An Introduction to Job Sites and Job Boards

Job boards, job sites and other online recruitment websites offer a valuable recruitment option.

But what are the main types of types and what part can they play in a recruitment strategy.

The Job Board

At heart, the job board is nothing more than a classified ads website. A job board simply allows recruiters to post classified recruitment ads. Candidates search the job board for relevant job ads and apply to them —by email, or an online application form on the job board, or by being redirected to an application page on the company website. Simple classified advertising is the starting point for job boards. And most job boards follow the classified advertising revenue model too: you post a job ad and pay for it. However, the job board has developed and evolved into a variety of online offerings.

The Generalist Job Board

Generalist Job Boards are those job boards which advertise all kinds of jobs. That is, they advertise all kinds of job roles in all kinds of industry sectors across all locations. Well-known generalist job sites include Monster.co.uk, Fish4jobs.co.uk, Totaljobs.com in the UK, and IrishJobs.ie in Ireland. The generalist job board prides itself on offering all types of candidates all types of jobs; and allows recruiters the opportunity to post all of their job ads on one site.

The Specialist or Niche Job Board

Specialist or niche job boards are recruitment websites that focus on a particular area of recruitment. In general, niche job boards tend to focus on particular job types, industry sectors or locations. For example, there are popular niche job boards for sales jobs and IT jobs; there are niche job boards for jobs in the Finance or FMCG Sectors; there are niche job boards for jobs in particular locations like London or Scotland.

However, the diversity of niche job boards is extensive. There can, for example, be niche job boards for particular roles in particular industries in particular locations. There can be niche job boards for particular age groups, types of people, qualifications, skill sets etc. And then there are the specialist trade magazines and professional journals that have online job boards too. Indeed, if there is a sizeable job market there will probably be a niche job board that caters to it.

The Network Job Board

Network Job Boards are a combination of both generalist and niche job boards. The network job board comprises a group of related recruitment websites. At the heart of the network is a generalist job board that covers all kinds of jobs. In addition, however, the network usually includes a portfolio of niche job boards. When advertising on the network, jobs are posted on the generalist job board and then re-published on the niche job boards according to their specialism. Therefore, the same job can be posted across multiple job boards.

Job board networks are partly exercises in Search Engine Marketing. Using niche job boards in a network allows a job board to appear in a stronger position for particular job roles in search engines. This means more suitable candidates will be looking at jobs on that job board. And more suitable candidates mean better quality applications for recruiters. What’s more, many large publishers have hundreds of websites and associated job boards catering to very specific locations or industries or other things. Using the network allows recruiters to get their jobs out to more people.

The Job Search Engine or Aggregator Job board

Job Search Engines and Job Board Aggregators are not really job boards at all. Rather, they are search engines for jobs. Job search engines and job board aggregators pull jobs from other websites (generalist job boards, niche job boards, recruitment agency websites, employer careers sites etc.) and bring them all together in one place. This allows candidates to search many job boards simply and easily. And, of course, Job Search Engines and Job Board Aggregators offer another advertising option for recruiters.

The Social Network Job Board

In recent times there has been a rise of number of social networks that are beginning to offer viable opportunities for recruitment advertising. Linkedin is perhaps the most well-known of the professional social networks. Indeed, Linkedin has already launched a paid-for classified job board on its network. However, and perhaps more interesting, the Linkedin professional network also has groups and networks that offer job advertising opportunities in and of themselves.

Beyond LinkedIn, there is an increasing number of social, professional, trade and other online social networks that offer some kind of recruitment advertising opportunities —either free or paid for.

The Zombie Job Board

Zombie Job Boards are job boards that look very much like job boards: they have lots of recruitment advice like job boards; they have lots of candidate advice like job boards; they even have jobs like job boards. But Zombie Job Boards are not job boards. They are job boards that have the appearance of being real live job boards but are, in fact, defunct and dead businesses. Zombie Job Boards maintain the appearance of life by carrying lots of jobs. But these jobs are simply pulled from job posting services in order to populate the job board. Obviously, Zombie Job Boards should be avoided.

Next step? Check out these articles

• When is a job board not a job board?
• What are Job Search Engines and Job Board Aggregators?
• What is a niche job board?
• Job board advertising for employers