I’m so intrigued by the discussions around job boards. As many of you know, I am an advocate of social recruiting, networking, job boards, job aggregators, want ads, billboards, sandwich boards, and any other platform that will help you get a job.
Some job boards are more effective than others, and I wonder:
- Does anyone have a story about getting a really great job from a job board?
- When you use a job board to post your resume and search for jobs, are you satisfied by the technology?
- Are you pleased with the opportunities you find?
What do you think? Do you see value a job seeker? How about as a Human Resources professional?
{ 24 comments… read them below or add one }
Hey Laurie; I’d say its like any other tool – if all you have is a hammer every problem looks like a nail. Personally, having been in the recruiting space for 20 years, my take is that incoming recruiters today are too reliant on the hammer of a job board. Sometimes to find the right talent, you have to use a screwdriver, ratchet or, heaven help us, a vise grip! (Sorry about the tool analogies – I’m a guy; I ‘get’ tools!) Bye for now!
Only one of my jobs ever came straight off a job board. The manager of a company I worked for in Dallas was looking at resumes on Monster and found me directly through them. But that’s once in ten years of working, moving halfway across country, and back, and back again.
I think that’s one reason I’ve almost given up on major job boards, and taken this side route in my career for now. Especially in a city like Houston, it seems pointless. Plus, those boards are so crowded with advertisements for online universities, Army recruiters, and pay to work at home schemes, it’s maddening and mind-numbing to sort through it all. You’re not supposed to sit there at boards all day, but it takes a lot of time to dig through duplicates and crap.
I am with Christopher on the “tools” analogy and this goes for job seekers and recruiters.
I hear job seekers say they hopped online, did not see anything worth replying to and are done for the day.
18 months ago recruiters did the post and pray.
Two analogies I use. The first is with tools. You need more than a hammer and nails to be a roofer.
The other is about fishing. Why go to the same spot everyone else is at all day long? Stop by yes but why not fish near the docks, weed line, rock pile, etc.
Depending on my mood (read that as frustration level) I swing from people are lazy to they do not know better.
The only time I ever found a job board useful was when I used the university career center board back when I was in college. There were not a whole lot of people posting on it, it was limited to the small number of students I went to school with and it was mainly companies looking for summer interns – which was exactly what I wanted.
As for the rest of the job boards…don’t get me started. They’re so overwhelming and overcrowded, mostly with spam – it’s mindnumbingly dull to go through it page by page, like Kelly said. If I were looking for a job, I’d be much more likely to use something like JobFox if I were interested in anything resembling a job board because it takes into account who I am and what I’m looking for instead of just throwing the most recent jobs onto a page.
From the HR prof side, we never get good candidates from the ads we post to the boards. Even though the investment to post is pretty small to begin with, the ROI was even smaller – it’s just not worth it for us anymore.
This is really interesting to think about. I have been on the hunt for a job for almost three full months now and I feel like I’m looking everywhere, and nowhere at the same time. I apply for job after job and still hear nothing-not even a “no, thank you.” Job boards like Careerbuilder and Monster are easy, but you’re right — they are just pushing the online stuff that’s pointless.
If job boards don’t work, then my question is: What DOES work?
I’m really curious considering I need a job… Yesterday.
Haven’t had much value for posting to job sites in about three years. Have found good candidates in “passive search” mode by doing keyword searches of the job board resume databases. Usually find the best candidates have anonymized (sic?) themselves and are currently employed. When we’ve run ads in the last year or two we get overwhelmed with resumes and they’re rarely qualified for the job to which they are applying.
I found my current job through a board, but it was a headhunter’s ad.
I only have one job board success story.
I posted my resume to Monster and Career Builder when I decided to leave the agency I’d been with for more than five years. The shop that came after me employed a couple of in-house recruiters, and one of them saw my resume. She was familiar with my work, though, so the job board didn’t really do more than let her know I was on the market.
Which is valuable, of course, but I don’t think of that situation as finding a job via Monster. It was more about networking, but with a Monster boost.
And that was five years ago. With things the way they are now, I can’t even imagine what the level of sheer noise must be on the job boards. I really can’t imagine they have much value at this point.
I found my current job via a major job board and my job rocks (I’ve been spending too much time talking to Ben Eubanks).
My company uses Career Builder and Monster until the pool dwindles down and then they start looking elsewhere for candidates. I have noticed over the past few months the quality of candidates I’m getting from the job boards has diminished. I’ve been using JobShouts.com and plugging open jobs at networking events. I’ve gotten several referrals that way. Comparing Monster and CB from a user standpoint, I like CB better, seems easier to use. I still look, just to see what’s out there, but between the duplicate job postings, work from home ads, spam and Army postings I can see how someone might get discouraged if they’re only using those two to look for a job.
Job boards have offer diminishing returns. The more entry level the position, the greater probability of success. Sadly the technology for candidates is still awkward and less than perfect, Monsters much heralded upgrade was a bigger dud than the Michael Richards show.
Also, @Molly Buckley, dude your an improviser, get out and get into sales, use your talent. I’m a Second City dude, and “yes, and”, listenening, and even the long form thought process of a Harold have helped me sell and be successful.
I also found my current job via the big CareerBuilder… and it’s a great job. But it wasn’t the only thing that got me the job.. but it pointed me to where the opportunity was. I think that if they can control the spam, and if recruiters would be a little more transparent about the listing, (for my job, the actual recruiter’s name was listed with a phone number and email addy, not infojob@somewhere.com) then the boards would be a lot better resource for your average candidate. Sometimes negotiating through all of the bullshit on the job boards can become very hard for the average candidate.
Found my current job through Craigslist. I have job alerts set up with my local newspaper, several job boards big and small, and several local employers. I get about 10 job openings in my email daily usually only about 2-3 a week are worth applying for. I also manually check the websites of several organizations. Up until last spring I got at least one call a month, and an interview every three months. Not anymore. I can’t believe how difficult it is out there. I am fortunate to have a job.
What I AM seeing is an uptick in the number of open positions. Although this won’t be permanent as I personally feel the economy is going to tank again this fall, as bad or worse than last fall.
The majority of the jobs that I’ve had, I’ve gotten through job boards or (this shows my age, I’m guessing), newspaper classifieds. My roles have mostly been customer service/administrative, so maybe that is a factor. In the cases of the job boards, it was a combination of people seeing my resume and calling me, as well as my applying to jobs posted.
Most responses I ever received was from posting my resume on Craigslist.
Nowadays, the company that I’m at does a fair amount of postings (but due to our industry, I’m guessing it’s more necessary because of the niche and really specific requirements of the jobs) and searches on the job boards. But we also have a pipeline of great candidates that we call on time and time again, because they’ve proven themselves in the past.
My last 3 jobs came off of job boards – 2 from craigslist, 1 from dice. Of my last potential jobs, they came from craigslist, dice, and networking.
I think there IS value in job boards, but that depends a great deal on your profession, your region, and your goals. Job boards served me well when relocating (because I could target areas) and in a region that had openings fitting my skills and industries.
That being said, I think there are moves away from job boards – one often gets overwhelming input from them, networking DOES work better (unless you’ve got a SERIOUS system worked out for using boards – proper letters, formatting, spec’ed resumes, etc). The “laundry list” syndrome on job boards has gotten ridiculous, with posts being made that are unlikely to be filled to the letter.
As for HR, job boards must be kept in mind as they’re A) still there, B) easy to use. But I think their role is changing to meet specialized regional OR professional markets.
I haven’t bothered with the “major” job boards for my current job search. I tried them out for my previous few job searches and was really disappointed. It was a hotbed for spammers and other less than legitimate job offers. What few legitimate jobs I did see, were entry level and not at all what I was looking for. By the way, the search functions seem to be crafted by the most evil minds in history.
Right now I am using job boards from professional associations. I am getting better luck finding positions I am interested in. I am also a bit more likely to hear something from the employer; usually an automated “thanks for applying.”
Hi-
My First post to a Blog- I am newly “seeking” and everyone keeps telling me my odds on the boards are 4 % so I am also very intrigued by the comments- thanks for taking up the topic!
My wife and I got our last jobs from indeed.com. I saw a “badge” on someone’s blog from indeed that always showed marketing jobs in my city. It was a marketing blog but located in another state so that explained half of it. I guess that the indeed “badge” could tell where I lived. I thought it was pretty cool and I like the name “indeed” because that’s what Omar from the Wire says. Only thing that would be better is youfeelme.com.
@Christopher I think you’re so right. It’s a tool — and if I had a hammer, I’d hammer in the morning, I’d hammer in the evening, and I adore your contributions, by the way. Glad you read PRHR.
@KellyO I keep a profile up on many of the job sites just to go in & check them out from time to time — and those ads are a dual-edge sword. They defray the costs so that employers can post jobs at a cheaper rate, but they’re so intrusive. NO I’M NOT GOING BACK TO UNIVERSITY OF PHOENIX.
@Paul I like the fishing analogy and I think people are misinformed *and* misunderstand the hiring process. It’s the reason why I would receive 50 calls/day from job seekers when I worked in HR but no one asked me to connect on LinkedIn. They just don’t know what to do with all of these tools.
@Mike What about niche sites? Do you use those?
@Molly Dude, are we connected on LinkedIn? Send me your resume and let me see if I know anyone who is hiring in the area. WORK YOUR NETWORK. It starts with me.
@Scott I know that most people will apply to anything online just for the sheer fact that they NEED jobs. So you’re right — passively looking for candidates often works best. Also, I’ve never found a job on a job board.
@Elise I think people have similar stories to yours. Job boards are good at figuring out which companies are hiring — and then you work your network to get your resume on the desk of the hiring manager.
@adowling I love how you’re spending time with Ben, and I’ve never used JobShouts.com and I will check it out!
@Puf The Michael Richards Show? The kids might need an explainer. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Michael_Richards_Show
@Teresa You have to be determined and focused to weed through the noise on those boards!
@DavidT Two things: I never use Craigslist but lots of people swear by it — and you are depressing me about the economy. Shush!
@Meredith Elaine I love that you brought up the talent pipeline. Why don’t more companies recruit from within, keep tabs on the great employees who leave, and work on warming up candidates from other companies?
@Steven I’ve never used DICE. Never. That’s kind of weird because I am pretty sure that DICE has given me more swag than any other company.
@George I think niche and professional job boards are more appropriate for your background. I’d also think that universities might be a good fit for you.
@Debbie Thanks!
@Deadhedge OMG, Indeed knows everything. (Also, I have a good friend who found a great job from that site so it’s worth checking out.)
I am using the major job boards, linkedin and other sites but still continue to get the “thanks, but no” emails. I am from an area that mostly depends on the aircraft industry, and with the three major ones laying off and another not even hiring, well the market has gone dry for jobs. I am looking for all over the U.S., and not living in the cities I have been applying to has been my downfall. I’m trying to network via linkedin, but I feel that it would be better to be face to face. Unfortunately, I cannot be in all cities all the time. I am ready to get back to work!!!!
I get CareerBuilder and Monster job alerts just for the fun of it (whaaaa?). I guess I was researching this same topic without really realizing it. I’ve learned many things in the 4 years I’ve been doing this. 1- CB beats Monster, hands down. Monster, die already. (No, I don’t work for CB). 2- Certain companies recruit for the same HR position about 3-4 times a year. Tells me they must have a horrible culture or interviewing process, so I keep away. aka “Toxic Orgs” I doubt the repeat reqs are due to “growth” in these troubling times. 3- It gives me a feel for what the economy is doing in general and what HR skills are “hot” at the mo’. Certification preferences are on the rise, but that’s probably not news to you informed folks. HR in manufacturing is wayyy up, professional services is wayyy down – and what happened to the jobs in HR in health & hospitals, like HR Magazine promised a couple years ago? You were dead wrong, SHRM! Must be all the red wine that Babyboomers are drinking.
Here are just two facts:
1. Revenues of online job boards are falling
2. Social networks are (still!) gaining popularity
There are more people spending more time on Social networks than on (good) old job boards. Social networking is interactive and more fun!
Ivan
http://www.jobsblog.ie/Jobs/social-networks-vs-online-job-boards/519
Traditional job boards…I used them right after college (the big ones, you know which spam-tastic sites I’m referring to) and got nothing but, you guessed it…spam. The only thing that landed me a job was face-time with contacts. With the crazy twitter/facebook/linkedin love going around, why not use those rich media tactics to your best advantage? Use video and samples of work and resumes to represent yourself in the best possible way…oh my! Of course there are youtube, vimeo, facebook…but wrap up the best things about those with real employers using the site at the same time, and you get CareerDaisy. http://www.careerdaisy.com/ Brand spanking new, not even launched yet, but I know I’m staying tuned and plan to take full advantage of it when it’s ready.
@Angie We are ready for you to get back to work. I heard temp agencies have an uptick, right now.
@Jody Baby boomers love their flat merlot, don’t they?
@Ivan The personal ROI for most people hasn’t been found on social networking sites, either. It takes time for any new medium to be successful. I don’t want to oversell social networking — even though I totally believe in it.
@JD Dude, nice pitch. Email me and tell me more about Career Daisy.
Sometimes the job board is there to be used as one sees fit. Use it well, and you may find the job you want. Use it poorly and you won’t. It’s kind of like school – pay attention in class, take notes, study hard and you’ll learn and derive value from the school. Sleep late, drink too much, cram for exams the night before in order to pass exams and then forget everything you crammed for later that day and the experience was definitely much less valuable. In general, however, we’re seeing a big shift toward targeted job boards (or “vertical” or “niche” boards). Increasingly, I’m seeing instances where small job boards with relatively few job postings (relative to Monster.com, for instance) are those that are driving more job-seeker success. Combine that with social media (or even social job boards – which are a new twist on the paradigm shift), and that’s where the value lies.
I’m in the “tool” camp. I started http://www.gojobs.com back in 1996.
A lot has changed with the recruiting technology, but the most important factor that has changed has been the “burden” of the application process has shifted to the employer, away from the job seeker. Job Seekers are sending in 100′s of resume to “throw their name in the hat”. It’s a terribly ineffective and inneficient job search strategy.
The old job search strategy required the job seeker to print and mail resumes on linen paper, etc.
Then, because of the time and expense, job seekers only applied to 5-10 jobs. Now, just because they can, they apply to 100s.
Job seekers need to know that job boards should only be used as a research tool to find openings. Then, they need to find referrals or network with people in the company to see if it’s a place they want to work. If yes, ask for a referral. If not, move on.
Just blasting 1,000 emails with your resume isn’t a job search. Chances are if you did get hired through this method, you probably know little about the company and job, and just took the first and only offer… you’ll probably be looking again in a couple of months.