When it comes time to find new hires, a job board can be a wealth of recruits. But what starts out as a seemingly successful venture quickly turns into a confusing, stale group of old resumes that haven’t been looked at in over a year. You spend money sending out invitations to interview only to find out these individuals haven’t looked at their accounts in far too long, and your invites fall upon deaf ears. Still, job boards can be successful for recruiting – if done right.
If you’ve been researching recruits on job boards and stuck in what seems like a dark abyss, you’re not alone. But, don’t give up yet!
Tips on How to Successfully Recruit Using Job Boards
1. Use filters appropriately
One of the problems with job boards is that there are so many recruits. People who apply to your job can do so without any problem, even if they’re not qualified. Thus it is important to use the correct filters. To make sure you aren’t getting resumes that aren’t applicable or qualified for your job, you need to be sure you use filters appropriately. Make sure you have enough filtering questions on your job application so you’re only getting qualified applicants. Some of these questions can be:
- How many years of experience in the JOB INDUSTRY do you have?
- What’s the highest level of education you have attained?
- How familiar are you with XYZ?
Once you have a few of these questions in place, you’ll narrow your applicant pool significantly. But, if you’ve forgotten to add filtering questions before you made your job ad, you can still use filters when glancing through resumes. Many job boards have filters by education, job experience level, and so forth. You should always use these to your advantage.
2. Have a good job ad
Your job ad copy is extremely important. If you just paste a couple pages of text like the job description, it’s not going to catch a lot of attention. Not only is it boring, but job descriptions can often be confusing and hard to understand. Instead of posting the internal job description that you were given, come up with a shorter, eye-catching copy that people will actually read. You can use this as an opportunity to also give some information about your company. If you’re a modern company built for millennials, use that to your advantage and put it in the copy. If you offer certain benefits other companies don’t offer, use that to your advantage as well. Remember, these people are looking for a job, but they don’t want to work with a company they aren’t excited about. This is truly an ad for your company, and you should treat it as such.
3. Use the right platform
Not all job boards are created equally. All job boards will claim that they’re number one, but that’s not true. Some job boards are better for certain industries, like sales and technology. Do your own research to see which platform is right for you. We recommend looking at the number of each search result for similar jobs in your industry. Then, do some research to see what conversion rates everyone has had from recruiting on that site. This information is easily available on Google, and it will help you out in the long run.
4. Try more than one platform
It’s also important to post the job ad on more than one platform. If you’re only relying on one of the platforms, you won’t get as many candidates. This is detrimental because many of the job applicants won’t be ones you’re going to contact and want to hire. The rate of applicants turning into those that you hire from job boards is fairly low, so keep that in mind. The more you can diversify, the better.
Related: The Best Job Search Sites
5. Use keywords in your copy
Just like on Google, job boards use keywords to help rank the different jobs. Spend some time researching what it is people are searching for within your industry. This may be things like, “SEO content manager” or “sales recruiter.” Whatever is most popular will help you rank on the first few pages of the job board. This is important because most people don’t continue looking after the first few pages. Use these popular keywords throughout your job copy so that the boards know how to rank your job listing.
6. Spend your money wisely
Many companies go for the cheapest option when posting on job recruitment boards. However, that’s not recommended. Instead, spend your money wisely. Look at the different purchasing options to find what will help you get the most people applying to your job. Usually, it’s recommended to go with the option of a branded company account rather than buying credits or doing a per-applicant spend. If you can afford it, spend the money on a featured listing because this can get anywhere from four to ten times the normal amount of applicants as a non-paid listing. Some job boards will also show your job on third-party websites, which allows other users outside of the job board to see the listing. This is the best route to go if you want the most qualified applicants for the job.
7. Don’t leave your job posting unattended
To really get the best benefit out of your job board listing, you need to keep your post updated constantly. Don’t list your job and then wait until the listing expires before you check out potential candidates. This is something you should check out on a weekly, if not daily, basis. If you only get a few resumes the first couple of days, then you may need to reevaluate your posting. It could be that it’s lacking the proper keywords or that you need to pay for it to be featured. If you’re getting many candidates and finding not all of them are qualified, you may need to redo your filters and listing to be more selective. You only know this if you keep your listing updated, so be sure to check it often.
8. Be realistic
Job boards probably won’t get you a hire for every position that you post. Oftentimes, it takes a few postings and some patience before you find a reputable hire. Depending on the industry you work with, you may not find someone for quite a bit of time. It takes longer to hire for a position that requires more experience in a niche field. It may take longer than four weeks to find the perfect person to come and work for you. Thankfully, there are still things you can do. When you haven’t hired someone within four weeks and you paid for featured ads, you can talk to your job recruiter or account manager. Sometimes, they can extend your listing for free based on certain contractual agreements. In the end, it pays to be realistic. While job boards can be really beneficial, they aren’t the ultimate problem solver to all hiring issues.
9. Contact applicants before your expiration
For the best results, make sure you contact applicants before your job listing expires. You may think you have a really good group of recruits, but by the time you interview them, they may not be the best fit for the job. Instead, contact applicants throughout the entire process. You should be interviewing while the job posting is still up so you can decide whether or not you need to find more candidates or whether you may need to change something on the listing based on an applicant’s interview answers.
10. Talk to your account manager
If you’re posting on a job board, you should have an account manager. These people are there to help you hire the best candidates possible for your job. If you aren’t happy with how your job listing is performing, talk to them. They may have tips for changing your job listing, or they may extend the amount of time you have for your listing to be up. Regardless of your needs, it’s important to foster a good relationship with your account manager to get the best results.
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Pros and Cons of Job Boards
There are plenty of pros and cons of job boards. If you’re wondering whether job board recruitment is for you, here are the pros and cons of using a job board.
Pros of job boards
- You get a wide variety of candidates in a short amount of time
- You can see a more diverse pool than just local candidates, which is helpful for remote positions
- You can screen candidates by their education and experience levels, saving you time
- Many people use them because of the ease of uploading your resume
- It’s fairly affordable to use
Cons of job boards
- They may take longer than a couple of weeks
- If you don’t utilize keywords, you have a hard time ranking your job listing
- You may need to pay for featured listings to find better applicants
Should you recruit using job boards? The simple answer is yes. As long as you follow our tips and create an eye-catching job listing, you’ll have success in finding plenty of candidates for your open position.
Recruit More Effectively With Help From a Staffing Agency
Do you have a few vacant positions that you can’t seem to fill? Need assistance in reducing your time to hire? Don’t worry, we are here to help! Our team of headhunters and recruiters have vast experience filling niche positions quickly! Over the years, we have built an extensive talent pipeline of both active and passive candidates that we will tap into.
When recruiting, we take your company culture into serious consideration when screening top talent for your open positions.
Learn more about the services we offer by scheduling your free consultation.
