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How to Find Jobs Job Boards
Job boards are a traditional source of job postings in the Internet age. They aren't always the best way for you to spend your time, but they can be very helpful.
For most job seekers, job boards are often not “The Answer” to all their job search needs, and, these days, certainly not a short cut to a job. But the good ones can be very useful, and savvy job seekers use them as a starting point and research source as well as entry points into the formal corporate recruiting systems.
Thousands of Job Boards
And, of course, not "all created equal." Some are extremely useful, and some are a waste of your time. Many are completely legitimate, and some are scams run be people who have their own plans for your resume. Be careful! (check out Job-Hunt's Avoiding Job Scams column.)
The Employment Super Sites
We all know the names of the Employment Super Sites from Super Bowl ads, newspaper articles, and a decade of banners and other advertisements everywhere. Most of us have posted our resumes there at least once (whether we knew it or not) and searched through the opportunities a few times. Avoiding the super sites is probably a mistake, because of their visibility to employers. Avoiding them is also difficult since they have hundreds of “partner” sites - CareerBuilder currently claims over 1,100.
[For the really REALLY big sites, check out the "Job Aggregators" which include sites like Indeed.com, the largest aggregator, and SimplyHired.com. Aggregators collect jobs from thousands of sources, including the Super Sites, but not from Craigslist.].
The Niche Job Boards
Legitimate niche sites serve smaller specific constituencies: a location, profession, age group, industry, or interest. Very often these sites are associated with professional or industry associations or other pre-Internet face-to-face business groups.
Niche sites are popular with employers who can’t afford the costs associated with using the supersites and may want to minimize the expenses associated with relocating a new employee. They are also popular with recruiters who are looking for the kind of person who is associated with a specific professional association, industry, or interest group.
The job boards that professional and industry associations offer their members can be among the best niche sites you will find. (For more information, see: Where to Find Jobs: Assocation Web Sites.).
Criteria for Choosing Job Boards
We know about picking sites with the “fresh” jobs in the right industry/specialty and location, but the world has gotten more complex as more scams join the online job search mix.
- Know the site and the people or organization behind it. Bogus job sites DO exist – the motivation is not clear, but it is clear that they do NOT connect job seekers with legitimate jobs. Look for real contact information on the “about us” or “contact us” pages of the Website. Be very cautious of job sites which only have fill-in-the-blank forms on those pages or which are introduced through e-mail.
- A site which has been included in one of the job site directories (like Job-Hunt or the RileyGuide) should be OK, but inclusion is not a guarantee since a listed site can be sold to less ethical people between review cycles. Readfor more information.
- For curated niche job board lists, see Job-Hunt's Directory of Job Search Resources by Industry or Profession which includes several hundred job boards and Job-Hunt's Directory of Job Search Sites by State which includes several hundred more.
- Terms of use and privacy policies should give a sense of a site’s trustworthiness and ethics. Be cautious about sites sharing job seeker information with third parties, even if “opt-out” capability is provided by those third parties, and avoid sites that provide no information about privacy practices and terms of use. Yes, bogus sites often provide this information, so, by itself, this information does not promise safety and security, particularly if resumes are collected.
For 16 criteria to use for evaluating job boards, read Job-Hunt’s “Choosing a Job Board ” article. For tips on using job boards most safely and effectively, read Job-Hunt's "Using a Job Site" article.
Hub and niche sites are often the “sweet spots” in the job search process where job seekers find the best opportunities without all the noise and competition associated with the giant sites. Often professional and industry associations can be an excellent source of job postings that are not widely visible. See Job-Hunt's Directory of Professional and Industry Associations which also links to association job boards.
Just "be careful out there" as the Hill St. Blues sergeant used to say at the beginning of each new watch.
Next: Finding and Using Classified Ads for Your Job Search
© Copyright, 1998 - 2013, Susan P. Joyce. All rights reserved.
About the author...
Online job search expert Susan P. Joyce has been observing the online job search world and teaching online job search skills since 1995. A veteran of the United States Marine Corps, Susan is a two-time layoff “graduate” who has worked in human resources at Harvard University and in a compensation consulting firm. Since 1998, Susan has been editor and publisher of Job-Hunt.org. Follow Susan on Twitter at @jobhuntorg and on Google+.
