recruiting
services. Key elements of our strategy include:

    - BUILD GLOBAL BRAND AWARENESS. We believe that it is essential to establish
      a strong global brand. We utilize an aggressive marketing program
      involving print, radio, outdoor, online and television marketing to
      promote HotJobs.com. For example, in January 1999, we aired a television
      commercial during the Super Bowl which resulted in a 117% increase in
      traffic to our site in the following month. We intend to expand our use of
      public relations, strategic alliances and other marketing programs
      designed to promote our global brand and build loyalty among our member
      employers and job seekers.

    - ACCELERATE NEW SUBSCRIBER GROWTH. We intend to accelerate the growth of
      our subscriber base by rapidly expanding the size of our sales force and
      locating it in select markets throughout the U.S. Generally, we have found
      that we are more successful in obtaining member employers in markets in
      which we have a local presence, providing us with a better understanding
      of a market's particular recruiting needs.

    - CONTINUE TO ENHANCE SITE FUNCTIONALITY AND FEATURES. We intend to provide
      the best available tools to empower job seekers and employers to more
      effectively manage their job seeking and recruiting processes. We are
      developing product and service enhancements aimed at both member employers
      and job seekers to continue to improve our user interface, searching
      capabilities, workflow and collaboration, data visualization,
      navigability, reporting and forecasting. In addition, we intend to enhance
      content for job seekers. We believe that these enhancements will increase
      interest in and traffic to our Website.

    - EXPAND OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH MEMBER EMPLOYERS. We focus significant sales
      efforts on expanding our relationship with member employers by offering
      additional products and services. These efforts include the sale of
      additional subscriptions to WWW.HOTJOBS.COM, Softshoe recruiting software,
      participation in our WorkWorld job fairs and online advertising and
      consulting services.

    - PROVIDE ADDITIONAL CAREER CHANNELS IN SPECIFIC FIELDS. We intend to
      increase the appeal and ease of use of WWW.HOTJOBS.COM for job seekers by
      offering career channels in specific fields such as healthcare, legal
      services and biotechnology.

    - EXPAND INTERNATIONAL OPERATIONS. We intend to expand our international
      operations to attract new job seekers and member employers in new markets
      and to allow us to better serve our global member employers. We plan to
      accomplish this by opening facilities, making acquisitions and effecting
      strategic alliances, investments or licensing arrangements that enhance
      our appeal to unique communities of job seekers. By opening international
      offices, we believe we will be better positioned to acquire new job
      seekers and member employers in those countries. We launched our
      Australian operations at the Internet World Show in Sydney, Australia in
      August 1999.

    - PURSUE STRATEGIC ACQUISITIONS. From time to time, we evaluate acquisition
      and investment opportunities in complementary businesses, products and
      technologies. We explore opportunities that may accelerate our growth; add
      new content, advertisers, member employers and job seekers; develop new
      technologies; and penetrate new markets. Presently, we do not have any
      commitments or understandings for acquisitions or investments and we are
      not presently engaged in negotiations.

                                       40
<PAGE>
PRODUCTS AND SERVICES

    WWW.HOTJOBS.COM

    Our WWW.HOTJOBS.COM employment exchange creates a direct link between member
employers and job seekers. We empower both job seekers and member employers by
providing them with the tools and functionality they need to plan, execute,
monitor and control their employment searches.

    Key features for job seekers and member employers are outlined below:

<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
                        JOB SEEKER FEATURES                 MEMBER EMPLOYER FEATURES
               -------------------------------------  -------------------------------------
<S>            <C>                                    <C>

PRICING        - Free of charge                       - Recurring subscription fee

REACH          - Searchable database with access to   - Ability to search over 540,000
                 more than 2,500 member employers       resumes
                                                      - Recorded over 2.2 million visits in
                                                        September 1999

                                                      - Ability to post job listings to
                                                      third party sites, including Yahoo!,
                                                        AltaVista, Usenet and America's Job
                                                        Bank, at no additional cost

DIRECT         - Direct access to member employers;   - No headhunters may post jobs or
  EXCHANGE       no headhunter listings permitted       search our resume database

CUSTOMIZATION  - Personal Job Search Agent            - Allows for a detailed job
               - Personal career home page            description and a full company
                                                        profile
                                                      - Test module feature allows pre-
                                                        screening of candidates

REAL-TIME      - Up-to-date job postings              - Ability to remove job postings at
               - Date stamping of all job postings      any time
                                                      - Date stamping of resumes
                                                      - Immediate receipt of resume
                                                        submissions

PRIVACY        - Ability to restrict access to their  - Search and review job seeker
                 resume                                 resumes anonymously

TRACKING AND   - Automatic email notification         - Ability to respond directly to job
  MONITORING     confirming application receipt         seekers
               - Online "shopping cart" to store      - Storage and management of job
               jobs                                     listings and resumes
               - Ability to store resumes and cover   - Ability to coordinate job postings
                 letters                                for member employers with multiple
               - Archive job applications               accounts
                                                      - Multiple recruiters within an
                                                        enterprise can share notes on an
                                                        applicant
</TABLE>

                                       41
<PAGE>

<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
                        JOB SEEKER FEATURES                 MEMBER EMPLOYER FEATURES
               -------------------------------------  -------------------------------------
<S>            <C>                                    <C>
STATISTICS     - Number of times resume has come up   - Number of times a job posting comes
                 in a search and subsequently been      up in a search, is viewed and
                 viewed and how many jobs to which      applied to by job seekers
                 the job seeker has applied

COMMUNITY      - Career resources, bookstore,
                 original editorial content and job
                 seeker message boards
</TABLE>

    SOFTSHOE

    Introduced in September 1997, our Softshoe recruiting software permits
employers to manage their enterprise-wide recruiting process by leveraging the
cost-efficiencies associated with the Internet. Softshoe provides employers with
the ability to create a private label, publicly-viewed job board and an internal
employee-only job board, to schedule and track the results of interviews and
other recruiting events and to prepare detailed analyses of the company's
recruiting efforts. Softshoe provides a browser-based interface that allows
multiple participants within an employer's organization to coordinate their
efforts in the recruiting process. These participants include recruiters,
administrators, executives and hiring managers, each of whom is able to access
different levels of information relevant to their involvement in the recruiting
process.

    Softshoe provides extensive online reports that allow users to analyze
processes and statistical data to establish and refine strategic recruiting
initiatives. Examples of these reports include time to hire, number of hires,
source of applicants and equal opportunity employment data.

    WORKWORLD AND OTHER SERVICES

    We conduct a series of job fairs known as WorkWorld. Like WWW.HOTJOBS.COM,
these job fairs do not allow headhunters to participate. Unlike the traditional
job fair model which leaves recruiters with thousands of paper resumes to sort
through, our fairs are fully integrated into the WWW.HOTJOBS.COM system, placing
all job seekers' information online. Job seekers can log onto WorkWorld.com to
view a schedule of upcoming events and a list of participating employers and to
apply directly to available jobs. Recruiters can then schedule appointments with
candidates prior to the actual event. WorkWorld job fairs also serve to provide
a physical forum for our account executives to meet directly with employers.

    We also offer consulting services to assist employers with automating the
recruiting and job advertising processes in areas including recruiting process
re-engineering and Web page design, online advertising and customization.

                                       42
<PAGE>
CUSTOMERS

    As of September 30, 1999, our customer base included over 2,500 employers in
industries such as technology, financial services, health care, professional
services, retail and telecommunications. Some of our member employers include:

Amazon.com, Inc.
America Online, Inc.
Central Intelligence Agency
City of Palo Alto
CNBC
CNN

Drugstore.com, Inc.
E*Trade Group Inc.
Hewlett-Packard Company
The Home Depot, Inc.
Intel Corporation
Merck & Co. Inc.

Microsoft Corporation
Nike, Inc.
Procter & Gamble
Union Carbide Corporation
The Walt Disney Company
Yankee Group
Young & Rubicam

    As of September 30, 1999, clients that have purchased Softshoe to manage
their recruiting systems include:

Coors Brewing Company
DoubleClick, Inc.
Ford Motor Company
Humana Inc.

Lucent Technologies
Tricon Global
  Restaurants, Inc.

Wang Government Services
  Division
Warburg Dillon Read

    For the period from February 20, 1997 to December 31, 1997 and the year
ended December 31, 1998, there was no customer that accounted for more than 10%
of our revenues.

SALES AND MARKETING

    As of September 30, 1999, our direct sales force consisted of 68 account
executives located in New York, San Francisco, Boston, Chicago and Sydney,
Australia. We obtain new corporate members primarily through telemarketing
directly to employers as well as leads generated from online inquiries and
referrals. In addition, we solicit employers through participation in human
resource industry trade shows and similar events. To encourage our account
executives to maintain and build our relationship with our member employers, we
pay them a monthly commission that is a fixed percentage of all periodic fees
paid by the accounts with whom they have established a relationship. This also
creates an opportunity for account executives to sell other components of our
online recruiting solution such as our Softshoe recruiting software,
participation in our WorkWorld job fairs and related advertising and promotional
opportunities.

    We utilize an aggressive marketing program involving print, radio, outdoor,
online and television advertising to promote WWW.HOTJOBS.COM as a leading
employment exchange. We also support a consistent direct marketing and
educational campaign to our member companies regarding online recruiting
developments and practices. We plan to continue to use key marketing events,
coupled with public relations efforts, to promote awareness of the HotJobs.com
brand.

    In addition, we have developed co-promotional events and marketing campaigns
for both WWW.HOTJOBS.COM and WorkWorld. Some examples of these include: Jane
Magazine Fall College Tour and Experienceonline.com college career center tour.
Our October '99 WorkWorld job fair was produced in conjunction with the Fall
Internet World '99 Exhibit and Conference.

BUSINESS ALLIANCES

    We have entered into the following alliances to expand our distribution
network, providing added value to our member employers, and increasing
recognition of the HotJobs.com brand:

    THEGLOBE.COM, INC.  We have entered into a co-branding agreement with
theglobe.com, Inc., an online network that fuses together lifestyle and
entertainment content and commerce with

                                       43
<PAGE>
personal interaction. This alliance will fully integrate HotJobs.com's
employment opportunities within Careers, theglobe.com's new sub-theme area.
Users of theglobe.com will be able to create resumes through theglobe.com's home
page builder and post them at HotJobs.com's co-branded service.

    E*TRADE GROUP INC.  We have entered into a co-branding agreement with
E*Trade Group Inc., a leading provider of online investing services. Under this
agreement, visitors to the "Community" page on www.etrade.com will have access
to "Hot Jobs of the Week," a feature of HotJobs.com that highlights certain job
opportunities. The agreement also calls for online and offline marketing
components, including banners and direct mail.

    ABOUT.COM, INC.  We have entered into a co-branding agreement and an
advertising agreement with About.com. Under the co-branding agreement, we will
build, maintain and host targeted, co-branded job listings sites which users of
About.com will be able to access from certain channels such as Business/Careers.
Under the advertising agreement, About.com has agreed to deliver advertising
impressions to us through such avenues as home page-links and banner ads.

    TECHREPUBLIC, INC.  We have entered into a co-branded job board and content
licensing agreement with TechRepublic. Under this agreement, we will design a
co-branded job board for TechRepublic which will include the basic functionality
of WWW.HOTJOBS.COM. The agreement provides that we will be the exclusive online
recruiting solutions provider for TechRepublic, and we will provide links to
TechRepublic content on our Website.

    HotJobs.com enters into relationships that allow us to acquire editorial
content and/or Web services that are relevant to our job seeker audience. These
include salary calculators, relocation services, company biographies and other
pertinent information.

    Parties with whom we have entered into alliances may not perform their
obligations as agreed. Our business alliances generally do not establish minimum
performance requirements but instead rely on voluntary efforts. In addition,
most of our alliance agreements may be terminated by either party with little
notice.

TECHNOLOGY

    We developed our technology to serve a large volume of Web traffic in an
efficient, scalable and fault-tolerant manner. The system updates its data
files, providing useful search and statistical results to the user. We designed
the system to scale easily to support geometric growth without the need to
re-architect, or acquire hardware/software systems at a geometric rate.

    We currently support our production servers in-house, but have signed
contracts to co-locate at Level(3) and Frontier Global Center, Web co-location
facilities and Internet service providers. These facilities include features
such as:

    - protection against a power loss;

    - multiple pathways for data to be passed to the Internet;

    - arrangements with other ISPs to exchange data in order to allow a packet
      of data to travel the shortest and least congested pathway;

    - fire suppression; and

    - physical space that allows us to grow without being limited by
      "environmental" factors while simultaneously providing sufficient
      bandwidth capacities.

                                       44
<PAGE>
    As we expand our leased application hosting, we intend to increase our use
of the services provided by Level(3), Frontier Global Center and other
co-location providers. Our contract with Level(3) began on April 15, 1999 and
has a one-year term with month-to-month renewals thereafter. We pay monthly fees
of $9,000 under the agreement. Level(3) can discontinue service under certain
circumstances, including failure by us to pay our bills. Our contract with
Frontier Global Center began on September 15, 1999 and has a two-year term. Fees
payable under our agreement with Frontier Global Center will vary depending upon
our usage.

    Our software is written using open standards, such as ANSI C, C++, ECMA-262
Script, and HTML, and interfaces with products from Oracle, Netscape
Communications, Inc. and Thunderstone. Our template-based page generation using
our proprietary tagging language allows for rapid deployment of user interface
changes without the necessity to recompile code. This also allows us to develop
co-branded sites rapidly without re-engineering.

    We have standardized our hardware platform on Sun Microsystems servers,
Cisco routers, Foundry Networks switches and Boxhill disk arrays. Our network
topology is designed to sustain multiple failures by various components without
down-time.

COMPETITION

    The market for online recruiting solutions is intensely competitive and
highly fragmented. We compete with companies, including recruiting search firms,
that offer a single database "job board" solution, such as Monster.com, as well
as newspapers, magazines and other traditional media companies that provide
online job search services, such as CareerPath.com. We also compete with large
Internet information hubs, or portals, such as Excite@Home. We may experience
competition from potential customers to the extent that they develop their own
online recruiting offerings internally. In addition, we compete with traditional
recruiting services, such as headhunters, for a share of employers' total
recruiting budgets. We expect to face additional competition as other
established and emerging companies, including print media companies and
headhunters with established brands, enter the online recruiting market.

    Many of our current and potential competitors have longer operating
histories, significantly greater financial, technical, marketing and other
resources and larger client bases than we do. In addition, current and potential
competitors may make strategic acquisitions or establish cooperative
relationships to expand their businesses or to offer more comprehensive
solutions.

    We believe that there will be rapid business consolidation in the online
recruiting industry. Accordingly, new competitors may emerge and rapidly acquire
significant market share. In addition, new technologies will likely increase the
competitive pressures that we face. The development of competing technologies by
market participants or the emergence of new industry standards may adversely
affect our competitive position. Competition could result in reduced margins on
our products and services, loss of market share or less use of WWW.HOTJOBS.COM
by job seekers and employers. If we are not able to compete effectively with
current or future competitors as a result of these and other factors, our
business could be materially adversely affected.

GOVERNMENT REGULATION AND LEGAL UNCERTAINTIES

    There is an increasing number of laws and regulations pertaining to the
Internet, including laws or regulations relating to user privacy, liability for
information retrieved from or transmitted over the Internet, online content
regulation, user privacy and domain name registration. Moreover, the
applicability to the Internet of existing laws governing issues such as
intellectual property ownership and infringement, copyright, patent, trademark,
trade secret, obscenity, libel, employment and personal privacy is uncertain and
developing.

                                       45
<PAGE>
    PRIVACY CONCERNS.  Government agencies are considering adopting regulations
regarding the collection and use of personal identifying information obtained
from individuals when accessing Websites. While we have implemented and intend
to implement additional programs designed to enhance the protection of the
privacy of our users, these programs may not conform to any regulations adopted
by these agencies. In addition, these regulatory and enforcement efforts may
adversely affect the ability to collect demographic and personal information
from users, which could have an adverse effect on our ability to provide
advertisers with demographic information. The European Union (the "EU") has
adopted a directive that imposes restrictions on the collection and use of
personal data. The directive could impose restrictions that are more stringent
than current Internet privacy standards in the United States. The directive may
adversely affect the activities of entities such as HotJobs.com that plan to
engage in data collection from users in EU member countries.

    DOMAIN NAMES.  Domain names are the user's Internet "addresses." The current
system for registering, allocating and managing domain names has been the
subject of litigation and of proposed regulatory reform. Although we have
applied to register "HotJobs.com" as a trademark, third parties have and may
continue to bring claims for infringement against us for the use of this
trademark. In the event those claims are successful, we would lose the ability
to use the HotJobs.com domain name. There can be no assurance that our domain
name will not lose its value, or that we will not have to obtain entirely new
domain names in addition to or in lieu of our current domain names if reform
efforts result in a restructuring in the current system.

    JURISDICTIONS.  Due to the global nature of the Internet, it is possible
that, although our transmissions over the Internet originate primarily in New
York City, the governments of other states and foreign countries might attempt
to regulate our business activities. In addition, because our service is
available over the Internet in multiple states and foreign countries, these
jurisdictions may require us to qualify to do business as a foreign corporation
in each of these states or foreign countries, which could subject us to taxes
and other regulations.

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

    Our success depends to a significant degree upon the protection of our
proprietary technology, including Softshoe recruiting software, and the
HotJobs.com brand name. The unauthorized reproduction or other misappropriation
of our proprietary technology could enable third parties to benefit from our
technology without paying us for it. If this were to occur, our business could
be materially adversely affected. We rely upon a combination of patents,
copyright, trade secret and trademark laws and non-disclosure and other
contractual arrangements to protect our intellectual property rights. The steps
we have taken to protect our proprietary rights, however, may not be adequate to
deter misappropriation of proprietary information.

    We may not be able to detect unauthorized use of our proprietary information
or take appropriate steps to enforce our intellectual property rights. In
addition, the validity, enforceability and scope of protection of intellectual
property in Internet-related industries is uncertain and still evolving. The
laws of other countries in which we may market our services in the future are
uncertain and may afford little or no effective protection of our intellectual
property.

    We filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to register the trademark
"www.hotjobs.com" for "providing a Web site in the field of employment
opportunities and career placement which offers the exchange of information."
The PTO initially refused registration, citing a prior existing U.S. trademark
registration. The PTO also initially informed us that, if we overcame its
objection relating to the existing trademark and our application proceeds, it
could refuse to register our mark because of a likelihood of confusion with two
other prior pending trademark applications. We have entered into a written
consent agreement

                                       46
<PAGE>
with the prior registrant in which the registrant consents to our use and
registration of our mark on grounds that there is no likelihood of confusion
between the two marks. Despite the consent agreement, we cannot guarantee that
we will be successful in overcoming the PTO's refusal to register our mark
because of the prior registration. One of the two pending trademark applications
cited against us has since been abandoned, removing that as a potential block to
our registration. However, the other prior pending application has since matured
to registration, and the PTO has refused our registration on grounds that it
conflicts with this new registration. We cannot assure you that that we can
overcome the PTO's refusal to register our mark because of this new
registration, and thus we may be prevented from securing a federal registration
for "www.hotjobs.com." In addition, in May 1998, the trademark applicant who has
since abandoned its application made claims regarding prior use and ownership of
"hotjobs" as a trademark. We investigated these claims and have not found any
verifiable basis for these claims. We responded to that effect on June 1, 1998
and have not received any further correspondence. Adverse outcomes to these
claims or any related litigation, should it occur, could result in us being
limited or prohibited from further using the "www.hotjobs.com" mark and related
derivative marks in the future. We are not able at this time to evaluate the
likelihood of any subsequent actions related to those claims or an unfavorable
outcome in the event such claims are reasserted, or to estimate the amount or
range of any related potential loss.

    We currently hold a trademark registration in the United States for
Softshoe. Effective trademark protection may not be available in all countries
in which we intend to conduct business. Policing unauthorized use of our marks
is also difficult and expensive. In addition, it is possible that our
competitors will adopt product or service names similar to ours, impeding our
ability to build brand identity and possibly leading to customer confusion.

EMPLOYEES

    As of September 30, 1999, we had 173 employees, of whom 112 worked in sales,
marketing, client services, and business development, 34 in product development
and 27 in finance, administration, and corporate operations. From time to time,
we employ independent contractors and consultants to support research and
development, marketing and sales, and business development. None of our
employees are represented under collective bargaining agreements. We consider
our relations with our employees to be good.

FACILITIES

    Our principal executive offices are currently located in approximately 9,900
square feet of office space in New York, New York under a lease that expires in
March 2004, but which can be terminated by either party with 90 days notice. In
March 1999, we leased approximately 1,280 square feet of office space in San
Francisco, California under a five-year lease expiring in 2004. In July 1999, we
leased approximately 2,100 square feet of office space in Sydney, Australia
under a three-year lease expiring in 2002. In September 1999, we leased
approximately 5,300 square feet of office space in Chicago, Illinois under a
five-year lease expiring in 2004. We intend to expand our sales, marketing and
technology operations and therefore may require additional facilities in the
future.

LEGAL PROCEEDINGS

    There are no material legal proceedings pending or, to our knowledge,
threatened against us.

                                       47
<PAGE>
                                   MANAGEMENT

    The following table sets forth, as of September 30, 1999, the name, age and
position within HotJobs.com of each of our directors and executive officers.

<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
NAME                                       AGE                            POSITION
- ----                                     --------   -----------------------------------------------------
<S>                                      <C>        <C>
Richard S. Johnson.....................     38      President, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of
                                                    the Board of Directors
Stephen W. Ellis.......................     49      Chief Financial Officer and Director
Dimitri J. Boylan......................     38      Chief Operating Officer, Secretary and Director
George J. Nassef, Jr...................     35      Chief Information Officer
Philip Guarascio.......................     58      Director
John A. Hawkins........................     39      Director
John G. Murray.........................     37      Director
Kevin P. Ryan..........................     36      Director
</TABLE>

    RICHARD S. JOHNSON founded HotJobs.com in February 1997 and has served as
our President, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the board of directors
since inception. From 1988 to 1997, Mr. Johnson served as President of
OTEC, Inc., a New York-based recruiting firm focusing on IT professionals.
Mr. Johnson co-founded OTEC in 1988 and remains one of its directors and
principal stockholders. Mr. Johnson received his bachelor's degree from Bucknell
University. Mr. Johnson is a member of the Society of Human Resource Management
and of New York's New Media Association.

    STEPHEN W. ELLIS has served as our Chief Financial Officer since
April 1999, and as a director since May 1999. From March 1998 through
December 1998, Mr. Ellis served as the Chief Financial Officer for
Biztravel.com, an Internet-based travel services company. Prior to that, from
March 1997 through February 1998, Mr. Ellis was the Chief Financial Officer for
Metromedia Fiber Network (NASDAQ: MFNX), a facilities-based fiber optic/telecom
services company. Mr. Ellis also served as an executive officer of Data
Broadcasting Corporation (NASDAQ: DBCC), a financial market-data company, first
as Chief Financial Officer from 1992 to 1995 and then as Executive Vice
President, Finance through March 1997. Mr. Ellis holds a bachelor's degree from
the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a Master of Business
Administration from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business.
Mr. Ellis is a Certified Public Accountant. He also is on the board of directors
of the following private companies: FSA Capital, Inc., TreeSource, Inc. and US
Medical Network, LLC.

    DIMITRI J. BOYLAN has served as our Chief Operating Officer since
March 1998, and as our Vice President of Sales and Marketing from February 1997
until March 1998. Mr. Boylan has also served as a director since May 1999. From
October 1990 until October 1997, Mr. Boylan served as the managing director of
recruiting for OTEC. Mr. Boylan earned a master's degree from the University of
Illinois and a bachelor's degree from the University of Pennsylvania.

    GEORGE J. NASSEF, JR. has served as our Chief Information Officer since June
1999. From December 1998 to June 1999, Mr. Nassef was president of his own
consulting business related to Internet technologies. From February 1997 until
December 1998, Mr. Nassef served as Chief Information Officer of Biztravel.com,
an Internet-based travel services company. From January 1996 until February
1997, Mr. Nassef held positions with The SABRE Group, most recently as Managing
Director of Platform Technologies. From August 1987 until January 1996,
Mr. Nassef held systems engineering positions with American Airlines' Data
Processing Division. Mr. Nassef holds a bachelor's degree from Texas A&M
University.

    PHILIP GUARASCIO has served as a director since August 1999. Mr. Guarascio
has been a Vice President of General Motors Corporation since July 1994, where
he is primarily responsible for

                                       48
<PAGE>
worldwide advertising resource management, managing consolidated media placement
efforts and working with General Motors' North American Operations vehicle
divisions to increase marketing effectiveness and efficiency. Mr. Guarascio also
manages corporate image advertising activities and oversees GM Credit Card
operations and GM's Enterprise Customer System. Prior to this current position,
from July 1992 to July 1994, Mr. Guarascio served as General Manager of
Marketing and Advertising for General Motors' North American Operations.
Mr. Guarascio joined General Motors in 1985 after 21 years with the New York
advertising agency, D'Arcy, Masius, Benton & Bowles (formerly Benton & Bowles,
Inc.). Mr. Guarascio currently serves on the board of directors of Snyder
Communications, Inc. (NYSE: SNC), and is a member of its audit and compensation
committees. Mr. Guarascio is Chairman Emeritus of the Advertising Council and
serves on the Executive Committee of that organization. He also serves on the
boards of the Association of National Advertisers, the Women's Sports
Foundation, the Ellis Island Restoration Commission and the American Film
Institute.

    JOHN A. HAWKINS has served as a director since May 1999. In 1995,
Mr. Hawkins co-founded Generation Partners L.P., a private equity fund. From
1987 until 1995, Mr. Hawkins was a General Partner of Burr, Egan, Deleage & Co.,
a $700 million venture capital firm. Mr. Hawkins specializes in information
technology investments including data communications and telecommunications,
software and the Internet. Mr. Hawkins graduated with a bachelor's degree from
Harvard College and received his Master of Business Administration from the
Harvard Graduate School of Business. Mr. Hawkins currently serves on the boards
of P-COM, Inc. (NASDAQ: PCMS), PixTech (NASDAQ: PIXT), Enso Audio Imaging
Corporation, Dover Pacific Computing, Inc., High End Systems, Inc. and
Linguateq, Inc.

    JOHN G. MURRAY has served as a director since May 1999. Since June 1998,
Mr. Murray has been a Managing Director of Deutsche Bank Securities Inc.,
formerly BT Alex. Brown Incorporated, specializing in the venture capital
service sector. From January 1994 to June 1998, Mr. Murray served as a principal
of BancBoston Robertson Stephens, specializing in the venture capital service
sector. Mr. Murray received his bachelor's degree from St. Lawrence University
and his Master of Business Administration from The Wharton School of Finance.

    KEVIN P. RYAN has served as a director since June 1999. Mr. Ryan has served
as Chief Operating Officer of DoubleClick, Inc. (NASDAQ: DCLK) since April 1998
and as President since July 1997. From June 1996 to April 1998, Mr. Ryan served
as DoubleClick's Chief Financial Officer. From January 1994 to June 1996,
Mr. Ryan served as Senior Vice President, Business and Finance for United Media,
a licensing and syndication company representing comics, columnists and wire
services to over 2,000 newspapers around the world. From April 1991 to December
1993, Mr. Ryan served as Senior Manager, Finance for Euro Disney, and from
August 1985 to September 1989, Mr. Ryan was an investment banker for Prudential
Investment Corporation in both the United States and the United Kingdom.
Mr. Ryan received his bachelor's degree from Yale University and his Master of
Business Administration from INSEAD.

CLASSES OF DIRECTORS

    In accordance with the terms of our amended and restated certificate of
incorporation, our board of directors has been divided into three classes,
denominated as Class I, Class II and Class III. Members of each class hold
office for staggered three-year terms. At each annual meeting of our
stockholders commencing in 2000, the successors to the directors whose terms
expire at that meeting will be elected to serve until the third annual meeting
after their election or until their successors have been elected and qualified.
Messrs. Ryan and Murray are Class I directors whose terms expire at the 2000
annual meeting of stockholders. Messrs. Ellis and Hawkins are Class II directors
whose terms expire at the 2001 annual meeting of stockholders. Messrs. Johnson,
Boylan and Guarascio are Class III directors whose terms expire at the 2002

                                       49
<PAGE>
annual meeting of stockholders. With respect to each class, a director's term
will be subject to the election and qualification of their successors, or their
earlier death, resignation or removal. These provisions, when taken in
conjunction with other provisions of our amended and restated certificate of
incorporation authorizing the board of directors to fill vacant directorships,
may delay a stockholder from removing incumbent directors and simultaneously
gaining control of the board of directors by filling the vacancies with its own
nominees.

BOARD COMMITTEES

    Our Compensation Committee is responsible for reviewing and recommending to
the Board the compensation arrangements provided to the management of
HotJobs.com and administers our stock option plans. The members of the
Compensation Committee are Messrs. Ellis, Murray and Hawkins.

    Our Audit Committee reviews our annual audit and meets with our independent
auditors to review our internal controls and financial management practices. The
members of the Audit Committee are Messrs. Ellis, Hawkins and Ryan.

DIRECTOR COMPENSATION

    We do not currently compensate our directors for attending board of director
or committee meetings, but we reimburse directors for their reasonable travel
expenses incurred in connection with attending these meetings. At the time of
his election to the board, we granted Mr. Ryan options to purchase 20,000 shares
of our common stock at an exercise price of approximately $3.38. In August 1999,
we granted Messrs. Guarascio, Hawkins and Murray options to purchase 20,000
shares of our common stock at $8.00 per share under our 1999 Stock Option/Stock
Issuance Plan. Beginning with our annual meeting of stockholders in 2000, each
of our non-employee directors will receive an annual grant of options to
purchase 5,000 shares of common stock so long as he or she has served on the
board for at least 6 months.

COMPENSATION COMMITTEE INTERLOCKS AND INSIDER PARTICIPATION

    During the fiscal year ended December 31, 1998, the Compensation Committee
of the board of directors consisted of Richard S. Johnson. No interlocking
relationship exists or has existed between Mr. Johnson or any other member of
our board of directors and any members of the board of directors or compensation
committee of any other company.

EMPLOYMENT AGREEMENTS

    Richard S. Johnson, Stephen W. Ellis, Dimitri J. Boylan and George
J. Nassef, Jr. each has an employment agreement with us.

    TERM.  The agreement of each of Messrs. Johnson, Ellis and Boylan became
effective on May 6, 1999 and expires on May 5, 2002 and will automatically renew
for additional one-year terms after that date unless HotJobs.com gives the
executive written notice of its desire not to renew the agreement at least six
months prior to the expiration of the initial or any additional term.
Mr. Nassef's employment agreement became effective on June 18, 1999 and shall
continue until terminated by him or by us.

    SALARY.  The annual salary for each of these executives is as follows:
Mr. Johnson, $200,000; Mr. Ellis, $175,000; Mr. Boylan, $175,000; and
Mr. Nassef, $175,000. Also, each of these executives is entitled to an annual
bonus determined by the Compensation Committee of the board of directors. The
annual salary of each of Messrs. Johnson, Ellis and Boylan will increase by a
minimum of 10% each year.

                                       50
<PAGE>
    STOCK OPTION GRANTS.  Mr. Ellis received stock options to purchase 360,000
shares of our common stock. On August 10, 1999, 180,000 of these options vested
automatically in connection with our initial public offering, and 90,000 options
will vest on each of May 6, 2001 and 2002. Mr. Nassef received stock options to
purchase 180,000 shares of our common stock. On August 10, 1999, 90,000 of these
options vested automatically in connection with our initial public offering,
30,000 options will vest on June 18, 2001, and 60,000 options will vest on
June 18, 2002.

    TERMINATION OF AGREEMENTS.  We can terminate these employment agreements
with or without cause by delivering written notice to the executive. Each
executive may terminate his employment agreement with or without good reason by
delivering written notice to us. Upon termination of the agreements of each of
Messrs. Johnson, Ellis and Boylan by us without cause or by the executive for
good reason, the executive is entitled to the greater of his annual salary for
the remainder of the term of the agreement or one year of salary and all options
become immediately exercisable. Upon termination of Mr. Nassef's employment
agreement by us without cause or by Mr. Nassef for good reason, Mr. Nassef is
entitled to six months of salary.

    NONCOMPETITION AND CONFIDENTIALITY.  Each of the executives with an
employment agreement has agreed not to compete with us, solicit our suppliers or
employees or reveal our confidential information during the term of his
employment agreement and for two years thereafter. In addition, each executive
is bound by a proprietary inventions agreement which prohibits the executive
from, among other things, disseminating or using confidential information about
our business or clients in any way that would be adverse to us.

EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION

    The following table sets forth summary information concerning all
compensation we paid our Chief Executive Officer during the year ended
December 31, 1998. We did not pay any other executive officer over $100,000 in
1998.

                           SUMMARY COMPENSATION TABLE

<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
                                                                      LONG-TERM
                                                                    COMPENSATION
                                           ANNUAL COMPENSATION    -----------------
                                          ---------------------   SHARES UNDERLYING    ALL OTHER
NAME AND PRINCIPAL POSITION               SALARY($)   BONUS($)       OPTIONS(#)       COMPENSATION
- ---------------------------               ---------   ---------   -----------------   ------------
<S>                                       <C>         <C>         <C>                 <C>
Richard S. Johnson
  President and Chief Executive
  Officer...............................  $182,000          --               --               --
</TABLE>

OPTION GRANTS IN LAST FISCAL YEAR/OPTION EXERCISES AND HOLDINGS

    Mr. Johnson did not own any options or stock appreciation rights in 1997 or
1998. In 1999, we granted Mr. Johnson options to purchase 240,000 shares of our
common stock at an exercise price of approximately $0.05, options to purchase
120,000 shares of our common stock at an exercise price of approximately $3.38
and options to purchase 150,000 shares of our common stock at an exercise price
of $8.00.

1999 STOCK OPTION/STOCK ISSUANCE PLAN

    The 1999 Stock Option/Stock Issuance Plan became effective upon its adoption
by our board of directors and approval by our stockholders on June 30, 1999. We
have authorized 4,500,000 shares of common stock for issuance under the 1999
Stock Option/Stock Issuance Plan. In no event may any one participant in the
1999 Stock Option/Stock Issuance Plan receive option grants or direct stock
issuances for more than 1,000,000 shares in the aggregate per calendar year.

                                       51
<PAGE>
    The 1999 Stock Option/Stock Issuance Plan has three separate programs:

    - the discretionary option grant program under which eligible individuals in
      our employ or service (including officers, non-employee board members and
      consultants) may be granted options to purchase shares of our common
      stock;

    - the stock issuance program under which such individuals may be issued
      shares of common stock directly, through the purchase of such shares or as
      a bonus tied to the performance of services; and

    - the automatic option grant program under which option grants will
      automatically be made at periodic intervals to eligible non-employee board
      members.

    The discretionary option grant and stock issuance programs are administered
by our Compensation Committee. This committee determines which eligible
individuals are to receive option grants or stock issuances, the time or times
when such option grants or stock issuances are to be made, the number of shares
subject to each such grant or issuance, the exercise or purchase price for each
such grant or issuance, the status of any granted option as either an incentive
stock option or a non-statutory stock option under the federal tax laws, the
vesting schedule to be in effect for the option grant or stock issuance and the
maximum term for which any granted option is to remain outstanding. Neither the
Compensation Committee nor the board exercises any administrative discretion
with respect to option grants made under the automatic option grant program for
the non-employee board members.

    The exercise price for the options may be paid in cash or in shares of our
common stock valued at fair market value on the exercise date. The option may
also be exercised through a same-day sale program without any cash outlay by the
optionee. In addition, the Compensation Committee may allow a participant to pay
the option exercise price or direct issue price (and any associated withholding
taxes incurred in connection with the acquisition of shares) with a
full-recourse, interest-bearing promissory note.

    In the event that we are acquired, whether by merger or asset sale or
board-approved sale by the stockholders of more than 50% of our voting stock,
each outstanding option under the discretionary option grant program which is
not to be assumed by the successor corporation or otherwise continued will
automatically accelerate in full, and all unvested shares under the
discretionary option grant and stock issuance programs will immediately vest,
except to the extent the repurchase rights with respect to those shares are to
be assigned to the successor corporation or otherwise continued in effect. The
Compensation Committee may grant options under the discretionary option grant
program which will accelerate in the acquisition even if the options are assumed
or which will accelerate if the optionee's service is subsequently terminated.
The Compensation Committee may also grant options and issue shares which
accelerate in connection with a hostile change in control effected through a
successful tender offer for more than 50% of our outstanding voting stock or by
proxy contest for the election of board members or the options and shares may
accelerate upon a subsequent termination of the individual's service.

    Stock appreciation rights may be issued under the discretionary option grant
program which will provide the holders with the election to surrender their
outstanding options for an appreciation distribution from us equal to the fair
market value of the vested shares subject to the surrendered option less the
aggregate exercise price payable for such shares. Such appreciation distribution
may be made in cash, in shares of our common stock or in a combination of cash
and shares of our common stock.

    The Compensation Committee has the authority to cancel outstanding options
under the discretionary option grant in return for the grant of new options for
the same or different

                                       52
<PAGE>
number of option shares with an exercise price per share based upon the fair
market value of the common stock on the new grant date.

    Limited stock appreciation rights will automatically be included as part of
each grant made under the automatic option grant program and may be granted to
one or more officers as part of their option grants under the discretionary
option grant program. Options with such a limited stock appreciation right may
be surrendered to us upon the successful completion of a hostile tender offer
for more than 50% of our outstanding voting stock. In return for the surrendered
option, the optionee will be entitled to a cash distribution from us in an
amount per surrendered option share equal to the highest price per share of
common stock paid in connection with the tender offer less the exercise price
payable for such share.

    Under the automatic option grant program, each individual who first joins
the board after August 10, 1999 as a non-employee board member who is not
affiliated with a significant stockholder of HotJobs.com will automatically be
granted an option for 20,000 shares of our common stock at the time of his or
her commencement of board service. In addition, on the date of each annual
stockholders meeting, beginning with the 2000 meeting, each nonemployee director
who is to continue to serve as a non-employee board member will receive an
option grant to purchase 5,000 shares of our common stock, provided he or she
has served on the board for at least 6 months. Each outstanding option will
immediately vest upon an acquisition or change in control or the death or
disability of the optionee while serving as a board member.

    The board may amend or modify the 1999 Stock Option/Stock Issuance Plan at
any time, subject to any required stockholder approval. The 1999 Stock
Option/Stock Issuance Plan will terminate no later than June 30, 2009.

STOCK AWARD PLAN

    Prior to our initial public offering, our Stock Award Plan served as our
equity incentive program. The Stock Award Plan became effective upon its
adoption by our board of directors and approval by our stockholders on April 1,
1998.

    Options to purchase 3,939,800 shares at a weighted average exercise price of
approximately $0.65 are currently outstanding under the Stock Award Plan, of
which 3,148,800 are exercisable and the remainder vest over a period of three or
four years. The options that are not currently exercisable accelerate upon a
change of control. A change of control shall be deemed to occur upon any person
or entity purchasing more than 50% of our common stock, a merger or
consolidation in which our common stock is exchanged for less than 50% of the
voting stock of the surviving corporation, or the sale of greater than 50% of
our total assets. The remaining terms of the Stock Award Plan are consistent
with and substantially similar to the terms of the 1999 Stock Option/Stock
Issuance Plan set forth above.

EMPLOYEE STOCK PURCHASE PLAN

    The Employee Stock Purchase Plan became effective on August 10, 1999. The
plan is designed to allow our eligible employees to purchase shares of our
common stock, at semi-annual intervals, through periodic payroll deductions. A
total of 250,000 shares of common stock are available for issuance under the
plan.

    The plan has a series of successive offering periods, each with a maximum
duration of 24 months. The initial offering period began on August 10, 1999 and
will end on the last business day in July 2001. The next offering period will
begin on the first business day in August 2001, and subsequent offering periods
will be set by our Compensation Committee.

    Individuals who are eligible employees on the start date of any offering
period may enter the plan on that start date or on any subsequent semi-annual
entry date (generally February 1 or

                                       53
<PAGE>
August 1 each year). Individuals who become eligible employees after the start
date of the offering period may join the plan on any subsequent semi-annual
entry date within that period.

    A participant may contribute up to 15% of his or her cash earnings through
payroll deductions and the accumulated payroll deductions will be applied to the
purchase of shares on the participant's behalf on each semi-annual purchase date
(the last business day in January and July each year). The purchase price per
share will be 85% of the lower of the fair market value of our common stock on
the participant's entry date into the offering period or the fair market value
on the semi-annual purchase date. The first purchase date will occur on the last
business day in January 2000. In no event, however, may any participant purchase
more than 1,400 shares, nor may all participants in the aggregate purchase more
than 62,500 shares on any one semi-annual purchase date. Should the fair market
value of the common stock on any semi-annual purchase date be less than the fair
market value on the first day of the offering period, then the current offering
period will automatically end and a new offering period will begin, based on the
lower fair market value.

    The board may at any time amend or modify the plan. The plan will terminate
no later than the last business day in July 2009.

                                       54
<PAGE>
                           RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS

SERIES A PRIVATE PLACEMENT

    Effective May 10, 1999, we sold 1,620,000 shares of our Series A Preferred
Stock at a price of $10.00 per share. Upon consummation of our initial public
offering, all of the Series A Preferred Stock automatically converted into an
aggregate of 3,934,019 shares of common stock. The purchasers of Series A
Preferred Stock included the following directors, executive officers and holders
of 5% or more of our common stock on a fully-converted basis:

    - FSA Capital, Inc. purchased 42,148 shares of Series A Preferred Stock for
      $421,480. Stephen W. Ellis, our Chief Financial Officer and a director, is
      a director of FSA Capital, Inc.

    - Generation Capital Partners L.P. and affiliated investment entities
      ("Generation Partners") purchased in the aggregate 1,053,704 shares of
      Series A Preferred Stock for $10,537,040. Generation Partners owns more
      than 5% of our stock. John A. Hawkins, one of our directors, is a Managing
      Partner of an affiliate of Generation Partners.

    - John G. Murray, one of our directors, purchased 18,750 shares of Series A
      Preferred Stock for $187,500. In connection with the Series A Preferred
      Stock financing, GreenAcre Ventures LLC, of which Mr. Murray is a managing
      member, purchased 170,592 shares of our common stock from two of our
      employees.

    - Kevin P. Ryan, one of our directors, purchased 21,074 shares of Series A
      Preferred Stock for $210,740.

    In connection with our private placement, we entered into a stockholders'
agreement with the investors in our Series A Preferred Stock and our current
stockholders. In accordance with this agreement, John A. Hawkins, a designee of
Generation Partners, and John G. Murray, a designee of the holders of our
Series A Preferred Stock, have been elected to our board. In addition, the
investors in our Series A Preferred Stock have registration rights applicable to
the common stock issued upon conversion of the Series A Preferred Stock. See
"Description of Capital Stock--Registration Rights." Other than the registration
rights, all other rights under this agreement terminated upon the closing of our
initial public offering.

REDEMPTION OF SECURITIES

    On April 2, 1999, we redeemed shares of our common stock for an aggregate
price of $61,000, equal to approximately $0.05 per share, from the following
executive officer and employees in the following amounts:

<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
NAME                                     POSITION                                            AMOUNT
- ----                                     --------                                           --------
<S>                                      <C>                                                <C>
Richard S. Johnson.....................  Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President    $12,200
Allen Murabayashi......................  Director of Technology                             $24,400
Thomas Chin............................  Senior Programmer                                  $24,400
</TABLE>

AGREEMENTS WITH DOUBLECLICK

    In April 1999, we entered into a Softshoe Standard License Agreement with
DoubleClick, Inc. Pursuant to that agreement, DoubleClick paid us a one-time
purchase price of $26,000 for the Softshoe Select License and currently makes
monthly payments of $3,500 for our comprehensive hosting and maintenance
program. The agreement may be terminated by either party at any time and is of
an indefinite term.

    We also have an agreement with DoubleClick pursuant to which we use
DoubleClick's DART Service to target and measure our advertisements on Web
pages, as well as an agreement

                                       55
<PAGE>
pursuant to which DoubleClick places our advertising banners on Web pages. In
connection with these agreements, we paid an initial start-up fee of $4,500, and
pay monthly service fees based on the number of ad impressions delivered
pursuant to each agreement. In 1998, we paid to DoubleClick approximately
$108,000 pursuant to these agreements, and we anticipate that we will pay a
total of $401,000 in fees under these agreements in 1999. We recently entered
into a new DART Service Agreement, pursuant to which we paid an initial fee of
$5,000, and anticipate paying monthly fees of approximately $8,250.

    Kevin P. Ryan, one of our directors, is the President and Chief Operating
Officer of DoubleClick, Inc.

TRANSACTIONS INVOLVING OTEC

    Richard S. Johnson is the former President and is currently a director and
one of two shareholders of OTEC. As of December 31, 1998, OTEC owned
approximately 23% of our outstanding voting stock.

    Until May 1999, OTEC served as our principal source of financing. During
1997 and 1998, OTEC paid various expenses on our behalf. These expenses
primarily consisted of rents, salaries, computer expenses and other
administrative expenses. These expenses totaled approximately $741,600 and
approximately $1.2 million for 1997 and 1998, respectively. These amounts were
repaid with the proceeds of the Series A Preferred Stock financing.

    OTEC paid compensation expenses for Richard S. Johnson of $137,500 and
$182,000 for the period ended December 31, 1997 and for the year ended
December 31, 1998, respectively. These amounts do not need to be repaid.

    OTEC also provided cash advances of approximately $2.6 million to us in 1998
of which approximately $2.2 million bore interest at rates ranging from 8.75% to
9.5% per annum. We repaid these cash advances in May and June 1999.

    OTEC and two of its affiliates maintain a line of credit with The Dime
Savings Bank of New York ("Dime") in the principal amount of $3.5 million which
bears interest at a fluctuating rate of 1% above Dime's established commercial
lending rate. OTEC used this line of credit to provide the cash advanced to us
in 1998. Until September 16, 1999, we maintained a line of credit with Dime in
the principal amount of $500,000 which bore interest at a fluctuating rate of 1%
above Dime's established commercial lending rate. OTEC and two of its affiliates
pledged all of their assets to secure this loan. As of May 31, 1999, $180,000
remained outstanding under our facility with Dime. We pledged all of our assets
to Dime to secure OTEC's line of credit, and OTEC pledged all of its assets to
Dime to secure our line of credit. In addition, Mr. Johnson and Bennett
Carroccio, one of our principal stockholders and the other stockholder of OTEC,
personally guaranteed repayment of all outstanding amounts under both lines of
credit. In June 1999, Dime released Messrs. Johnson and Carroccio from their
guarantees and released its security interest in our and OTEC's assets. On
September 16, 1999 we terminated our line of credit with Dime.

    OTEC paid us $300,000 in 1997 for the license of miscellaneous proprietary
software. OTEC paid us $444,000 in 1998 and we expect to be paid $144,000 in
1999 for hosting that software and for purchasing additional software. We
believe that these transactions were entered into on an arms-length basis.

    Until recently, we had several joint insurance policies with OTEC and its
affiliates. HotJobs.com and OTEC maintained joint policies because it was more
economical and convenient to do so. Our commercial property insurance issued by
Federal Insurance Company for a one-year term beginning October 15, 1998,
covered both our California and New York

                                       56
<PAGE>
offices as well as OTEC's California office. Our commercial umbrella policy,
also issued by Federal Insurance Company for a one-year term beginning
October 15, 1998, also covered OTEC and its affiliates, as did our workers
compensation insurance, issued by Lumbermans Mutual Casualty Company on
December 1, 1998 for a term ending October 15, 1999. Effective June 1, 1999, we
have stand alone insurance policies in place. We had a joint fiduciary liability
policy, issued by Travelers Insurance for a one-year term beginning October 20,
1998, with OTEC and its affiliates. Insurance expenses of $85,096 in 1998 have
been allocated by OTEC to HotJobs.com based on the respective number of
personnel of these two companies. On July 20, 1999, HotJobs.com obtained its own
directors and officers' liability insurance policy.

    Until July 1, 1999, our employees participated in the 401(k) Profit Sharing
Plan established in January 1996 by RBL Agency, Ltd., one of OTEC's affiliates.
The Plan Trustees are Richard Johnson and Bennett Carroccio. The Plan allowed
our employees to defer between 1% and 15% of their compensation. Under the Plan,
we made matching contributions of $.50 for every $1.00 contributed by an
employee on the first 6% of the employee's salary deferrals, which contribution
was subject to vesting. Effective July 1, 1999, our employees began to
participate in our own 401(k) Plan and all amounts attributed to our employees
in the RBL Plan were transferred to our 401(k) Plan.

    OTEC and RBL, jointly and severally, guarantee certain of our obligations,
including our obligation to pay rent under our leases, dated as of April 16,
1999, pursuant to which we rent the 10th, 14th and 16th floors of a building
located at 24 West 40th Street in New York City.

    On March 2, 1999, Mr. Johnson granted Mr. Carroccio an option, which expires
on March 2, 2002, to purchase 34 shares of OTEC common stock at a purchase price
of $4,880 per share and an additional option to purchase 50 shares of each of
OTEC's affiliated companies at a purchase price of $1 per share. In addition,
Mr. Johnson granted to Mr. Carroccio an irrevocable proxy expiring March 2, 2002
to vote all of Mr. Johnson's shares subject to the option. Similarly, on
March 2, 1999, Mr. Carroccio granted Mr. Johnson an option, which expires on
March 2, 2002, to purchase 3,264,000 shares of our common stock at a purchase
price of approximately $.05 per share. Mr. Carroccio granted Mr. Johnson an
irrevocable proxy expiring March 2, 2002 to vote all of his shares of our stock.

                                       57
<PAGE>
                             PRINCIPAL STOCKHOLDERS

    The following table sets forth certain information with respect to the
beneficial ownership of our common stock as of September 30, 1999, and as
adjusted to reflect the sale of the shares of common stock offered by us in this
offering for:

    - each person, or group of affiliated persons, who HotJobs.com knows
      beneficially owns 5% or more of our common stock;

    - each of our directors;

    - each executive officer named in the Summary Compensation Table; and

    - all directors and executive officers of HotJobs.com as a group.

    Except as otherwise noted, the address of each person listed in the table is
c/o HotJobs.com, Ltd., 24 West 40th Street, 14th Floor, New York, NY 10018.

    The table includes all shares of common stock beneficially owned by the
indicated stockholder as of September 30, 1999. Beneficial ownership is
determined in accordance with the rules of the Securities and Exchange
Commission and includes voting or investment power with respect to securities.
In computing the number of shares beneficially owned by a person and the
percentage of ownership of that person, shares of common stock subject to
options held by that person that are currently exercisable or exercisable within
60 days of September 30, 1999 are deemed outstanding. These shares, however, are
not deemed outstanding for the purposes of computing the percentage of ownership
of any other person. To our knowledge, except as otherwise noted, the persons
named in the table have sole voting and investment power with respect to all
shares of common stock shown as beneficially owned by them, subject to community
property laws where applicable.

    The percent of beneficial ownership for each stockholder is based on
27,248,419 shares of common stock outstanding as of September 30, 1999 and
30,848,419 shares of common stock outstanding after this offering. An "*"
indicates ownership of less than 1%.

<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
                                                                        PERCENT OF TOTAL SHARES OF
                                                         SHARES                COMMON STOCK
                                                      BENEFICIALLY   --------------------------------
NAME                                                     OWNED       BEFORE OFFERING   AFTER OFFERING
- ----                                                  ------------   ---------------   --------------
<S>                                                   <C>            <C>               <C>
Richard S. Johnson(1)...............................   11,424,000         41.6%             36.7%
Bennett Carroccio(2)................................    6,560,352         24.0              21.2
OTEC, Inc.(3).......................................    2,900,352         10.6               9.4
Generation Partners(4)..............................    2,558,828          9.4               8.3
John A. Hawkins(5)..................................    2,559,476          9.4               8.3
Thomas Chin.........................................    1,800,000          6.6               5.8
Allen Murabayashi...................................    1,800,000          6.6               5.8
Dimitri J. Boylan(6)................................    1,320,000          4.8               4.3
Stephen W. Ellis(7).................................      284,440          1.0                 *
John G. Murray(8)...................................      216,123            *                 *
George J. Nassef, Jr.(9)............................       90,010            *                 *
Kevin P. Ryan.......................................       54,418            *                 *
Philip Guarascio....................................        1,945            *                 *
All directors and executive officers as a group
  (8 persons)(10)...................................   15,950,412         57.6%             51.0%
</TABLE>

- ------------------------

(1) Includes 240,000 shares issuable upon the exercise of outstanding options;
    336,000 shares held by the Richard and Carole Johnson 1999 Trust of which
    Mr. Johnson disclaims

                                       58
<PAGE>
    beneficial ownership; 3,264,000 shares owned by Mr. Carroccio which Mr.
    Johnson has a right to purchase pursuant to an option granted to him by
    Mr. Carroccio and a right to vote pursuant to an irrevocable proxy granted
    by Mr. Carroccio; and 2,900,352 shares owned by OTEC of which Mr. Johnson
    disclaims beneficial ownership.

(2) Includes 60,000 shares issuable upon the exercise of outstanding options;
    336,000 shares held by the Bennett and Brenda Carroccio 1999 Trust of which
    Mr. Carroccio disclaims beneficial ownership; 3,264,000 shares subject to
    purchase by Mr. Johnson pursuant to an option of which Mr. Carroccio
    disclaims beneficial ownership; and 2,900,352 shares owned by OTEC, of which
    Mr. Carroccio is the President, Chief Executive Officer and controlling
    stockholder.

(3) OTEC's address is 24 West 40(th) Street, 12(th) Floor, New York, NY 10018.

(4) Includes 2,470,189 shares held by Generation Capital Company LLC as general
    partner of Generation Parallel Management Partners L.P. and as general
    partner of the general partner of Generation Capital Partners L.P. In
    addition, includes 88,639 shares held in a separate account of State Board
    of Administration of Florida with respect to which an affiliate of
    Generation Capital Company LLC has management authority.

(5) Includes 2,558,828 shares beneficially owned by Generation Capital Company
    LLC. Mr. Hawkins is a Managing Partner of Generation Capital Company LLC
    and, as such, may be deemed to have voting and investment power over the
    shares beneficially owned by Generation Capital Company LLC. Mr. Hawkins
    disclaims any beneficial ownership of these shares.

(6) Includes 120,000 shares issuable upon the exercise of outstanding options.

(7) Includes 102,352 shares owned by FSA Capital, Inc., of which Mr. Ellis is a
    director, and 2,088 shares purchased by his wife of which Mr. Ellis
    disclaims beneficial ownership.

(8) Includes 13,659 shares held by Mr. Murray's IRA; and 170,592 shares owned by
    GreenAcre Ventures LLC, of which Mr. Murray is a Managing Member. Of the
    shares owned by GreenAcre Ventures LLC, 9,104 shares are attributable to
    Mr. Murray's interest in GreenAcre, and Mr. Murray disclaims beneficial
    ownership of the remaining 161,488 shares.

(9) Includes 90,000 shares issuable upon the exercise of outstanding options.

(10) Includes 450,000 shares issuable upon the exercise of outstanding options.

                                       59
<PAGE>
                          DESCRIPTION OF CAPITAL STOCK

GENERAL

    Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation authorizes the
issuance of up to 100,000,000 shares of common stock, par value $0.01 per share,
and 10,000,000 shares of preferred stock, par value $0.01 per share, the rights
and preferences of which may be established from time to time by our board of
directors. As of September 30, 1999, 27,248,419 shares of common stock were
outstanding and no shares of preferred stock were outstanding.

COMMON STOCK

    Under our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, holders of our
common stock are entitled to one vote for each share held on all matters
submitted to a vote of stockholders, including the election of directors. They
do not have cumulative voting rights. Accordingly, holders of a majority of the
shares of common stock entitled to vote in any election of directors may elect
all of the directors standing for election. Holders of common stock are entitled
to receive ratably dividends, if any, as may be declared by the board of
directors out of legally available funds, subject to any preferential dividend
rights of any outstanding preferred stock. In case of a liquidation, dissolution
or winding up of HotJobs.com, the holders of common stock are entitled to
receive ratably our net assets available after the payment of all debts and
other liabilities and subject to the prior rights of any outstanding preferred
stock. Holders of the common stock have no preemptive, subscription or
conversion rights. There are no redemption or sinking fund provisions applicable
to the common stock. The outstanding shares of common stock are, and the shares
offered by us in this offering will be, when issued in consideration for payment
thereof, fully paid and nonassessable. The rights, preferences and privileges of
holders of common stock are subject to, and may be adversely affected by, the
rights of the holders of shares of any series of preferred stock which we may
designate and issue in the future.

PREFERRED STOCK

    Under our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, our board of
directors is authorized, without further stockholder approval, to issue from
time to time up to an aggregate of 10,000,000 shares of preferred stock in one
or more series. Our board of directors may fix or alter the number of shares,
designations, preferences, powers and other special rights of the preferred
stock. The preferences, powers, rights and restrictions of different series of
preferred stock may differ. The issuance of preferred stock could decrease the
amount of earnings and assets available for distribution to holders of common
stock or affect adversely the rights and powers, including voting rights, of the
holders of common stock. The issuance may also have the effect of delaying,
deferring or preventing a change in control of HotJobs.com. We have no present
plans to issue any shares of preferred stock.

REGISTRATION RIGHTS

    Under the terms of our amended and restated stockholders' agreement, at any
time on or after May 11, 1999, the holders of a majority of the outstanding
shares of common stock issued upon the conversion of our Series A Preferred
Stock may on three occasions require us to register for sale all or any portion
of the shares of common stock issued upon conversion of the preferred shares
held by them. This type of registration right is known as a "demand"
registration right.

    In addition, under the terms of our amended and restated stockholders'
agreement, if required by the stockholder, we are also obligated to register any
shares of common stock outstanding prior to our initial public offering and any
of the shares of common stock issued

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<PAGE>
upon conversion of the preferred shares when we register stock for our own
account or the account of other stockholders. This type of registration right is
known as a "piggyback" registration right.

    The foregoing registration rights are subject to certain conditions and
limitations, including:

    - the right of the underwriters in any underwritten offering to limit the
      number of shares of common stock held by stockholders with registration
      rights to be included in any registration;

    - our right to delay for up to 120 days after the effectiveness of a
      registration statement in connection with a firm commitment underwritten
      public offering; and

    - our right to delay for up to 120 days the filing of a registration
      statement pursuant to a demand registration if our board of directors
      determines that the registration would not be in our best interest at that
      time.

    We are generally required to bear all of the expenses of all registrations,
except underwriting discounts and commissions. Registration of any of the shares
of common stock held by stockholders with registration rights would result in
those shares becoming freely tradable without restriction under the Securities
Act immediately after consummation of the registration. We have agreed to
indemnify the holders of registration rights in connection with the demand and
piggyback registration rights under the terms of our amended and restated
stockholders' agreement.

    The holders of 24,754,019 shares of common stock have piggyback registration
rights in connection with this offering. These holders have agreed to waive
their piggyback registration rights with respect to this offering. In addition,
certain holders of 21,049,300 shares of common stock have entered into lock-up
agreements for 90 days with the underwriters. After expiration of the lock-up
periods, these stockholders will have the ability to exercise the registration
rights set forth above.

ANTI-TAKEOVER EFFECTS OF DELAWARE LAW AND OUR AMENDED AND RESTATED CERTIFICATE
OF INCORPORATION AND BYLAWS

    We are subject to the provisions of Section 203 of the Delaware General
Corporation Law (as amended from time to time, the "DGCL"). Subject to certain
exceptions, Section 203 of the DGCL prohibits a publicly-held Delaware
corporation from engaging in a "business combination" with an "interested
stockholder" for a period of three years after the date of the transaction in
which the person became an interested stockholder, unless the interested
stockholder attained such status with the approval of the board of directors or
unless the business combination is approved in a prescribed manner. A "business
combination" includes mergers, asset sales and other transactions resulting in a
financial benefit to the interested stockholder. Subject to certain exceptions,
an "interested stockholder" is a person who, together with affiliates and
associates, owns, or within three years did own, fifteen percent (15%) or more
of the corporation's voting stock. This statute could prohibit or delay the
accomplishment of mergers or other takeover or change in control attempts with
respect to HotJobs.com and, accordingly, may discourage attempts to acquire
HotJobs.com.

    In addition, provisions of our amended and restated certificate of
incorporation and bylaws may be deemed to have an anti-takeover effect and may
delay, defer or prevent a tender offer or takeover attempt that a stockholder
might consider in its best interest, including those attempts that might result
in a premium over the market price for the shares held by stockholders.

                                       61
<PAGE>
    CLASSES OF DIRECTORS.  In accordance with the terms of our amended and
restated certificate of incorporation, our board of directors has been divided
into three classes, denominated as Class I, Class II and Class III. Members of
each class hold office for staggered three-year terms. At each annual meeting of
our stockholders commencing in 2000, the successors to the directors whose terms
expire at that meeting will be elected to serve until the third annual meeting
after their election or until their successors have been elected and qualified.
With respect to each class, a director's term will be subject to the election
and qualification of their successors, or their earlier death, resignation or
removal. These provisions, when taken in conjunction with other provisions of
our amended and restated certificate of incorporation authorizing the board of
directors to fill vacant directorships, may delay a stockholder from removing
incumbent directors and simultaneously gaining control of the board of directors
by filling the vacancies with its own nominees.

    BOARD OF DIRECTORS VACANCIES.  Our amended and restated certificate of
incorporation authorizes the board of directors to fill vacant directorships or
increase the size of the board of directors. This may deter a stockholder from
removing incumbent directors and simultaneously gaining control of the board of
directors by filling the vacancies created by the removal with its own nominees.

    STOCKHOLDER ACTION; SPECIAL MEETING OF STOCKHOLDERS.  Our amended and
restated certificate of incorporation eliminates the ability of stockholders to
act by written consent. Our amended and restated bylaws provide that special
meetings of stockholders of HotJobs.com may be called only by the board of
directors.

    ADVANCE NOTICE REQUIREMENTS FOR STOCKHOLDER PROPOSALS AND DIRECTOR
NOMINATIONS.  Our amended and restated bylaws provide that stockholders seeking
to bring business before an annual meeting of stockholders, or to nominate
candidates for election as directors at an annual meeting of stockholders, must
provide timely notice thereof in writing. To be timely, a stockholder's notice
must be received at our principal executive offices not less than 120 days nor
more than 150 days prior to the anniversary date of the proxy statement
delivered to stockholders in connection with the immediately preceding year's
annual meeting. In the event that the annual meeting is called for a date that
is not within 30 days before or 70 days after the anniversary date, in order to
be timely, notice from the stockholder must be received:

    - not earlier than 120 days prior to the annual meeting of stockholders; and

    - not later than 90 days prior to the annual meeting of stockholders or the
      tenth day following the date on which notice of the annual meeting was
      made public.

    In the case of a special meeting of stockholders called for the purpose of
electing directors, notice by the stockholder, in order to be timely, must be
received:

    - not earlier than 120 days prior to the special meeting; and

    - not later than 90 days prior to the special meeting or the close of
      business on the tenth day following the day on which public disclosure of
      the date of the special meeting was made.

    Our amended and restated bylaws also specify certain requirements as to the
form and content of a stockholder's notice. These provisions may preclude
stockholders from bringing matters before an annual meeting of stockholders or
from making nominations for directors at an annual meeting of stockholders.

    AUTHORIZED BUT UNISSUED SHARES.  The authorized but unissued shares of
common stock and preferred stock are available for future issuance without
stockholder approval, subject to

                                       62
<PAGE>
certain limitations imposed by the Nasdaq National Market. These additional
shares may be utilized for a variety of corporate purposes, including future
public offerings to raise additional capital, corporate acquisitions and
employee benefit plans. The existence of authorized but unissued and unreserved
common stock and preferred stock could render more difficult or discourage an
attempt to obtain control of HotJobs.com by means of a proxy contest, tender
offer, merger or otherwise.

    AMENDMENTS; SUPERMAJORITY VOTE REQUIREMENTS.  The Delaware General
Corporation Law provides generally that the affirmative vote of a majority of
the shares entitled to vote on any matter is required to amend a corporation's
certificate of incorporation or bylaws, unless a corporation's certificate of
incorporation or bylaws, as the case may be, requires a greater percentage. Our
amended and restated certificate of incorporation imposes supermajority vote
requirements in connection with the amendment of various provisions of our
amended and restated certificate of incorporation and bylaws, including those
provisions relating to the classified board of directors and the ability of
stockholders to call special meetings.

LIMITATION OF LIABILITY AND INDEMNIFICATION MATTERS

    The amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that, except
to the extent prohibited by the Delaware General Corporation Law, our directors
shall not be personally liable to HotJobs.com or its stockholders for monetary
damages for any breach of fiduciary duty as directors of HotJobs.com. Under the
Delaware General Corporation Law, the directors have a fiduciary duty to
HotJobs.com which is not eliminated by this provision of the amended and
restated certificate of incorporation and, in appropriate circumstances,
equitable remedies such as injunctive or other forms of nonmonetary relief will
remain available. In addition, each director will continue to be subject to
liability under the Delaware General Corporation Law for breach of the
director's duty of loyalty to HotJobs.com for acts or omissions which are found
by a court of competent jurisdiction to be not in good faith or which involves
intentional misconduct, or knowing violations of law, for actions leading to
improper personal benefit to the director, and for payment of dividends or
approval of stock repurchases or redemptions that are prohibited by the Delaware
General Corporation Law. This provision also does not affect the directors'
responsibilities under any other laws, such as the Federal securities laws.

    Section 145 of the Delaware General Corporation Law empowers a corporation
to indemnify its directors and officers and to purchase insurance with respect
to liability arising out of their capacity or status as directors and officers,
provided that this provision shall not eliminate or limit the liability of a
director:

    - for any breach of the director's duty of loyalty to the corporation or its
      stockholders;

    - for acts or omissions not in good faith or which involve intentional
      misconduct or a knowing violation of law;

    - arising under Section 174 of the Delaware General Corporation Law; or

    - for any transaction from which the director derived an improper personal
      benefit.

    The Delaware General Corporation Law provides further that the
indemnification permitted thereunder shall not be deemed exclusive of any other
rights to which the directors and officers may be entitled under the
corporation's bylaws, any agreement, a vote of stockholders or otherwise. The
amended and restated certificate of incorporation eliminates the personal
liability of directors to the fullest extent permitted by Section 102(b)(7) of
the Delaware General Corporation Law and provides that we may fully indemnify
any person who was or is a party or is threatened to be made a party to any
threatened, pending or completed action, suit or proceeding (whether civil,
criminal, administrative or investigative) by reason of the fact that

                                       63
<PAGE>
such person is or was a director or officer of HotJobs.com or is or was serving
at the request of HotJobs.com as a director or officer of another corporation,
partnership, joint venture, trust, employee benefit plan or other enterprise,
against expenses (including attorney's fees), judgments, fines and amounts paid
in settlement actually and reasonably incurred by such person in connection with
such action, suit or proceeding.

    Our amended and restated bylaws permit us to secure insurance on behalf of
any officer, director, employee or other agent for any liability arising out of
his or her actions, regardless of whether the Delaware General Corporation Law
would permit indemnification. On July 20, 1999, we obtained liability insurance
for our officers and directors.

    At present, there is no pending litigation or proceeding involving any
director, officer, employee or agent as to which indemnification will be
required or permitted under our amended and restated certificate of
incorporation. We are not aware of any threatened litigation or proceeding that
may result in a claim for such indemnification.

TRANSFER AGENT AND REGISTRAR

    The transfer agent and registrar for the common stock is American Stock
Transfer & Trust Company.

                                       64
<PAGE>
                        SHARES ELIGIBLE FOR FUTURE SALE

    Upon the closing of this offering, we will have a total of 30,848,419 shares
of common stock outstanding, assuming no exercise of the underwriters'
over-allotment option and no exercise of outstanding options. As of
September 30, 1999, options to purchase 5,785,200 shares of common stock were
outstanding, of which 3,150,300 are currently exercisable. Of the outstanding
shares, the 3,600,000 shares sold in this offering and the 3,350,000 shares sold
in our initial public offering will be freely tradable, except that any shares
held by our "affiliates" may only be sold in compliance with the limitations
under Rule 144 described below. Of the remaining outstanding shares of our
common stock:

    - 357,280 shares will be available for immediate sale in the public market
      on the date of this prospectus under Rule 144 and 144(k) or otherwise;

    - 696,000 shares will be eligible for sale in the public market on
      February 6, 2000 under Rule 144;

    - 17,875,000 shares will be eligible for sale 90 days after the date of this
      prospectus, subject in some cases to the restrictions of Rule 144; and

    - 4,978,019 shares will not be eligible for public sale under Rule 144 until
      May 10, 2000 or later, subject to the exercise of the registration rights
      described below and the restrictions of Rule 144.

    Rule 144 defines an affiliate as a person that directly or indirectly,
through one or more intermediaries, controls or is controlled by, or is under
common control with, an issuer. In general, under Rule 144, as currently in
effect, a person, or persons whose shares are required to be aggregated,
including an affiliate, who has beneficially owned shares for at least one year
is entitled to sell, within any three-month period commencing 90 days after the
date of this prospectus, a number of shares that does not exceed the greater of

    - 1% of the then outstanding shares of common stock, which will equal
      approximately 308,484 shares immediately after this offering; or

    - the average weekly trading volume in the common stock during the four
      calendar weeks preceding the date on which notice of such sale is filed,
      subject to certain restrictions.

    In addition, a person who is not deemed to have been an affiliate of
HotJobs.com at any time during the 90 days preceding a sale and who has
beneficially owned the shares proposed to be sold for at least two years would
be entitled to sell such shares under Rule 144(k) without regard to the
requirements described above. To the extent that shares were acquired from an
affiliate of HotJobs.com, such person's holding period for the purpose of
effecting a sale under Rule 144 commences on the date of transfer from the
affiliate.

    Rule 701 promulgated under the Securities Act provides that shares of common
stock acquired pursuant to written plans such as our 1999 Stock Option/Stock
Issuance Plan may be resold by persons other than affiliates, beginning November
8, 1999 subject only to the manner of sale provisions of Rule 144, and by
affiliates, beginning November 8, 1999 subject to all provisions of Rule 144
except its one-year minimum holding period.

    Our senior officers, directors, certain stockholders and holders of vested
options issued under our Stock Award Plan have executed 90-day lock-up
agreements. Under these agreements, such stockholders have agreed that they will
not, without the prior written consent of the representatives of the
underwriters, offer, sell, sell short, transfer, hypothecate, pledge or
otherwise dispose of any shares of our common stock or the securities
convertible into or exchangeable or exercisable for shares of our common stock,
or to enter into any agreement or

                                       65
<PAGE>
transaction which is designed to effect, or could be expected to result in, any
such transaction for a period of 90 days following the date of this prospectus
without the consent of Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. Transfers or dispositions
can be made during the lock-up period in case of gifts for estate planning
purposes where the donee signs a lock-up agreement. In the event a request for
consent to a transfer within the lock-up period is made, Deutsche Bank
Securities Inc. may consider the following factors in determining whether to
consent to the proposed transfer:

    - the number of shares proposed to be sold;

    - the reason for the sale;

    - the proximity in time to this offering; and

    - the trading volume of our stock at the time of the requested transfer.

    The decision to consent to a proposed transfer during the lock-up period is
within the sole discretion of Deutsche Bank Securities Inc.

    In addition, eight individuals affiliated with Deutsche Bank Securities Inc.
hold an aggregate of 134,165 shares of our common stock and five individuals
affiliated with Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. and BancBoston Robertson Stephens
Inc. are the beneficial owners of 29,302 shares of our common stock as a result
of their investments in GreenAcre Ventures, LLC, a private investment fund. Each
of these individuals has executed a lock-up agreement with the underwriters of
our initial public offering. Under these agreements these individuals cannot
sell, transfer, assign, pledge or hypothecate their shares for a period of one
to two years after August 10, 1999 (the effective date of our initial public
offering), except to officers or partners of the underwriters and members of the
selling group and their officers or partners, and Deutsche Bank Securities Inc.
cannot waive the lock-up restriction.

    On September 2, 1999, we filed a registration statement on Form S-8 to
register 9,064,200 shares of common stock issued or issuable under our plans.
Such registration statement became immediately effective upon filing. As of
September 30, 1999, there were outstanding options to purchase 5,785,200 shares
of common stock which will be eligible for sale in the public market from time
to time subject to vesting and, in the case of 2,994,300 options, the expiration
of lock-up agreements 90 days from the date of this prospectus. These stock
options generally have exercise prices significantly below the current market
price of the common stock. The possible sale of a significant number of these
shares by the holders thereof may have an adverse affect on the price of our
common stock.

    In connection with this offering, we will agree not to sell or otherwise
dispose of any shares of common stock until 90 days after the date of this
prospectus, except that we may issue, and grant options to purchase, shares of
common stock under the 1999 Stock Option/Stock Issuance Plan. In addition, we
may issue shares of common stock in connection with any acquisition of another
company if the terms of such issuance provide that such common stock shall not
be resold prior to the expiration of the 90-day period referenced in the
preceding sentence.

    Under certain circumstances and subject to certain conditions, holders of
3,934,019 shares of our outstanding common stock have certain demand
registration rights with respect to their shares of common stock to require us
to register their shares of common stock under the Securities Act, and have
certain rights to participate in any future registration of securities by us. We
are not required to effect more than three demand registrations on behalf of
such holders. The holders of these registration rights are subject to lock-up
agreements expiring on February 6, 2000 or later.

                                       66
<PAGE>
                                  UNDERWRITING

    Subject to the terms and conditions of the underwriting agreement, the
underwriters named below, through their representatives Deutsche Bank
Securities Inc., BancBoston Robertson Stephens Inc., SG Cowen Securities
Corporation and Thomas Weisel Partners LLC, have severally agreed to purchase
from us the following respective numbers of shares of common stock at the public
offering price less the underwriting discounts and commissions set forth on the
cover page of this prospectus:

<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
UNDERWRITER                                                   NUMBER OF SHARES
- -----------                                                   ----------------
<S>                                                           <C>
Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. ..............................      1,417,500
BancBoston Robertson Stephens Inc...........................        630,000
SG Cowen Securities Corporation.............................        630,000
Thomas Weisel Partners LLC..................................        472,500
Friedman Billings Ramsey....................................        100,000
Jefferies & Company, Inc....................................        100,000
C.E. Unterberg, Towbin......................................        100,000
Edgar M. Norris & Co. Inc...................................         75,000
First Security Van Kasper...................................         75,000
                                                                  ---------
    Total...................................................      3,600,000
                                                                  =========
</TABLE>

    The underwriting agreement provides that the obligations of the underwriters
are subject to specified conditions and that the underwriters will purchase all
of the shares of common stock offered in the offering if any of the shares are
purchased.

    We have been advised by the underwriters' representatives that the
underwriters propose to offer the shares of common stock to the public at the
public offering price set forth on the cover page of this prospectus and to
dealers at that price less a concession not in excess of $0.90 per share. The
underwriters may allow, and the dealers may reallow, a concession not in excess
of $0.10 per share to other dealers. After the public offering, the offering
price and other selling terms may be changed by the underwriters'
representatives. The following table sets forth the public offering price and
all discounts and commissions to be allowed to the underwriters:

<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
                                                                 UNDERWRITING
                                                 PUBLIC           DISCOUNTS         PROCEEDS TO
                                             OFFERING PRICE    AND COMMISSIONS        HOTJOBS
                                             --------------   ------------------   -------------
<S>                                          <C>              <C>                  <C>
Per share..................................   $      30.00        $     1.50       $      28.50
Total......................................   $108,000,000        $5,400,000       $102,600,000
</TABLE>

    We estimate that the expenses of this offering, other than the underwriting
discounts and commissions referred to above, will be approximately $700,000.

    We have granted to the underwriters an option, exercisable not later than
30 days after the date of this prospectus, to purchase up to 450,000 additional
shares of common stock at the public offering price less the underwriting
discounts and commissions set forth on the cover page of this prospectus. If the
underwriters exercise the option, each of the underwriters will have a firm
commitment to purchase approximately the same percentage of the option shares
that the number of shares of common stock to be purchased by it in the above
table bears to 3,600,000, and we will be obligated to sell these shares to the
underwriters. The underwriters may exercise the option only to cover
over-allotments made in connection with the sale of the common stock offered in
the offering. If purchased, the underwriters will offer the additional shares on
the same terms as those on which the 3,600,000 shares are being offered.

                                       67
<PAGE>
    We have agreed to indemnify the underwriters against specified liabilities,
including liabilities under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.

    We have agreed not to offer, sell, sell short, transfer, hypothecate, pledge
or otherwise dispose of any shares of our common stock or other securities
convertible into or exchangeable or exercisable for shares of our common stock
or derivatives of our common stock or to enter into any agreement or transaction
which is designed to effect, or could be expected to result in, any such
transaction for a period of 90 days after the date of this prospectus, directly
or indirectly, by us or otherwise, except as consideration for business
acquisitions, on exercise of currently outstanding stock options or on the
issuance of options to key employees and directors under our stock option plans
and the exercise of such options, without the prior written consent of Deutsche
Bank Securities Inc.

    Certain of our stockholders, including all of our senior officers and
directors, and holders of vested options issued under our Stock Award Plan have
executed lock-up agreements. Under these agreements, such stockholders, who hold
or will hold in the aggregate 21,049,300 shares of our common stock, have agreed
not to offer, sell, sell short, transfer, hypothecate, pledge or otherwise
dispose of any shares of our common stock or other securities convertible into
or exchangeable or exercisable for shares of our common stock or derivatives of
our common stock or to enter into any agreement or transaction which is designed
to effect, or could be expected to result in, any such transaction for a period
of 90 days after the date of this prospectus, directly or indirectly, without
the consent of Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. Transfers or dispositions can be
made during the lock-up period in case of gifts for estate planning purposes
where the donee signs a lock-up agreement. In the event a request for consent to
a transfer within the lock-up period is made, Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. may
consider the following factors in determining whether to consent to the proposed
transfer:

    - the number of shares proposed to be sold;

    - the reason for the sale;

    - the proximity in time to this offering; and

    - the trading volume of our stock at the time of the requested transfer.

The decision to consent to a proposed transfer during the lock-up period is
within the sole discretion of Deutsche Bank Securities Inc.

    The underwriters' representatives have advised us that the underwriters do
not intend to confirm sales to any account over which they exercise
discretionary authority.

    In addition, eight individuals affiliated with Deutsche Bank Securities Inc.
hold an aggregate of 134,165 shares of our common stock, and five individuals
affiliated with Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. and BancBoston Robertson Stephens
Inc. are the beneficial owners of 29,302 shares of our common stock as a result
of their investments in GreenAcre Ventures, LLC, a private investment fund.
Pursuant to the rules of the National Association of Securities Dealers, Inc.,
these shares are presumed to be underwriting compensation. Accordingly, each of
these individuals has executed a lock-up agreement with the underwriters of our
initial public offering. Under these agreements these individuals cannot sell,
transfer, assign, pledge or hypothecate their shares for a period of one to two
years after August 10, 1999 (the effective date of our initial public offering),
except to officers or partners of the underwriters and members of the selling
group and their officers or partners, and Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. cannot
waive the lock-up restriction.

    Thomas Weisel Partners LLC, one of the representatives of the underwriters,
was organized and registered as a broker-dealer in December 1998. Since December
1998, Thomas Weisel

                                       68
<PAGE>
Partners has been named as a lead or co-manager on 79 filed public offerings of
equity securities, of which 53 have been completed, and has acted as a syndicate
member in an additional 39 public offerings of equity securities. Thomas Weisel
Partners does not have any material relationship with us or any of our officers,
directors or other controlling persons, except with respect to its contractual
relationship with us pursuant to the underwriting agreement entered into in
connection with this offering.

    In connection with this offering, certain underwriters may engage in passive
market making transactions in the common stock on the Nasdaq National Market
immediately prior to the commencement of sales in this offering in accordance
with Rule 103 of Regulation M. Passive market making consists of displaying bids
on the Nasdaq National Market limited by the bid prices of independent market
makers and making purchases limited by such prices and effected in response to
order flow. Net purchases by a passive market maker on each day are limited to a
specified percentage of the passive market maker's average daily trading volume
in the common stock during a specified period and must be discontinued when such
limit is reached. Passive market making may stabilize the market price of the
common stock at a level above that which might otherwise prevail and, if
commenced, may be discontinued at any time.

    We have been advised by the representatives of the underwriters that during
and after this offering, subject to applicable limitations, the underwriters may
purchase and sell common stock in the open market. These transactions may
include over-allotment and stabilizing transactions and purchases to cover
syndicate short positions created in connection with this offering. Stabilizing
transactions consist of certain bids or purchases for the purpose of preventing
or retarding a decline in the market price of the common stock; and syndicate
short positions involve the sale by the underwriters of a greater number of
shares of common stock than they are required to purchase from us in this
offering. The underwriters also may impose penalty bids, whereby selling
concessions allowed to the syndicate members or other broker-dealers in respect
of the common stock sold in this offering for their account may be reclaimed by
the syndicate if such securities are repurchased by the syndicate in stabilizing
or short-covering transactions. These activities may stabilize, maintain or
otherwise affect the market price of the common stock, which may be higher than
the price that might otherwise prevail in the open market. These transactions
may be effected on the Nasdaq National Market or otherwise and these activities,
if commenced, may be discontinued at any time.

    The underwriters and their respective affiliates may be lenders to, engage
in transactions with, and perform services for us in the ordinary course of
business.

                                       69
<PAGE>
                                 LEGAL MATTERS

    The validity of the shares of common stock offered hereby will be passed
upon for HotJobs.com by Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison LLP, New York, New York. The
validity of the shares of common stock offered hereby will be passed upon for
the underwriters by Shaw Pittman, a law partnership including professional
corporations, McLean, Virginia.

                                    EXPERTS

    The financial statements for HotJobs.com, Ltd. as of December 31, 1997 and
December 31, 1998 and for the period from February 20, 1997 (inception) to
December 31, 1997 and the year ended December 31, 1998 included in this
prospectus have been so included in reliance on the report of KPMG LLP,
independent certified public accountants, appearing elsewhere herein, upon the
authority of said firm as experts in auditing and accounting.

                      WHERE YOU CAN FIND MORE INFORMATION

    We have filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission a Registration
Statement on Form S-1, including the exhibits, schedules and amendments thereto,
under the Securities Act with respect to the shares of common stock to be sold
in this offering. This prospectus does not contain all of the information set
forth in the Registration Statement. For further information with respect to
HotJobs.com and the shares of common stock to be sold in this offering,
reference is made to the Registration Statement. Statements contained in this
prospectus as to the contents of any contract, agreement or other document
referred to are not necessarily complete, and in each instance reference is made
to the copy of such contract, agreement or other document filed as an exhibit to
the Registration Statement, each such statement being qualified in all respects
by such reference.

    You may read and copy all or any portion of the Registration Statement or
any other information we file at the Securities and Exchange Commission's public
reference room at 450 Fifth Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20549. You can
request copies of these documents, upon payment of a duplicating fee, by writing
to the Securities and Exchange Commission. Please call the Securities and
Exchange Commission at 1-800-SEC-0330 for further information on the operation
of the public reference rooms. Our Securities and Exchange Commission filings,
including the Registration Statement, are also available to you on the
Commission's web site (http://www.sec.gov).

    We intend to furnish our stockholders with annual reports containing audited
financial statements and with quarterly reports for the first three quarters of
each year containing unaudited interim consolidated financial information.

                                       70
<PAGE>
                               HOTJOBS.COM, LTD.

                   INDEX TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
                                                                PAGE
                                                              --------
<S>                                                           <C>
Independent Auditors' Report................................    F-2

Consolidated Balance Sheets as of December 31, 1997 and
  1998, and September 30, 1999 (unaudited)..................    F-3

Consolidated Statements of Operations for the period from
  February 20, 1997 (inception) to December 31, 1997, the
  year ended December 31, 1998, and for the nine months
  ended September 30, 1998 (unaudited) and 1999
  (unaudited)...............................................    F-4

Consolidated Statements of Stockholders' (Deficit) Equity
  for the period from February 20, 1997 (inception) to
  December 31, 1997, the year ended December 31, 1998, and
  for the nine months ended September 30, 1999
  (unaudited)...............................................    F-5

Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows for the period from
  February 20, 1997 (inception) to December 31, 1997, the
  year ended December 31, 1998, and for the nine months
  ended September 30, 1998 (unaudited) and 1999
  (unaudited)...............................................    F-6

Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements..................    F-8
</TABLE>

                                      F-1
<PAGE>
                          INDEPENDENT AUDITORS' REPORT

The Board of Directors and Stockholders
HotJobs.com, Ltd.:

    We have audited the accompanying balance sheets of HotJobs.com, Ltd. as of
December 31, 1997 and 1998, and the related statements of operations,
stockholders' deficit, and cash flows for the period from February 20, 1997
(inception) to December 31, 1997 and for the year ended December 31, 1998. These
financial statements are the responsibility of the Company's management. Our
responsibility is to express an opinion on these financial statements based on
our audits.

    We conducted our audits in accordance with generally accepted auditing
standards. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain
reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material
misstatement. An audit includes examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting
the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. An audit also includes
assessing the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by
management, as well as evaluating the overall financial statement presentation.
We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.

    In our opinion, the financial statements referred to above present fairly,
in all material respects, the financial position of HotJobs.com, Ltd. as of
December 31, 1997 and 1998, and the results of its operations and its cash flows
for the period from February 20, 1997 (inception) to December 31, 1997 and for
the year ended December 31, 1998 in conformity with generally accepted
accounting principles.

                                                            /s/ KPMG LLP

New York, New York
March 15, 1999, except as to notes 2(a), 6 and 11
which are as of June 18, 1999

                                      F-2
<PAGE>
                               HOTJOBS.COM, LTD.

                          CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS

<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
                                                                    DECEMBER 31,          SEPTEMBER 30,
                                                              -------------------------   -------------
                                                                 1997          1998           1999
                                                              -----------   -----------   -------------
                                                                                           (UNAUDITED)
<S>                                                           <C>           <C>           <C>
ASSETS
Current assets:
  Cash......................................................  $        --   $   167,004   $  3,002,036
  Marketable securities.....................................           --            --     24,600,000
  Accounts receivable, less allowance for doubtful accounts
    of $0 in 1997, $85,000 in 1998 and $716,932 in 1999.....      319,137     1,553,297      4,731,544
  Prepaid expenses and other current assets.................       20,848     1,042,675      1,213,544
                                                              -----------   -----------   ------------
      Total current assets..................................      339,985     2,762,976     33,547,124
Property and equipment, net.................................           --       589,693      2,605,729
Other assets................................................           --       301,285        460,583
                                                              -----------   -----------   ------------
      Total assets..........................................  $   339,985   $ 3,653,954   $ 36,613,436
                                                              ===========   ===========   ============
LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS' (DEFICIT) EQUITY
Current liabilities:
  Line of credit............................................  $        --   $   180,000   $         --
  Accounts payable and accrued expenses.....................       77,264       617,879      6,921,339
  Due to affiliate..........................................      294,449     3,631,640             --
  Deferred revenue..........................................      776,054     1,954,582      3,809,823
  Current portion of notes payable..........................           --            --        317,254
  Current installments of obligations under capital
    leases..................................................           --        72,950        208,233
                                                              -----------   -----------   ------------
      Total current liabilities.............................    1,147,767     6,457,051     11,256,649
Notes payable, excluding current portion....................           --            --        112,515
Obligations under capital leases, excluding current
  installments..............................................           --        79,999        268,081
                                                              -----------   -----------   ------------
      Total liabilities.....................................    1,147,767     6,537,050     11,637,245
Redeemable convertible preferred stock......................           --            --             --

Stockholders' (deficit) equity:
  Preferred stock, $0.01 par value; 10,000,000 shares
    authorized, no shares issued and outstanding at
    December 31, 1997, 1998, and September 30, 1999.........           --            --             --
  Common stock, $0.01 par value; 100,000,000 shares
    authorized; 21,300,000 and 20,820,000 issued and
    outstanding at December 31, 1997 and 1998, respectively;
    28,448,419 issued and 27,248,419 shares outstanding at
    September 30, 1999......................................      213,000       208,200        284,484
  Deferred compensation.....................................           --            --     (6,234,952)
  Additional paid-in capital................................      (75,496)      111,304     47,223,292
  Accumulated deficit.......................................     (945,286)   (3,202,600)   (16,232,723)
  Accumulated comprehensive income (loss)...................           --            --         (2,910)
  Treasury stock, at cost.; no shares at December 31, 1997
    and 1998 and 1,200,000 shares at September 30, 1999.....           --            --        (61,000)
                                                              -----------   -----------   ------------
      Total stockholders' (deficit) equity..................     (807,782)   (2,883,096)    24,976,191
                                                              -----------   -----------   ------------
Commitments and contingencies...............................
      Total liabilities and stockholders (deficit) equity...  $   339,985   $ 3,653,954   $ 36,613,436
                                                              ===========   ===========   ============
</TABLE>

          See accompanying notes to consolidated financial statements.

                                      F-3
<PAGE>
                               HOTJOBS.COM, LTD.

                     CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS

<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
                                        PERIOD FROM
                                     FEBRUARY 20, 1997                       NINE MONTHS ENDED
                                      (INCEPTION) TO      YEAR ENDED           SEPTEMBER 30,
                                       DECEMBER 31,      DECEMBER 31,   ---------------------------
                                           1997              1998           1998           1999
                                     -----------------   ------------   ------------   ------------
                                                                        (UNAUDITED)    (UNAUDITED)
<S>                                  <C>                 <C>            <C>            <C>
Revenues:
  Service fees.....................     $  360,942       $ 3,038,317    $ 1,888,503    $  8,856,256
  Software license fees............         23,437           224,892        154,636         245,162
  Job fair fees....................             --                --             --       1,188,370
  Other............................         13,117           249,269        189,750       1,782,110
                                        ----------       -----------    -----------    ------------
    Total revenues.................        397,496         3,512,478      2,232,889      12,071,898
Cost of revenues...................         12,000           505,527        305,762       2,185,651
                                        ----------       -----------    -----------    ------------
      Gross profit.................        385,496         3,006,951      1,927,127       9,886,247
Operating expenses:
  Product development..............        173,846           474,406        341,764         665,033
  Sales and marketing..............        431,165         3,084,712      1,907,601      15,194,604
  General and administrative.......        725,771         1,642,089        929,094       5,666,134
  Non-cash compensation............             --                --             --       1,539,676
                                        ----------       -----------    -----------    ------------
    Total operating expenses.......      1,330,782         5,201,207      3,178,459      23,065,447
                                        ----------       -----------    -----------    ------------
      Loss from operations.........       (945,286)       (2,194,256)    (1,251,332)    (13,179,200)
Net interest expense...............             --           (63,058)       (27,428)        149,077
                                        ----------       -----------    -----------    ------------
      Net loss.....................     $ (945,286)      $(2,257,314)   $(1,278,760)   $(13,030,123)
                                        ==========       ===========    ===========    ============
Deemed dividend attributable to
  issuance of convertible preferred
  stock............................             --                --             --      16,200,000
                                        ----------       -----------    -----------    ------------
Net loss attributable to common
  stockholders.....................     $ (945,286)      $(2,257,314)   $(1,278,760)   $(29,230,123)
                                        ==========       ===========    ===========    ============
Basic and diluted net loss per
  common share.....................     $    (0.04)      $     (0.11)   $     (0.06)   $      (1.37)
                                        ==========       ===========    ===========    ============
Weighted average shares outstanding
  used in basic and diluted net
  loss per common share
  calculation......................     21,300,000        21,044,184     21,117,143      21,364,231
                                        ==========       ===========    ===========    ============
</TABLE>

          See accompanying notes to consolidated financial statements.

                                      F-4
<PAGE>
                               HOTJOBS.COM, LTD.

           CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF STOCKHOLDERS' (DEFICIT) EQUITY
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
                                             COMMON STOCK                          ADDITIONAL                  ACCUMULATED
                                        ----------------------      DEFERRED        PAID-IN      TREASURY     COMPREHENSIVE
                                          SHARES      AMOUNT      COMPENSATION      CAPITAL        STOCK      INCOME (LOSS)
                                        ----------   ---------   --------------   ------------   ---------   ---------------
<S>                                     <C>          <C>         <C>              <C>            <C>         <C>
Issuance of common stock..............  21,300,000   $213,000     $        --     $  (212,996)   $      --      $     --
Allocation of compensation from
  affiliate...........................          --         --              --         137,500           --            --
Net loss for the period from
  February 20, 1997 (inception) to
  December 31, 1997...................          --         --              --              --           --            --
                                        ----------   --------     -----------     -----------    ---------      --------
Balance as of December 31, 1997.......  21,300,000    213,000              --         (75,496)          --            --
Allocation of compensation from
  affiliate...........................          --         --              --         182,000           --            --
Repurchase of common stock............    (480,000)    (4,800)             --           4,800           --            --
Net loss for the year ended
  December 31, 1998...................          --         --              --              --           --            --
                                        ----------   --------     -----------     -----------    ---------      --------
Balance as of December 31, 1998.......  20,820,000    208,200              --         111,304                         --
Repurchase of common stock............                                     --                      (61,000)           --
Offering costs related to preferred
  stock...............................          --         --              --         (85,113)                        --
Beneficial conversion feature related
  to redeemable convertible preferred
  stock...............................          --         --              --      16,200,000           --            --
Amortization of beneficial conversion
  feature.............................          --         --              --     (16,200,000)          --            --
Conversion of preferred stock into
  common stock........................   3,934,019     39,340              --      16,160,660           --            --
Issuance of common stock in connection
  with IPO, net of offering costs.....   3,350,000     33,500              --      23,247,952           --            --
Exercise of stock options.............     344,400      3,444              --          13,861           --            --
Non-cash compensation, net of options
  forfeited...........................          --         --      (7,774,628)      7,774,628                         --
Amortization of non-cash
  compensation........................          --         --       1,539,676              --           --            --
Comprehensive loss:
  Foreign Currency translation........          --         --              --              --           --        (2,988)
  Unrealized gain on marketable
    securities........................          --         --              --              --           --            78
Net loss for the nine months ended
  September 30, 1999..................          --         --              --              --           --            --
                                        ----------   --------     -----------     -----------    ---------      --------
Balance as of September 30, 1999......  28,448,419   $284,484     $(6,234,952)    $47,223,292    $ (61,000)     $ (2,910)
                                        ==========   ========     ===========     ===========    =========      ========

<CAPTION>
                                                             TOTAL
                                         ACCUMULATED     STOCKHOLDERS'
                                           DEFICIT      (DEFICIT) EQUITY
                                        -------------   ----------------
<S>                                     <C>             <C>
Issuance of common stock..............  $         --      $          4
Allocation of compensation from
  affiliate...........................            --           137,500
Net loss for the period from
  February 20, 1997 (inception) to
  December 31, 1997...................      (945,286)         (945,286)
                                        ------------      ------------
Balance as of December 31, 1997.......      (945,286)         (807,782)
Allocation of compensation from
  affiliate...........................            --           182,000
Repurchase of common stock............            --                --
Net loss for the year ended
  December 31, 1998...................    (2,257,314)       (2,257,314)
                                        ------------      ------------
Balance as of December 31, 1998.......    (3,202,600)       (2,883,096)
Repurchase of common stock............            --           (61,000)
Offering costs related to preferred
  stock...............................            --           (85,113)
Beneficial conversion feature related
  to redeemable convertible preferred
  stock...............................            --        16,200,000
Amortization of beneficial conversion
  feature.............................            --       (16,200,000)
Conversion of preferred stock into
  common stock........................            --        16,200,000
Issuance of common stock in connection
  with IPO, net of offering costs.....            --        23,281,452
Exercise of stock options.............            --            17,305
Non-cash compensation, net of options
  forfeited...........................            --                --
Amortization of non-cash
  compensation........................            --         1,539,676
Comprehensive loss:
  Foreign Currency translation........            --            (2,988)
  Unrealized gain on marketable
    securities........................            --                78
Net loss for the nine months ended
  September 30, 1999..................   (13,030,123)      (13,030,123)
                                        ------------      ------------
Balance as of September 30, 1999......  $(16,232,723)     $ 24,976,191
                                        ============      ============
</TABLE>

          See accompanying notes to consolidated financial statements.

                                      F-5
<PAGE>
                               HOTJOBS.COM, LTD.

                     CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS

<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
                                      PERIOD FROM
                                   FEBRUARY 20, 1997
                                    (INCEPTION) TO      YEAR ENDED    NINE MONTHS ENDED SEPTEMBER 30,
                                     DECEMBER 31,      DECEMBER 31,   --------------------------------
                                         1997              1998           1998               1999
                                   -----------------   ------------   ------------       -------------
                                                                      (UNAUDITED)         (UNAUDITED)
<S>                                <C>                 <C>            <C>                <C>
Cash flows from operating
 activities:
  Net loss.......................     $ (945,286)      $(2,257,314)   $(1,278,760)       $(13,030,123)
  Adjustments to reconcile net
    loss to net cash used in
    operating activities:
      Depreciation and
        amortization.............             --           107,904         58,847             461,455
      Provision for doubtful
        accounts.................             --            85,000         58,915             638,827
      Allocation of compensation
        cost from affiliate......        137,500           182,000        136,500                  --
      Non-cash compensation......             --                --             --           1,539,676
      (Increase)/decrease In:
        Accounts receivable......       (319,137)       (1,319,160)      (924,652)         (3,817,074)
        Due to affiliate.........        294,449           697,396        618,500             167,954
        Prepaid expenses.........        (20,848)       (1,021,827)        (5,000)            (23,933)
        Other assets.............             --          (301,285)        23,935            (161,843)
        Accounts payable and
          accrued expenses.......         77,264           540,615      1,277,700           6,141,811
        Deferred revenue.........        776,054         1,178,528        608,338           1,855,252
                                      ----------       -----------    -----------        ------------
          Net cash provided by
            (used in) operating
            activities...........             (4)       (2,108,143)       574,323          (6,227,998)
                                      ----------       -----------    -----------        ------------
Cash flows from investing
 activities:
  Purchase of marketable
    securities...................             --                --             --         (24,599,922)
  Capital expenditures...........             --          (497,054)      (253,642)         (2,020,346)
                                      ----------       -----------    -----------        ------------
          Net cash used in
            investing
            activities...........             --          (497,054)      (253,642)        (26,620,268)
                                      ----------       -----------    -----------        ------------
Cash flows from financing
 activities:
  Proceeds from issuance of
    common stock.................              4                --             --          23,281,452
  Advances from (repayment to)
    affiliate....................             --         2,639,795             --          (3,784,900)
  Repurchase and retirement of
    common stock.................             --                --             --             (61,000)
  Proceeds from issuance of
    redeemable convertible
    preferred stock..............             --                --             --          16,114,887
  Proceeds from note payable.....             --           180,000             --             480,998
  Repayment of note payable......             --                --             --             (51,229)
  Repayment of credit line.......             --                --             --            (180,000)
  Proceeds from exercise of
    options......................             --                --             --              17,305
  Principal payments under
    capital lease obligations....             --           (47,594)       (31,322)           (133,761)
                                      ----------       -----------    -----------        ------------
</TABLE>

                                      F-6
<PAGE>
                               HOTJOBS.COM, LTD.

               CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS (CONTINUED)

<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
                                      PERIOD FROM
                                   FEBRUARY 20, 1997
                                    (INCEPTION) TO      YEAR ENDED    NINE MONTHS ENDED SEPTEMBER 30,
                                     DECEMBER 31,      DECEMBER 31,   --------------------------------
                                         1997              1998           1998               1999
                                   -----------------   ------------   ------------       -------------
                                                                      (UNAUDITED)         (UNAUDITED)
<S>                                <C>                 <C>            <C>                <C>
          Net cash provided by
            (used in) financing
            activities...........              4         2,772,201        (31,322)         35,683,752
                                      ----------       -----------    -----------        ------------
          Effect of foreign
            exchange rates on
            cash.................             --                --             --                (454)
          Net increase in cash
            and cash
            equivalents..........             --           167,004        289,359           2,835,032
                                      ----------       -----------    -----------        ------------
Cash and cash equivalents at
 beginning of period.............             --                --             --             167,004
Cash and cash equivalents at end
 of period.......................     $       --       $   167,004    $   289,359        $  3,002,036
                                      ==========       ===========    ===========        ============
Supplemental disclosures of cash
 flow information:
  Interest paid..................     $       --       $    13,128    $    27,428        $    142,282
                                      ==========       ===========    ===========        ============
Noncash transactions:
  Equipment acquired under
    capital leases...............     $       --       $   200,543    $   168,120        $    457,126
  Barter transaction.............     $       --       $        --    $        --        $    252,500
</TABLE>

          See accompanying notes to consolidated financial statements.

                                      F-7
<PAGE>
                               HOTJOBS.COM, LTD.

                   NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

         (ALL INFORMATION SUBSEQUENT TO DECEMBER 31, 1998 IS UNAUDITED)

(1) DESCRIPTION OF BUSINESS

    HotJobs.com, Ltd. ("HotJobs") was incorporated in the State of Delaware on
February 20, 1997 (inception) as Hot Jobs, Inc. On September 23, 1998, Hot
Jobs, Inc. changed its name to HotJobs.com, Ltd.

    HotJobs is an Internet-based recruiting solutions company. HotJobs leverages
the Internet to provide a direct exchange of information between job seekers and
employers. Hot Jobs' employment exchange, WWW.HOTJOBS.COM, allows member
employers access to a database of job seekers and provides the tools to post,
track and manage job openings in a real-time environment. HotJobs also provides
employers with additional recruiting solutions including Softshoe, its
proprietary recruiting software, WorkWorld job fairs, and online advertising and
consulting services.

    HotJobs operates in a highly competitive environment and inherent in the
HotJobs' business are various risks and uncertainties including its limited
operating history and unproven business model. HotJobs' success may depend in
part upon the emergence of the Internet as a recruiting medium, prospective
product and service development efforts, and the acceptance of HotJobs' products
and services by the marketplace.

(2) SUMMARY OF OPERATIONS AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES

(A) PRIVATE PLACEMENT AND INITIAL PUBLIC OFFERING

    Effective May 10, 1999, HotJobs entered into a Series A convertible
preferred stock purchase agreement with a number of investors whereby HotJobs
issued 1,620,000 shares of Series A Preferred Stock for aggregate proceeds of
$16,200,000. Upon the closing of the initial public offering (the "IPO"), the
then outstanding shares of HotJobs' convertible preferred stock automatically
converted into 3,934,019 shares of common stock (see Note 10).

    In the three months ended September 30, 1999, HotJobs completed its IPO
which resulted in the issuance of 3,350,000 shares of common stock at $8.00 per
share (which included 350,000 shares in connection with the exercise of the
underwriters' over-allotment option).

(B) UNAUDITED INTERIM FINANCIAL INFORMATION

    The interim consolidated financial statements of HotJobs as of September 30,
1999 and for the nine months ended September 30, 1998 and 1999, included herein
have been prepared by HotJobs, without audit, pursuant to the rules and
regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"). Certain
information and note disclosures normally included in financial statements
prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles have been
condensed or omitted pursuant to the SEC's rules and regulations relating to
interim financial statements.

    In the opinion of management, the accompanying unaudited interim
consolidated financial statements reflect all adjustments, consisting only of
normal recurring adjustments, necessary to present fairly the financial position
as of September 30, 1999, and the results of operations and cash flows for the
nine months ended September 30, 1998 and 1999. The results of operations for any
interim period are not necessarily indicative of HotJobs' results of operations
for any future interim period or for a full year.

                                      F-8
<PAGE>
                               HOTJOBS.COM, LTD.

             NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED)

         (ALL INFORMATION SUBSEQUENT TO DECEMBER 31, 1998 IS UNAUDITED)

(2) SUMMARY OF OPERATIONS AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES (CONTINUED)

    HotJobs financial statements as of and for the nine months ended September
30, 1999 include the consolidated accounts of HotJobs and its wholly-owned
subsidiary, HotJobs.com Australia Pty, Ltd. from June 18, 1999 (date of
inception). All significant intercompany transactions and balances have been
eliminated in consolidation.

(C) USE OF ESTIMATES

    The preparation of the financial statements in conformity with generally
accepted accounting principles requires management to make estimates and
assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and the
disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial
statements and the reported amounts of revenue and expenses during the reporting
period. Actual results could differ from those estimates.

(D) CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS

    HotJobs considers all highly liquid securities with original maturities of
three months or less to be cash equivalents.

(E) MARKETABLE SECURITIES

    HotJobs has adopted Statement of Financial Accounting Standards ("SFAS") No.
115--"Accounting for Certain Investments in Debt and Equity Securities". HotJobs
determines the appropriate classification of marketable securities at the time
of purchase and reevaluates such designation periodically. Marketable securities
have been classified as available-for-sale and are carried at fair value, with
unrealized gains and losses reported as a separate component of shareholders'
equity.

(F) PROPERTY AND EQUIPMENT

    Property and equipment are stated at cost less accumulated depreciation.
Depreciation is computed using the straight-line method over three to five
years, which is the estimated useful life of the related assets. Leasehold
improvements are amortized over their estimated lives or the term of the related
lease, whichever is shorter. Equipment under capital leases is stated at the
present value of minimum lease payments and is amortized using the straight-line
method over the shorter of the lease term or the estimated useful life of the
assets.

(G) IMPAIRMENT OF LONG-LIVED ASSETS

    HotJobs reviews its long-lived assets for impairment whenever events or
changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of an asset may not
be recoverable. Recoverability of assets to be held and used is measured by a
comparison of the carrying amount of the assets to future net cash flows
expected to be generated by the assets. If the assets are considered to be
impaired, the impairment to be recognized is measured by the amount by which the
carrying amount of the assets exceeds the fair value of the assets. To date, no
impairment has occurred.

                                      F-9
<PAGE>
                               HOTJOBS.COM, LTD.

             NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED)

         (ALL INFORMATION SUBSEQUENT TO DECEMBER 31, 1998 IS UNAUDITED)

(2) SUMMARY OF OPERATIONS AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES (CONTINUED)

(H) INCOME TAXES

    HotJobs accounts for income taxes using the asset and liability method.
Under this method, deferred tax assets and liabilities are recognized for the
future tax consequences attributable to differences between the financial
statement carrying amounts of existing assets and liabilities and their
respective tax bases and operating loss and tax credit carryforwards. Deferred
tax assets and liabilities are measured using enacted tax rates expected to
apply to taxable income in the years in which those temporary differences are
expected to be recovered or settled. The effect on deferred tax assets and
liabilities of a change in tax rates is recognized in results of operations in
the period that includes the enactment date.

(I) REVENUE RECOGNITION

    Service fee revenues consist of subscription fees paid by employers for
memberships to the WWW.HOTJOBS.COM employment exchange and software hosting fees
paid by customers of Softshoe software. HotJobs provides membership
subscriptions for a minimum term of three months and a maximum term of 24
months. HotJobs recognizes subscription revenue ratably over the subscription
term. HotJobs provides hosting services on a monthly basis and recognizes
revenue in the month it provides the hosting service.

    HotJobs also licenses its Softshoe and miscellaneous proprietary recruiting
software and may provide hosting of the software. Software license fee revenue
is recognized ratably over the four year estimated useful life of the software
in accordance with the guidance provided in AICPA Statements of Position 97-2
and 98-9 "Software Revenue Recognition."

    Job fair revenue consists of fees from employers that rent booths at
WorkWorld jobs fairs. Revenue is recognized in the month in which the job fair
takes place.

    Other revenues primarily consist of fees derived from 30-day single ad job
postings on WWW.HOTJOBS.COM, banner advertising, and other Softshoe-related
services, including system customization and resume scanning services. HotJobs
recognizes revenue related to these services over the period of delivery of
service.

    Other revenues also include barter revenues. Barter advertising revenues and
expenses are recorded at the fair market value of services provided or received,
whichever is more determinable in the circumstances. Revenue from barter
advertising transactions is recognized as income when advertisements are
delivered on WWW.HOTJOBS.COM. Barter expense is recognized when HotJobs'
advertisements are run on third-party web sites, which is typically in the same
period when barter revenue is recognized. Barter expense is included as a
component of cost of revenues.

    In the first nine months of 1999, HotJobs entered into a barter arrangement.
In exchange for providing a sponsorship on a television commercial, HotJobs was
provided with online advertising on the other party's website. HotJobs
recognized $252,500 of revenues and expenses in the first six months of 1999
relating to this barter arrangement. At September 30, 1999, there were no
outstanding unused amounts included on HotJobs' balance sheet as an asset or
liability. The values assigned to the barter revenue and expense were equal to
the actual cost of purchasing advertising on the other party's website.

                                      F-10
<PAGE>
                               HOTJOBS.COM, LTD.

             NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED)

         (ALL INFORMATION SUBSEQUENT TO DECEMBER 31, 1998 IS UNAUDITED)

(2) SUMMARY OF OPERATIONS AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES (CONTINUED)

    Deferred revenue represents amounts billed or payments received in advance
of the subscription period and maintenance services to be rendered over a
certain period of time and is recognized as revenue ratably over the term of the
related contracts.

(J) PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT EXPENSES

    Product development costs include expenses incurred by HotJobs for research,
design and development of HotJobs' proprietary technology. Product development
costs are expensed as incurred. Software development costs are required to be
capitalized when a product's technological feasibility has been established by
completion of a working model of the product and ending when a product is
available for general release to customers. To date, completion of a working
model of the HotJobs product and general release have substantially coincided.
As a result, HotJobs has not capitalized any software developments costs because
such costs have not been significant.

(K) ADVERTISING EXPENSES

    HotJobs expenses advertising costs the first time the advertising takes
place, in accordance with AICPA Statement of Position 93-7. Advertising costs
totaling $287,067 and $1,305,607, respectively, for the period from
February 20, 1997 (inception) through December 31, 1997 and the year ended
December 31, 1998 and $788,427 and $10,030,857 for the nine months ended
September 30, 1998 and 1999, respectively, are included in sales and marketing
expenses in HotJobs' statements of operations.

(L) STOCK-BASED COMPENSATION

    HotJobs adopted Statement of Financial Accounting Standards (SFAS) No. 123,
"Accounting for Stock-Based Compensation," which permits entities to recognize
the fair value of all stock-based awards on the date of grant as expense over
the vesting period. Alternatively, SFAS No. 123 also allows entities to continue
to apply the provisions of APB Opinion No. 25, "Accounting for Stock Issued to
Employees," and provide pro forma net loss disclosure for employee stock option
grants made as if the fair value-based method defined in SFAS No. 123 has been
applied. Under APB Opinion No. 25, compensation expense would be recorded on the
date of grant only if the market price of the underlying stock options exceeded
the exercise price. HotJobs has elected to apply the provisions of APB Opinion
No. 25 and provide the pro forma disclosure provisions of SFAS No. 123.

(M) BASIC AND DILUTED NET LOSS PER SHARE

    HotJobs computes net income (loss) available per share in accordance with
SFAS No. 128, "Computation of Earnings Per Share," and the SEC Staff Accounting
Bulletin No. 98 ("SAB 98"). Under the provisions of SFAS No. 128 and SAB 98,
basic net income (loss) available per share is computed by dividing the net
income (loss) available to common stockholders for the period by the weighted
average number of common shares outstanding during the period. Diluted net
income (loss) available per share is computed by dividing the net income (loss)
for the period by the weighted average number of common and dilutive net income
(loss) available per share in accordance with common equivalent shares
outstanding during the period. HotJobs has

                                      F-11
<PAGE>
                               HOTJOBS.COM, LTD.

             NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED)

         (ALL INFORMATION SUBSEQUENT TO DECEMBER 31, 1998 IS UNAUDITED)

(2) SUMMARY OF OPERATIONS AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES (CONTINUED)

presented historical basic and dilutive net income (loss) available per share in
accordance with SFAS No. 128. As HotJobs had a net loss in each of the periods
presented, basic and diluted net income (loss) available per share is the same.

    Diluted net loss per share for the period from February 20, 1997 (inception)
through December 31, 1997 and the year ended December 31, 1998 does not include
the effects of options to purchase 0, and 1,236,000 shares of common stock,
respectively as the effect of their inclusion is anti-dilutive during each
period. Diluted net loss per share for the nine months ended September 30, 1998
and 1999 does not include the effect of options to purchase 1,236,000 and
5,785,200 shares of common stock. Dilutive common stock equivalents include an
option granted by the president of an affiliated company to purchase shares
personally owned by him.

(N) STOCK SPLIT

    On May 10, 1999, HotJobs authorized and implemented a 2,000-for-1 stock
split. Accordingly, all share and per share information in the accompanying
financial statements has been retroactively restated to reflect the effect of
this stock split.

    On June 30, 1999, the Board of Directors approved a 24-for-one stock split
of HotJobs' common stock which was effected on August 13, 1999 in connection
with the IPO. All common share and per share amounts in the accompanying
financial statements have been adjusted retroactively.

(O) RECENT ACCOUNTING PRONOUNCEMENTS

    As of January 1, 1998, HotJobs adopted the provisions of SFAS No. 130,
"Reporting Comprehensive Income" which establishes standards for reporting and
displaying comprehensive income and its components in a full set of general
purpose financial statements. The adoption of this standard has had no impact on
HotJobs' financial statements. Accordingly, HotJobs' comprehensive net loss is
equal to its net loss for all periods presented.

    In April 1998, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants issued
Statement of Position 98-1, "Accounting for the Costs of Computer Software
Developed or Obtained for Internal Use" ("SOP 98-1") which provides guidance for
determining whether computer software is internal-use software and on accounting
for the proceeds of computer software originally developed or obtained for
internal use and then subsequently sold to the public. It also provides guidance
on capitalization of the costs incurred for computer software developed or
obtained for internal use. HotJobs has not yet determined the impact, if any, of
adopting SOP 98-1, which will be effective for HotJobs' year ending
December 31, 1999.

    In June 1997, the FASB issued SFAS No. 131, "Disclosures About Segments of
an Enterprise and Related Information" which establishes standards for the way
that a public enterprise reports information about operating segments in annual
financial statements, and requires that those enterprises report selected
information about operating segments in interim financial reports issued to
shareholders. It also establishes standards for related disclosures about
products and services, geographic areas and major customers. SFAS No. 131 is
effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 1997. In the initial
year of application, comparative information for

                                      F-12
<PAGE>
                               HOTJOBS.COM, LTD.

             NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED)

         (ALL INFORMATION SUBSEQUENT TO DECEMBER 31, 1998 IS UNAUDITED)

(2) SUMMARY OF OPERATIONS AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES (CONTINUED)

earlier years must be restated. HotJobs has determined that it does not have any
separately reportable business segments.

    In June 1998, the FASB issued SFAS No. 133, "Accounting for Derivative
Instruments and Hedging Activities" which establishes accounting and reporting
standards for derivative instruments, including derivative instruments embedded
in other contracts, and for hedging activities. SFAS No. 133 is effective for
all fiscal quarters of fiscal years beginning after June 15, 2000. This
statement is not expected to affect HotJobs as HotJobs currently does not engage
or plan to engage in derivative instruments or hedging activities.

(3) PREPAID EXPENSES

    Prepaid expenses as of December 31, 1997 and 1998 consist of the following:

<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
                                                                  DECEMBER 31,
                                                            -------------------------
                                                               1997          1998
                                                            -----------   -----------
<S>                                                         <C>           <C>
Prepaid advertising.......................................    $20,848     $  791,700
Prepaid software license..................................         --        155,292
Other.....................................................         --         95,683
                                                              -------     ----------
Total.....................................................    $20,848     $1,042,675
                                                              =======     ==========
</TABLE>

(4) PROPERTY AND EQUIPMENT

    Property and equipment consist of the following:

<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
                                                                  DECEMBER 31,
                                                              ---------------------
<S>                                                           <C>         <C>
                                                                1997        1998
                                                              --------    --------
Computer equipment, including assets under capital leases of
  $0 and $200,543 respectively..............................  $     --    $686,117
Furniture and fixtures......................................        --      11,480
                                                              --------    --------
                                                                    --     697,597
Less accumulated depreciation, including assets under
  capital leases of $0 and $41,895, respectively............        --    (107,904)
                                                              --------    --------
      Total.................................................  $     --    $589,693
                                                              ========    ========
</TABLE>

(5) INCOME TAXES

    There has been no provision for U.S. federal or state income taxes for any
period as HotJobs has incurred operating losses since inception.

    HotJobs has adopted the cash method of accounting for income tax purposes.
Deferred income taxes reflect the net tax effects of temporary differences
between the carrying amounts of assets and liabilities for financial reporting
purposes and the amounts used for income tax

                                      F-13
<PAGE>
                               HOTJOBS.COM, LTD.

             NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED)

         (ALL INFORMATION SUBSEQUENT TO DECEMBER 31, 1998 IS UNAUDITED)

(5) INCOME TAXES (CONTINUED)

purposes. Significant components of the HotJobs' deferred tax assets and
liabilities for federal and state income taxes are as follows:

<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
                                                                  DECEMBER 31,
                                                              ---------------------
                                                                1997        1998
                                                              ---------   ---------
<S>                                                           <C>         <C>
Deferred tax assets:
  Net operating loss carryforwards..........................  $ 397,000   $ 961,000
  Excess depreciation for tax...............................         --     (13,000)
                                                              ---------   ---------
                                                                397,000     948,000
                                                              ---------   ---------
Less valuation allowance....................................   (397,000)   (948,000)
                                                              ---------   ---------
Deferred tax assets.........................................  $      --   $      --
                                                              =========   =========
</TABLE>

    Realization of deferred tax assets is dependent upon future earnings, if
any, the timing and amount of which are uncertain. Accordingly, the net deferred
tax assets have been fully offset by a valuation allowance as it is more likely
than not that the deferred tax assets will not be realized.

    The net change in valuation allowance for the year ended December 31, 1998
was an increase of approximately $551,000.

    As of December 31, 1998, HotJobs had net operating loss carryforwards for
federal income tax purposes of approximately $3.1 million. There can be no
assurance that HotJobs will realize the benefit of the net operating loss
carryforwards. The federal net operating loss carryforwards are available to
offset future taxable income and expire at various dates through 2018 if not
utilized. The Tax Reform Act of 1986 contains provisions which may limit the net
operating loss carryforwards available to be used in any given year if certain
events occur, including significant changes in ownership interest.

(6) RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS

    For the period from February 20, 1997 (inception) to December 31, 1997, the
year ended December 31, 1998 and the six months ended June 30, 1999, OTEC, Inc.
("OTEC"), an affiliated company, paid various expenses on behalf of HotJobs.
HotJobs recorded its allocated share of the expenses on its financial
statements. The effect of all operating expenses paid on behalf of HotJobs by
OTEC was approximately $741,600, $1,153,000 and $135,508 for the period ended
December 31, 1997, the year ended December 31, 1998 and the six months ended
June 30, 1999, respectively. These expenses primarily consist of rents,
salaries, computer expense and other administrative expenses. OTEC also provided
cash advances of $2,639,795 to HotJobs in 1998, of which $2,259,795 bore
interest at rates ranging from 8.75% to 9.5% per annum. The interest expense
relating to such cash advances was approximately $49,000 during 1998 and was
included in the due to affiliate balance as of December 31, 1998. In June 1999,
HotJobs repaid all amounts due to affiliates.

    HotJobs believes that these transactions were entered into on an arms-length
basis. The expenses were based on the actual charge per HotJobs employee, with
respect to salaries and

                                      F-14
<PAGE>
                               HOTJOBS.COM, LTD.

             NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED)

         (ALL INFORMATION SUBSEQUENT TO DECEMBER 31, 1998 IS UNAUDITED)

(6) RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS (CONTINUED)

employee benefit plans. With respect to expenses such as rents, computer
expenses, and insurance, expenses were based on the number of HotJobs employees
using the facility or service as a percentage of all employees using the
facility or service. All of these expenses were paid to outside third parties at
market rates.

    At December 31, 1997 and 1998, OTEC owned approximately 22.5% and 23.0%,
respectively of HotJobs.

    The chief executive officer of HotJobs is a director, executive officer and
shareholder of OTEC. Compensation expense for the chief executive officer of
$137,500 and $182,000 for the period ending December 31, 1997 and for the year
ended December 31, 1998, respectively, was paid by OTEC. These amounts paid by
OTEC are included as capital contributions in the statements of stockholders'
deficit, as they are not required to be repaid.

    HotJobs has recorded in the statement of operations $18,750 in 1997 for the
license of miscellaneous propriety software by OTEC and $294,000 in 1998 for
hosting that software and for purchasing additional software.

    On March 2, 1999, the chief executive officer of HotJobs granted the
president of OTEC an option, which expires on March 2, 2002, to purchase 34
shares of OTEC common stock owned personally by him at a purchase price of
$4,880 per share aggregating to $165,920, and an additional option to purchase
50 shares of each of OTEC's affiliated companies at a purchase price of $1 per
share. Similarly, on March 2, 1999, the president of OTEC granted HotJobs' chief
executive officer an option, which expires on March 2, 2002, to purchase
3,264,000 shares of HotJobs' common stock owned personally by the president at a
purchase price of approximately $0.05 per share aggregating to $165,920. In
addition, the chief executive officer of HotJobs granted to the President of
OTEC an irrevocable proxy expiring March 2, 2002 to vote all of the chief
executive officer of HotJobs' shares of stock subject to the option. In turn,
the president of OTEC granted the chief executive officer of HotJobs an
irrevocable proxy expiring March 2, 2002 to vote all of his shares of stock in
HotJobs. This was a nonmonetary transaction between two individuals with respect
to shares personally owned by them and therefore no accounting was required by
HotJobs.

    Until recently, HotJobs had several joint insurance polices with OTEC and
its affiliates. HotJobs' commercial property insurance issued by Federal
Insurance Company for a one year term beginning October 15, 1998, covered both
its California and New York offices as well as OTEC's California office.
HotJobs' commercial umbrella policy, also issued by Federal Insurance Company
for a one year term beginning October 15, 1998, also covered OTEC and its
affiliates, as did HotJobs' workers compensation insurance, issued by Lumbermans
Mutual Casualty Company on December 1, 1998 for a term ending October 15, 1999.
Effective June 1, 1999, HotJobs has stand alone insurance policies in place.
HotJobs had a joint fiduciary liability policy, issued by Travelers Insurance
for a one-year term beginning October 20, 1998, with OTEC and its affiliates.
Insurance expenses of $85,096 in 1998 have been allocated by OTEC to HotJobs
based on the respective number of personnel of these two companies. On July 20,
1999, HotJobs obtained its own directors and officers' liability insurance
policy.

                                      F-15
<PAGE>
                               HOTJOBS.COM, LTD.

             NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED)

         (ALL INFORMATION SUBSEQUENT TO DECEMBER 31, 1998 IS UNAUDITED)

(6) RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS (CONTINUED)

    OTEC and RBL, jointly and severally, guarantee certain of HotJobs'
obligations, including HotJobs' obligation to pay rent under its leases, dated
as of April 16, 1999, pursuant to which HotJobs rents the 10th, 14th and 16th
floors of a building located at 24 West 40th Street in New York City.

    On April 2, 1999, HotJobs repurchased 1,200,000 shares of common stock from
the chief executive officer and two employees for approximately $0.05 per share.

    On May 11, 1999, as part of the Series A Preferred Stock purchase agreement
(see note 8), FSA Capital, Inc. purchased 42,189 shares of Series A Preferred
Stock for $421,890. The chief financial officer and a director of HotJobs, is a
director of FSA Capital, Inc.

    Generation Capital Partners, L.P. and affiliated investment entities
("Generation Partners") purchased in the aggregate 1,053,704 shares of Series A
Preferred Stock for $10,537,040. Generation Partners owns more than 5% of
HotJobs' stock. One of HotJobs' directors is a Managing Partner of an affiliate
of Generation Partners.

    One of HotJobs' directors purchased 18,750 shares of Series A Preferred
Stock for $187,500. In connection with the Series A Preferred Stock financing,
GreenAcre Ventures LLC, of which one of HotJobs' directors is a managing member,
purchased 11,000 shares of HotJobs' common stock from two employees.

    One of HotJobs' directors purchased 21,094 shares of Series A Preferred
Stock for $210,940.

(7) LINE OF CREDIT

    On October 13, 1998, HotJobs entered into a $500,000 line of credit with The
Dime Savings Bank of New York (the "Bank"). Any outstanding balance is payable
on demand and bears interest at a fluctuating rate of 1% above the Bank's
reference lending rate for domestic commercial loans. All of HotJobs' assets
were pledged as collateral in the event of default. The amount borrowed on the
line of credit was $180,000 as of December 31, 1998.

    On July 20, 1999, HotJobs repaid $180,000 in principal, along with interest
due under its line of credit with The Dime Savings Bank of New York. On
September 16, 1999, HotJobs terminated this $500,000 line of credit.

    On October 13, 1998, an affiliated company refinanced an obligation under a
line of credit. As part of the refinancing agreement, the assets of HotJobs were
pledged as collateral in the event of default by the affiliated company. On
June 2, 1999, the bank removed all cross guarantees with both the HotJobs and
the affiliated company lines of credit.

(8) CAPITALIZATION

AUTHORIZED SHARES

    In 1998, HotJobs amended and restated its certificate of incorporation to
change its name to HotJobs.com, Ltd. On April 9 and May 10, 1999, HotJobs
amended its certificate of incorporation. As a result, as of May 10, 1999, the
total number of shares which HotJobs was authorized to issue was 50,000,000:
48,000,000 of these shares were common stock, each

                                      F-16
<PAGE>
                               HOTJOBS.COM, LTD.

             NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED)

         (ALL INFORMATION SUBSEQUENT TO DECEMBER 31, 1998 IS UNAUDITED)

(8) CAPITALIZATION (CONTINUED)

having a par value of $0.01; and 2,000,000 of these shares were preferred stock,
each having a par value of $0.01.

    Effective upon the closing of the IPO, HotJobs is authorized to issue up to
100,000,000 shares of common stock par value $0.01 per share, and 10,000,000
shares of preferred stock, par value $0.01 per share.

REDEEMABLE CONVERTIBLE PREFERRED STOCK

    Effective May 10, 1999, HotJobs issued an aggregate of 1,620,000 shares of
Series A Preferred Stock, at a purchase price of $10 per share, in consideration
for cash proceeds of $16.2 million. Holders of Series A Preferred Stock were not
entitled to any dividend. However, in the event of any liquidation, dissolution
or winding up of HotJobs, the holders of the Series A Preferred stock then
outstanding were entitled to be paid a preferential amount of $10 per share.

    Each holder of Series A Preferred Stock was entitled to the number of votes
equal to the number of whole shares of common stock into which the shares of
preferred stock were convertible on the date of the vote.

    Upon request of the majority of the Series A Preferred stockholders on or
after May 1, 2003, HotJobs could be required to redeem Series A Preferred Shares
at an amount equal to the greater of (a) the amount per share payable to the
holders of the Series A Preferred Stock in the event of liquidation, dissolution
or winding up of HotJobs and (b) $10 per share plus an additional amount equal
to 10% per annum.

    At the option of the stockholders, Series A Preferred Stock was convertible,
at any time prior to the date of redemption, into shares of common stock. The
conversion would result from dividing the Preferential Amount (as defined) for
the Series A Preferred Stock as of the date of conversion by the conversion
price of $4.12 per share. Such shares automatically converted into common shares
upon the completion of the IPO.

    Due to the sale of the Series A Preferred Stock with a conversion price that
was below the expected initial public offering price of the common stock,
HotJobs recorded a beneficial conversion feature of $16.2 million. The
beneficial conversion feature is limited to the net proceeds received from the
preferred stock transaction. HotJobs began amortizing the value of the
beneficial conversion feature as a non-cash preferred stock dividend over the
four-year period from the date of issuance of the preferred stock to the date on
which the preferred stock was first convertible into common stock, assuming no
acceleration of the date of conversion. Accordingly, for the three months ended
June 30, 1999, $566,129 of the beneficial conversion feature was recorded as a
non-cash preferred stock dividend. On August 13, 1999, in connection with the
IPO, all of the preferred stock automatically converted into common stock.
HotJobs recognized all $15.3 million of the as yet unamortized amount of the
beneficial conversion feature as a deemed dividend to preferred stockholders
during the three months ended September 30, 1999.

                                      F-17
<PAGE>
                               HOTJOBS.COM, LTD.

             NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED)

         (ALL INFORMATION SUBSEQUENT TO DECEMBER 31, 1998 IS UNAUDITED)

(8) CAPITALIZATION (CONTINUED)

COMMON STOCK

    During 1997, HotJobs issued 21,300,000 shares of common stock to its
founders and original employees at $0.01 per share.

(9) CONCENTRATION OF CREDIT RISK

    For the period from February 20, 1997 (inception) to December 31, 1997, no
customer, accounted for over 10% of total revenues generated by HotJobs. No
customers for more than 10% of gross accounts receivable at December 31, 1997.

    For the year ended December 31, 1998, no customer accounted for over 10% of
total revenues generated by HotJobs during that period. Two customers had
balances of 18% and 17%, respectively, of gross accounts receivable at
December 31, 1998.

    For the nine months ended September 30, 1998, one customer, accounted for
approximately 16% of total revenues generated by HotJobs during that period. One
customer accounted for more than 10% of gross accounts receivable at
September 30, 1998.

    For the nine months ended September 30, 1999, there were no customers that
accounted for more than 10% of total revenues generated by HotJobs during that
period, or of gross accounts receivable at September 30, 1999.

(10) PROFIT SHARING RETIREMENT PLAN

    Until July 1, 1999, HotJobs' employees participated in a qualified profit
sharing retirement plan with a 401(k) deferred compensation provision through an
affiliated company. HotJobs contributed 50% of the amounts contributed by
employees up to a maximum of 6% of gross wages. Additionally, a discretionary
profit sharing contribution was determined annually by the Board of Directors.
The contributions charged to operations for the 401(k) plan amounted to $23,237
and $21,835 for 1998 and 1997, respectively. There were no discretionary profit
sharing contributions made by HotJobs during either 1997 or 1998. As of July 1,
1999, HotJobs established its own 401(k) Plan.

(11) EMPLOYMENT AGREEMENTS

    Richard Johnson, Stephen Ellis, Dimitri Boylan and George Nassef each has an
employment agreement with HotJobs. The agreements of Messrs. Johnson, Ellis and
Boylan each became effective on May 6, 1999 and expires on May 5, 2002, and will
automatically renew for additional one year terms after that date unless HotJobs
gives the executive written notice of its desire not to renew the agreement at
least six months prior to the expiration of the initial or any additional term.
Mr. Nassef's employment agreement became effective on June 18, 1999 and shall
continue until terminated by him or by HotJobs. The annual salary for each of
these executives is as follows: Richard Johnson, $200,000; Stephen Ellis,
$175,000; Dimitri Boylan, $175,000 and George J. Nassef, Jr., $175,000. The
annual salary of each of Messrs. Johnson, Ellis and Boylan will increase by a
minimum of 10% each year. In addition, Stephen Ellis received a non-qualified
stock option to purchase 360,000 shares of HotJobs' common stock. In connection
with the

                                      F-18
<PAGE>
                               HOTJOBS.COM, LTD.

             NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED)

         (ALL INFORMATION SUBSEQUENT TO DECEMBER 31, 1998 IS UNAUDITED)

(11) EMPLOYMENT AGREEMENTS (CONTINUED)

closing of HotJobs' initial public offering, 180,000 of these options vested
automatically, and 90,000 options will vest on each of May 6, 2001 and May 6,
2002. Mr. Nassef received stock options to purchase 180,000 shares of HotJobs'
common stock. In connection with the closing of HotJob's initial public
offering, 90,000 of these options vested automatically; 30,000 options will vest
on June 18, 2001; and 60,000 options will vest on June 18, 2002. Also, each of
these executives is entitled to an annual bonus determined by the compensation
committee of the Board of Directors. HotJobs can terminate these employment
agreements with or without cause by delivering written notice to the executive.
Each executive may terminate his employment agreement with or without good
reason by delivering written notice to HotJobs. Upon termination of the
agreement by HotJobs without cause or by the executive for good reason, the
executive is entitled to the greater of his annual salary for the remainder of
the term of the agreement or one year of salary and all options become
immediately exercisable.

(12) STOCK OPTION PLAN

    HotJobs has a Stock Award Plan which provides for the granting of options to
employees to purchase shares of its common stock. HotJobs granted options under
the Stock Award Plan until June 30, 1999. Such options have ten-year terms and
have been issued at the fair market value of the HotJobs' common stock on the
date of the applicable grant and will vest through 2008. Such options vest over
three to five years. A majority of the options granted under the Stock Award
Plan became immediately exercisable upon the consummation of the IPO.

    Stock option activity during the periods indicated is as follows:

<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
                                                                        WEIGHTED AVERAGE
                                                      OPTIONS GRANTED    EXERCISE PRICE
                                                      ---------------   ----------------
<S>                                                   <C>               <C>
Options outstanding at December 31, 1997
Granted at $0.03....................................      2,208,000           $0.03
Granted at $0.04....................................        132,000           $0.04
Exercised...........................................             --           $  --
Forfeited...........................................     (1,104,000)          $0.03
                                                         ----------
Outstanding as of December 31, 1998.................      1,236,000           $0.03
                                                         ----------
Granted (unaudited).................................      4,935,600           $4.00
Exercised (unaudited)...............................       (344,400)          $0.05
Forfeited (unaudited)...............................        (42,000)          $2.24
                                                         ----------
Outstanding as of September 30, 1999 (unaudited)....      5,785,200           $3.40
                                                         ==========
Vested at December 31, 1998.........................              0
                                                         ==========
</TABLE>

    The weighted-average remaining life of the 1,236,000 options outstanding at
December 31, 1998 is approximately 9.7 years.

    HotJobs granted 48,000 options under the plan on April 1, 1998 at an
exercise price of $0.03 to a consultant, an employee of a related party who is
providing services to HotJobs. The value of this option using a Black-Scholes
pricing model was deemed insignificant.

                                      F-19
<PAGE>
                               HOTJOBS.COM, LTD.

             NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED)

         (ALL INFORMATION SUBSEQUENT TO DECEMBER 31, 1998 IS UNAUDITED)

(12) STOCK OPTION PLAN (CONTINUED)

    HotJobs has adopted the disclosure provisions of SFAS No. 123. Had
compensation costs on the HotJobs' Stock Award Plan been determined based on the
fair market value on the grant date consistent with the provisions of SFAS
No. 123, HotJobs' net loss would have been increased as per the pro forma
amounts indicated below:

<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
                                                                 1998
                                                              -----------
<S>                                                           <C>
Net loss--actual............................................  $(2,257,314)
                                                              ===========
Net loss--pro forma.........................................  $(2,262,255)
                                                              ===========
Basic and diluted net loss per share--actual and pro
  forma.....................................................  $     (0.11)
                                                              ===========
</TABLE>

    Pro forma information regarding net loss has been determined using a
Black-Scholes option pricing model with the following assumptions for 1998:

<TABLE>
<S>                                                           <C>
Risk-free interest rate.....................................  6.0%
Dividend yield..............................................  0.0%
Volatility factor...........................................  0.0%
Average expected life.......................................  9 years
</TABLE>

    As of September 30, 1999, HotJobs recorded deferred compensation expense,
net of option forfeited, of approximately $7.8 million, in connection with the
grant of certain options to employees and directors, representing the difference
between the deemed fair value of HotJobs' common stock at the date of grant for
accounting purposes and the exercise price of the related options. This amount
is presented as a reduction of stockholders (deficit) equity and amortized over
the vesting period. HotJobs granted approximately 775,200 options at a weighted
average exercise price of $3.69 per share; all of which were granted at less
than the deemed fair value at the date of the grant. HotJobs has amortized
$1,539,676 of deferred compensation during the nine months ended September 30,
1999. HotJobs expects to amortize the following amounts of deferred compensation
annually: 1999 - $2.0 million; 2000 - $1.9 million; 2001 - $1.9 million; 2002 -
$1.5 million; 2003 - $0.5 million.

    On June 30, 1999, HotJobs adopted the 1999 Stock Option/Stock Issuance Plan
and no future grants will be made under the Stock Award Plan subsequent to
June 30, 1999. 4,500,000 shares of common stock have been authorized under the
1999 Plan. 3,492,000 options granted under the Stock Award Plan became
exercisable upon the completion of the IPO and the remainder vest over a period
of three to four years.

(13) EMPLOYEE STOCK PURCHASE PLAN

    On August 10, 1999, the Employee Stock Purchase Plan became effective. The
plan is designed to allow eligible employees to purchase shares of common stock
at 85% of the lower of the fair market value of our common stock on the
employee's entry date into the offering period or the fair market value on the
semi-annual purchase date through periodic payroll deductions. A total of
250,000 shares of common stock are available for issuance under the plan.

                                      F-20
<PAGE>
                               HOTJOBS.COM, LTD.

             NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED)

         (ALL INFORMATION SUBSEQUENT TO DECEMBER 31, 1998 IS UNAUDITED)

(13) EMPLOYEE STOCK PURCHASE PLAN (CONTINUED)

    The plan has a series of successive offering periods, each with a maximum
duration of 24 months. The initial offering period began on August 10, 1999 and
will end on the last business day in July 2001. The next offering period will
begin on the first business day in August 2001 and subsequent offering periods
will be set by HotJobs' compensation committee.

(14) COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

(A) OFFICE LEASES

    HotJobs leases office space in New York and California. The minimum lease
payments under these leases are payable as follows:

<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
YEAR ENDING DECEMBER 31                                         AMOUNT
- -----------------------                                       ----------
<S>                                                           <C>
1999........................................................  $  132,344
2000........................................................     252,007
2001........................................................     267,886
2002........................................................     259,375
2003........................................................     240,839
Thereafter..................................................     163,922
                                                              ----------
                                                              $1,316,373
                                                              ==========
</TABLE>

    Rent expense for the period from February 20, 1997 (inception) to
December 31, 1997 and the year ended December 31, 1998 was $41,667 and $103,398,
respectively.

    In March 1999, HotJobs entered into a five-year lease agreement for office
space in California. The lease is due to expire during May 2004 and has been
included above as part of the minimum lease payment schedule.

    In April 1999, HotJobs entered into two five-year lease agreements for
office space in New York. These leases are due to expire on March 31, 2004. The
minimum lease payments under these leases amount to approximately $918,000.
Under the terms of these agreements, landlord and tenant have the right to
terminate these leases at any time after July 31, 1999 upon giving ninety days'
written notice. Due to the existence of this termination clause, these amounts
have not been included as part of minimum lease payable commitments.

    In July 1999, HotJobs entered into a three-year lease agreement for office
space in Sydney, Australia. The lease is due to expire on July 22, 2002 and has
been included above as part of the minimum lease payment schedule.

    In September 1999, HotJobs entered into a five-year lease agreement for
office space in Chicago, Illinois. The lease is due to expire on November 1,
2004 and has been included above as part of the minimum lease payment schedule.

    An affiliated company unconditionally guaranteed payment and performance of
all obligations, liabilities, terms and conditions of HotJobs' office leases.

                                      F-21
<PAGE>
                               HOTJOBS.COM, LTD.

             NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED)

         (ALL INFORMATION SUBSEQUENT TO DECEMBER 31, 1998 IS UNAUDITED)

(14) COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES (CONTINUED)

(B) EQUIPMENT LEASES

    HotJobs is obligated under various capital leases that begin in 1998 and
expire at various dates through November 2001.

    Future minimum capital lease payments are payable as follows:

<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
                                                               CAPITAL
YEAR                                                           LEASES
- ----                                                          ---------
<S>                                                           <C>
1999........................................................  $ 88,470
2000........................................................    64,060
2001........................................................    23,370
                                                              --------
Total minimum lease payments................................   175,900
Less amount representing interest (at rates ranging from
  9.7% to 18.7%)............................................    22,951
                                                              --------
Present value of net minimum lease payments.................   152,949
Less current installment of obligations under capital
  leases....................................................    72,950
                                                              --------
Obligations under capital leases, excluding current
  installments..............................................  $ 79,999
                                                              ========
</TABLE>

    From March through April 1999, HotJobs entered into three capital lease
agreements for an aggregate amount of approximately $457,000 to finance computer
equipment. These capital lease commitments are not included in the above lease
schedule.

(C) COMMITMENT TO PURCHASE COMMERCIAL AIRTIME

    HotJobs entered into a commitment to purchase 30 seconds of commercial
airtime and a "banner" advertisement from Fox Broadcasting Company during the
National Football League's Super Bowl on January 31, 1999. The cost of the
airtime was $1,360,000. $680,000 was paid in November 1998 and was recorded
within prepaid expenses. The remainder was paid in January 1999.

    The Company also committed approximately $590,000 to advertising firms and
production companies for development of the commercial. This amount was paid in
various installments through January 1999.

    Also, as of November 4, 1999, HotJobs has commitments of approximately
$6.6 million for various advertising campaigns through December 2000. These
commitments include broadcasting, print, online and outdoor advertising. These
commitments expire over various time periods.

(15) SUBSEQUENT EVENT--UNAUDITED

(A) NOTES PAYABLE

    On August 10, 1999, HotJobs entered into a note payable agreement with
Cananwill, Inc. for an aggregate amount of $480,998 to finance its Directors and
Officers insurance premium. The agreement calls for monthly payments of $28,077
over 18 months. The note bears interests at a

                                      F-22
<PAGE>
                               HOTJOBS.COM, LTD.

             NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED)

         (ALL INFORMATION SUBSEQUENT TO DECEMBER 31, 1998 IS UNAUDITED)

(15) SUBSEQUENT EVENT--UNAUDITED (CONTINUED)

rate of 6.31% per year. As of September 30, 1999, the outstanding balance was
$429,769 of which $317,254 is due within one year.

(B) LOAN AND SECURITY AGREEMENT

    On September 16, 1999, HotJobs entered into a Loan and Security Agreement
with Silicon Valley Bank. The agreement consists of a $4,000,000 revolving line
of credit and a $1,000,000 equipment line of credit. The revolving line of
credit has a term of one year and bears interest at an annual rate of the bank's
prime rate plus 75 basis points. Interest on the revolving line of credit is
payable monthly and any principal outstanding is payable at the end of the term.
The equipment line of credit has a term of 42 months and bears interest at an
annual rate of the bank's prime rate plus 100 basis points. HotJobs may borrow
under this equipment line of credit during the first six months of the term.
Interest on the equipment line of credit is payable monthly and the principal is
payable over 36 months commencing on April 1, 2000.

                                      F-23
<PAGE>
                          INSIDE BACK COVER - ARTWORK

A circle segmented into sections. Each section includes the name of one of our
products: the www.hotjobs.com employment exchange, Softshoe software and
WorkWorld job fairs.
<PAGE>
    YOU SHOULD RELY ONLY ON THE INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THIS PROSPECTUS. WE
HAVE NOT AUTHORIZED ANYONE TO PROVIDE INFORMATION DIFFERENT FROM THAT CONTAINED
IN THIS PROSPECTUS. WE ARE OFFERING TO SELL, AND SEEKING OFFERS TO BUY, SHARES
OF COMMON STOCK ONLY IN JURISDICTIONS WHERE OFFERS AND SALES ARE PERMITTED. THE
INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THIS PROSPECTUS IS ACCURATE ONLY AS OF THE DATE OF THIS
PROSPECTUS, REGARDLESS OF THE TIME OF DELIVERY OF THIS PROSPECTUS OR ANY SALE OF
OUR COMMON STOCK.

                               TABLE OF CONTENTS

<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
                                          PAGE
                                        --------
<S>                                     <C>

Prospectus Summary....................       1

Risk Factors..........................       5

Forward-Looking Statements............      18

Market Data...........................      18

Use of Proceeds.......................      19

Price Range of Common Stock...........      19

Dividend Policy.......................      19

Capitalization........................      20

Dilution..............................      21

Selected Financial Data...............      22

Management's Discussion and Analysis
  of Financial Condition and Results
  of Operations.......................      23

Business..............................      35

Management............................      48

Related Party Transactions............      55

Principal Stockholders................      58

Description of Capital Stock..........      60

Shares Eligible for Future Sale.......      65

Underwriting..........................      67

Legal Matters.........................      70

Experts...............................      70

Where You Can Find More Information...      70

Index to Consolidated Financial
  Statements..........................     F-1
</TABLE>

[LOGO]

3,600,000 SHARES

COMMON STOCK

DEUTSCHE BANC ALEX. BROWN

ROBERTSON STEPHENS

SG COWEN

THOMAS WEISEL PARTNERS LLC

Prospectus

November 10, 1999


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