If you’re a job seeker, or you were in the past, then you know what a job board is. It’s a database of “open” positions at companies looking to hire specific talent and they are searchable by multiple filters, such as geography and company name. They make money per job listing and have other advertising options, such as banners. In November, The Conference Board reported that job postings were down by 83,000 in October. Other figures I’ve seen over the past few years have shown the decline in job postings, not just because of the economic turmoil, but due to the high costs associated with each posting.
Price comparison
I did some research, and I noticed that overall traditional job boards are much more expensive than alternatives, such as LinkedIn and Craigslist. In the adjacent chart, I’ve compared prices from Monster, CareerBuilder, LinkedIn and Craigslist. You could argue that there are more resumes and unique visitors on the traditional sites, but they actually don’t bring in the best candidates. A recent study was conducted that showed that on average, LinkedIn produced fewer resumes per posting — 39 versus about 45 — but produced a higher yield per posting of qualified candidates: 11 versus 3. This is great for recruiters because they spend less and get more.
The point of this chart comparison is to show you that the major traditional job boards haven’t adjusted their rates to take into account that recruiters can find candidates for free online, using one of thousands of social media sites and search engines. Would you want to hire someone you saw on a job board or someone that was recommended to you by a friend or colleague? The way in which we discover talent has changed and job boards need to adjust if they want to exist.
The problem with job boards
I have friends who work at major online job board sites, but I’ve never been sold on them. Years ago I received a few interviews from job listings on Monster, but the positions were filled even before my interview. The major issue here is that hiring managers don’t trust people who submit their resume through a job board, even though they are paying for the posting! They would much rather have a colleague forward a resume of a trusted friend, than receive someone that they have to take a bigger chance on.
Companies are “risk adverse.”
3 Reasons why you should NOT submit your resume on job boards:
- Many listed jobs have already been filled.
- Your resume goes into a large database and you don’t stand out.
- Employers look at job boards as their last hope to fill a job.
The new job search process and how job boards fit in
I’ve spoken a lot about the demise of job searching and the rise of “people searching” in the past. The idea behind this concept is that we get jobs through people (you get interviewed by a person, not a fax machine) and hiring managers and recruiters are freely accessible on online social networks. It all comes back to a relationship driven system, instead of a job board driven database. That is not to say that you should ignore job boards altogether.
The incorrect way: Applying for jobs using job boards is a waste of time because you can be competing against thousands of people and your resume vanishes into a black hole (along with reasons mentioned above).
The correct way: Go to a job board and review the different job postings that interest you and then use social networks to locate either the hiring manager or someone else that works at that company and build a relationship with them.
It’s no longer about finding the latest job opening; now it’s about finding the right people who can help you.
Your turn
Have job boards been effective for your search?
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[...] Job Boards And Their New Role in Your “Social” Job Search Ebenfalls ein grauenhafter Artikel, in dem Dan Schwabel doch tatsächlich große Jobbörsen wie Monster und Careerbuilder mit bspl. Craigslist (?) vergleicht… außerdem empfielt er sich ein Stellenangebot rauszusuchen, und dann den entsprechenden Personaler via Twitter oder anderer Social Networks auszuspähen, und dann “build a relationship with them“. Was ein Scheiß Tipp! Was ist denn gegen die gute alte Bewerbung einzuwenden? [...]
Hi Dan,
As the primary owner and manager of a successful niche job board, http://www.HealthcareITCentral.com, I wholeheartedly agree with your assessment of the considerable drawbacks to “monster” job boards, but agree with Eric that niche job boards need to be considered, and can be highly effective if managed professionally and ethically, with both the job seeker and the employer in mind.
I also agree with Eric that aggregators such as Indeed and SimplyHired serve an important function – for instance, our jobs are featured there, as well, and they definitely help drive qualified candidates to our site. The problem with the aggregators, as with the big boards, as you pointed out, Dan, is that the jobs are not validated. Often the jobs are not real (bait and switch), or are no longer available. Again, another reason to utilize a smaller niche job board with a more manageable and validated number of jobs.
That being said, it’s important to keep in mind that not all “niche” job boards are the same, either. I’m seeing an alarming number of new niche boards that are popping up, that on the surface look to be legitimate, but upon closer examination are actually an aggregate feed (Simply Hired’s “Jobamatic” for instance) that features the aforementioned unvalidated jobs – this teeters on borderline false advertising, in my opinion, and is not in the best interests of the job seeker who may very well waste his/her time by applying for a job that no longer exists , or the employer, who pays to post a position on a “niche” site, but ends up throwing their job into the great aggregator abyss.
So, how do you find the few white-hatted cowboys (or cowgirls!) in the job board frontier? Do your research, read the fine print, and even go so far as to ask for testimonials and/or recommendations before you waste your time and money. We’re out there!
G.
Dan, you nailed this topic. In fact I just submitted an article along this line for a leading brand magazine here in Nigeria. Most brands are wasteful, lazy. Instead of building a platform that is cheaper and effective to save cost on recruitment, they will rather spend fortune to receive resumes they will never look at. The potential employees are to be blamed for their ignorance or inability to see clearly the handwriting on the wall
As a technical recruiter I have a bias. The recruiter serves as a valuable nexus in your social network. We provide a filter for the employer, narrowing the resumes to review to truly qualified and fitting candidates. For the candidate we can be a another set of eyes with broader vision as well as a coach and well connected advocate. The best of it is that many are heavily involved in social networking (easy to find) and striving to connect and collaborate.
[...] EMC colleague and Personal Branding expert and best selling author, Dan Schwabel. His blog Personal Branding has a very good post on job boards and their new role in your social job search. Here’s an [...]
Interesting article. I find your mentality interesting but don’t entirely agree. Social networks can be a great alternative to finding jobs but they aren’t always effective. You have to ensure you are contacting the correct person, you don’t know when the last time they signed in what or how active they are on certain networks, you want to keep a level of professionalism, etc. I do agree with you that many of the job boards offered don’t do what they are meant to do and are littered with old jobs and resumes. I am a co-founder of InovaHire.com (http://www.inovahire.com) and frustrated with how the employment industry currently functions and frustrated with the lack of resources and quality of current resources, we created InovaHire. I can honestly say we are not your typical job board. One of the downsides however of having a job board such as ours is although the jobs and resumes are quality, they are limited. We don’t allow old jobs or resumes to be posted or kept on our website. So can there truly be one solution that satisfies every need and can product quantity? Hopefully soon
[...] system for a while now. It has also inspired some of my most controversial posts, such as how people shouldn’t submit resumes through job boards. From the company perspective, they are trynig to find the best possible talent at the lowest [...]