Discover Over 10 Amazing Tips for Maximizing the Job Search Boards
Get The Most Out Of The Job Boards For a Better Job Search
I remember over 10 years ago the major player in the job board space was Monster.com. It was during one Superbowl in 2010 that they did a major advertising blitz and shortly became the leader in the marketplace. Today however, there are more players in the space and some of the leaders have changed.
It is my opinion that the ranking order of the major job boards based upon relevance, number of positions, accuracy, setup of your profile, ease of applying, receiving alerts and mobile interfaces, the following is my ranking from best to worst (US Only). Overseas, the rankings change, and others are more popular depending upon the specific country.
How Things Have Changed
It is my opinion that the ranking order of the major job boards based upon relevance, number of positions, accuracy, setup of your profile, ease of applying, receiving alerts and mobile interfaces, the following is my ranking from best to worst (US Only). Overseas, the rankings change, and others are more popular depending upon the specific country.
- Indeed
- Glassdoor
- Monster
- The Ladders
- CareerBuilder
- Dice – is a must if you are in the technology fields
- Zip Recruiter
- There also other niche boards and well as job board aggregators.
- Google's new job search functions pulls in all the openings from all the boards into one place
A company’s HR department usually relies on 1-2 job boards to post their openings on. Although, recruiters may have access to the resume databases of several. HOWEVER, as an applicant, you need to be registered on at least the top 5. This is because if some companies are only using 1 or 2 of these, you won’t see the openings if you are not registered on all of them. Registering on all of them enables you to cover the full spectrum of new job openings.
Tools To Use When Looking For a Job
1) Setting up a LinkedIn Profile
2) Registering on the 5 major job boards. These Boards Serve Several Purposes:
- Be Found by hiring managers and recruiters.
- Applicants Can Search for positions by titles, locations or multiple locations (outbound).
- You Can Setup Alerts to openings, so you are notified as they become active. These are sent to your email inbox daily.
- All Job Boards have Phone apps (except for the Ladders), so you can not only receive alerts on your mobile devices, you can also apply from your phone
- When you Register on each of these boards, you can either upload a resume and cover letter or complete a profile. This resume is stored on each individual board and when an alert comes in from a specific board, you can apply using the resume in your profile.
Number of Applicants – As a hiring manager at several large companies, I might receive 100 resumes for an open position. Some of the job boards let you view how many people have already applied.
Let’s Say for Example that it shows that 100 people have applied. You may think, wow, 100 people already applied. I don’t stand a chance. I understand why you may think that way, but your logic would be wrong. Let’s go back to the example of me as a hiring manager. On all the positions that I have posted, and all the applications I have received, out of 100 resumes received, on average only 5 make the first cut. Yes – 5. If You Are a Qualified Applicant, you are only competing against 5 applicants. Most of the applicants are not qualified and shouldn’t have applied in the first place. They just sent a resume for any open position regardless of if they are qualified or not.
Company Websites – Almost all companies today have a Career’s page on their website, listing all the current job openings. So instead of just using the job boards to see which positions are open, you can go to a specific company’s website and apply. So, if you know you really want to work at 1 to 10 different companies, visit the website of these companies and apply directly. At some of the larger organizations, you will probably have to create a profile (which may be time consuming). However, you can then use this profile to apply for other positions as well as new positions that open, without having to register again. In addition, you can also set up alerts, so you are directly notified of new openings instead of having to go back to each website to view the new items that are posted.
Setting Up Job Opening Alerts
Each of the major job boards provide you the ability to set up notification alerts when a new position is posted based upon specific job titles, keywords, locations, industries and more. Some only provide the ability to set up 5 while others allow you over 10.
How To Search While Using the Job Boards
The first step is to determine the titles of the positions you are interested in. For example: Mechanical Engineer, Marketing Manager, Vice President of Human Resources, Chief Operations Officer, Director of Sales. This method of creating alerts is very targeted/specific. If you are living in a major metropolitan are like New York City, Chicago, Atlanta, Boston, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington DC, it is best to be very specific in your titles for the alerts. If you are not living in a major market, it is best to be more general. For example, Let’s say I am interested in finding Vice President of Human Resources positions in Augusta, GA. There will probably not be many positions listed.
So, I might just search on Human Resources in Augusta. This will return every position with “human resources in it (Vice President, VP, Director, Manager, Supervisor, HR, CHRO, Chief Human Resources Officer, etc.) Many positions may not be relevant to your search, but you will pick up all the openings with one saved search instead of creating 10 separate alerts. You can also affect the number of positions appearing in your alerts by setting geographic parameters – usually from 10 miles to 100 miles. The titles for some of the positions may say “human resources” will others might say HR. Some might say “Vice President” while others might say VP. That is why you must create alerts or search the openings using all the variations.
What Timeframes Should I Look At?
You can also further narrow down or expand your results by setting up additional alerts based upon parameters for how long the positions have been open. (ex: New, 1 Week, 2 weeks, 1 month, longer). When you first create an alert, I would recommend setting your filters at 30-days, so you can see all the openings in the past month. After you have reviewed these openings, you can then reset your filter to two weeks, then 1 week, then daily. It is very important to understand that every day is a new day in the job search world. New openings are posted every single day, which is why you must review your alerts at least 1X per day. Or even 2x per day. Once in the morning and once in the evening. This way you can view and apply to brand new positions as they appear for the first time.
Don't Expect To Get Responses
Do not expect and do not be surprised if you do not receive a response to the majority of the applications you complete. You will probably receive confirmation that it was received, but that means physically received, not necessarily reviewed. Do not take it personally. The hiring manager or recruiter may get over 100 resumes for each position posted so they just don’t have the time to respond to each application. They will reach out if there is an interest.