What are the best job boards?
Before we get to the meat of this question, I would like to place this article in some form of context.
This has been written with the reader being an ‘employer’ or someone who is involved in the hiring process.
Now, like many things ‘What are the best’ questions tend to be directly steered either by statistical answers or from the experience of the writer. In this case it is the opinion of the writer (me)
Who am I?
My name is Adrian Cheesman and I’ve been involved in recruitment since 2001, initially within a military context when I spent my last 5 years of a successful 24-year career employed in a tri-service (British Army, Royal Navy and Royal Air Force) recruitment environment. This then led to me, in 2005, starting and building a very reputable UK leading commercial engineering and technical recruitment agency (see www.DemobJob.co.uk).
If you’re looking to utilise a job board and have already done some research, you will already know that there are hundreds of them to choose from. Most fall into two categories, these are:
Large job boards that cater to many industry sectors sometimes referred to as ‘generalist’ boards; engineering, security, aviation, logistics, manufacturing etc.
Small specialist job boards which specialise in a single industry sector or job seeker profile.
Some of the large job boards will have a recognisable brand/name as you will have seen them in some form of advertising media. Smaller niche job boards tend to gain popularity through online ‘job seeker targeted’ advertising and good old ‘word of mouth’.
Generalist Job Boards
So here goes, these are what I would consider the 3 best ‘generalist’ job boards, yes, I’ve placed them in order:
- CV-Library – www.cv-library.co.uk
- Total Jobs & Jobsite (at the time of writing they operate together, and any vacancy posted on one automatically appears on the other)
- Reed – www.Reed.co.uk
I’ve placed them in this order down to functionality, usability and, from my perspective, return on investment i.e. quality and relevance of applications received.
Specialist Job Boards
Do not dismiss specialist job boards, they can be extremely effective. Their ability to attract specific job seeker profiles is extremely strong and many have gained a very strong reputation.
Two that spring to my mind are:
- www.securityclearedjobs.com – Specialising in companies who recruit personnel with security clearance
- www.CWjobs.com – Specialising in tech jobs
Costs
Costs vary depending on which job board and how many ‘posting credits’ you are purchasing. Most boards openly display their costs and you can purchase credits using your card without any human interaction.
I would always recommend picking the phone up, engaging with their sales team and looking for that discount.
Warning! The cheapest is not always the best!
Things to consider
A few things you should consider when partnering with a job board:
- How long does your job advertisement remain on the site? Most are now moving to the 6–week model.
- Ask for advice and support to optimise your job posting to give it the best possible chance of attracting quality and relevant applications. A well-crafted job advertisement is key to success. Note, it’s not about quantity, it is all about quality.
- Ask the question ‘what happens if the advertisement does not deliver the right candidate?’, are you expected just to part with more money, if so, how much?
- Make sure that you are being looked after, even if you are just posting a single vacancy. You should have a Job Board Account Manager who will regularly keep in contact, checking your advertisement, looking at the statistics (views and applications) and, like any service, trying to ensure that you gain a positive outcome.
Online CV Databases
Many job boards now offer, for a price, the ability for you to search job seeker CVs which have been registered on their site. This will enable you to pro-actively look for and directly contact candidates by completing searches against location, qualifications. keywords and more.
Closing note
Job boards can be very attractive to an employer and when compared to using a recruitment agency seem a very cost-effective solution. This is correct providing they deliver the right candidate otherwise it is just a waste of time and money.
Not sure about what job board to use?
Give me, Adrian, a call on 0333 3445577.
