Just like a balanced diet that includes bread AND fruit, job boards should be a part of your job search – just not the only part. With over 100,000 job sites out there, you can certainly find one that caters to your profession and industry. Here’s how.
The first step: know thyself. Which industry are you targeting? Which job title? Are you at the beginning of your career, or an experienced pro? You must have a clear idea of your employment targets before searching for the right job boards to use.
Next, identify the best job boards for your employment search. A couple of useful sites are Job Board Reviews, a directory of general and niche job boards organized into industries and types, and the Top 100 Job Site Niches, an excellent list compiled by job board veteran, Eric Shannon. Spend some time with both (and do a Google search as well), then make a short list of 3 to 5 sites that best match your targets.
Now that you know where to go, visit each job board to do some additional research. Take a careful look at the ‘about us’ page and look for some vibrancy – does the site maintain a blog and/or social networking tools, are there recent news clippings? Is it clear who runs the site?
Strong niche job boards will provide personal assistance and from time to time may even help match candidates with employers in special circumstances. If you’re looking at a pay site, you’ll want to weigh your options and do some additional research before taking the plunge.
You can learn quite a bit about the companies and types of jobs available simply by looking through listings and employer profiles. You’ll probably want to register on each board so that you can create job alerts – these are essentially a collection of search terms that enable the job site to email new matching jobs to you.
Job alerts are great time savers – the jobs come to you and you don’t have to remember to visit each site every day!
Should you post your resume on each site? On the pro side, having your resume visible may increase the chances that a recruiter matches your skills to an open position. However, on the con side, once up, your resume may be posted to other sites by the job board – or you may be contacted by companies or recruiters in which you have no interest. Our advice: post your resume when you’re ready to be contacted, and take it down as soon as you’ve accepted a position.
You may also want to look at aggregators such as Indeed or SimplyHired. These sites repost jobs from other sites so that you can search for them in one place. Be aware, however, that not all jobs are found on these sites – only use an aggregator in addition to your specific job boards.
Finally, remember that a job board is simply one tool of many that can help you find your next job. Be sure to include career fairs, social media, and networking with your friends and colleagues as well. Good luck!
