You have a vacancy and you need it filling, not only quickly, but with the right person. Where do you start? With all the job boards available, how do you know which the best job sites for you are, or which job board the candidates you are looking for are most likely to be registered on?
We’ve created the best job sites 101 on what we believe to be the best job boards available. Not by number of candidates registered, or by new cv’s added, or even by applications. We’ve been in the recruitment game for over 20 years – a long time before most of the job boards were even thought about – and we know what job boards candidates like to use and why. We want to share our expertise with you.
However, before you start looking at which job boards to use, you need to write an advert that actually generates results. Check out our blog for 8 Helpful Hints For Writing A Successful Job Advert.
Here’s our Top 10 Best Job Sites
Still a fairly new player to the market, we’ve chosen Indeed as our number one due to it’s ease for candidates seeking alternative employment. Rather than look at all of the available job sites, as a job seeker, Indeed acts as an aggregator of most of the jobs available in the public domain. It’s not the nicest looking website, but it’s simplicity can’t be beaten. However, there is a downside to the site and that is mainly that not all job boards have agreed to allow Indeed to re-market their positions, so if you choose one of those boards, then your advert will not appear on LinkedIn.
Easy to use and nicely laid out for job seekers. totaljobs allows many search options via job, location or even company. If your employer brand is strong then you may find that this is the best job board for you. There are some great options for CV templates which are a better format than Indeed, interview advice and lots more. They have also recently added courses to their suite of products with the option of certifications like AAT and CIPD but there are also a wealth of free courses available for those keen to impress.
Jobsite has a bit of an Instawall feel about it since it’s re-design and this we are sure will appeal to millennials as the format will be familiar. Whilst it’s crisp, clean and user friendly, the search option only gives location and job title initially, so the initial search results may appear to be unsuitable. However, like Monster, you can refine the search further once the initial results have been delivered.
Reed have put a lot of resource into their marketing and their strapline “Love Mondays” helped create a step change in numbers. They were the first job board directly connected to an agency and initially there were some reservations from both companies and candidates to use the service. This quickly changed and the board got real traction to become a market leader. However, feedback from our candidates has been that they are using Reed less than they did 2 years ago.
One of the first job sites in the UK, CV Library has been around for 18 years, checking in as the third largest job site. They have been a market leader and as a result, hold the largest database of CV’s in the UK. The site isn’t as visually appealing as the other job boards, but it is rather thorough in its initial search questions, which lots of the candidates we speak to like.
CWJobs is a technical specialist job board and is a great place to advertise IT or Digital roles. If you have a role within this specialism, then this may well be one of the best job sites for you. Tech specialists like to search on CWJobs due to the relevance of the roles.
Monster have recently rebranded and have increased their exposure with marketing campaigns in the national press and in TV ads. However, based on the other job boards, the number of searches for Monster.co.uk are 100 times less at just over 3,500 per month. For a comparison, Jobsite gets 165,000. The search functionality is simple with just a location and job title, but if you dig a bit deeper into the advanced search, then candidates can narrow down the search with salary, industry etc.
With the rise of the importance of employer branding, Glassdoor is really growing in popularity as one of the best job sites. Candidates love the option to be able to see reviews without having to search using another source. There is a risk factor here though! If you have a strong employer brand and some great reviews on Glassdoor, then great. If you don’t have a presence and you have poor reviews that have not been responded to, then this will not be your best option.
The professional networking tool, traditionally, LinkedIn was more a tool utilised by recruiters than by job seekers initially. With the addition of the specialised job area and the option to see and link with employees within the companies is a tool rated as very insightful by our candidates. We’ve spoken in previous blogs about culture fit being a key factor of attraction and retention and LinkedIn is a great way to showcase your culture and employees.
We are cheating a little by adding Facebook, as they are not officially a job board for the UK….. yet. These are definitely one to watch with the launch of their eagerly anticipated recruitment tool in the US happening at the end of last year. We are sure to see this in the UK soon and no doubt it will make our Top 10 Best Job Sites next year. In the meantime you can still use Facebook to help with your recruiting.
We’ve covered the top 10, but the best advice we can give is to advertise across as many job boards as possible to get the biggest possible reach for your advert. An expensive option if done independently, but with JobHoller you can do this for as little as £195 + VAT ! Call or email to find out more – 01244 567 967 / [email protected]
