Gone are the days of classified ads. When you need to hire a new employee, the process will happen almost exclusively online. Job posting sites have proliferated over the last two decades, making it easier than ever to reach a wider applicant pool than ever before. With so many options, however, it can be daunting to decide which ones will yield the best results.
As you might expect, not all job sites are created equal. Some reach a wider audience, while others might have a deeper reach in niche markets. With a little research, you can find the ideal site (or sites) to post your open job and find the most qualified candidates. Below is a breakdown of some of today’s most popular job posting sites, along with the data you’ll need to make the best decision for your company.
Monthly visitors: 30 million
How it works: ZipRecruiter is an online job board and also a job distributor, allowing hiring managers to create a single job listing and post it to over 100 sites with one click. Hiring managers can then use their ZipRecruiter dashboard to manage their candidate pool. Fees vary based on the plan you choose, but ZipRecruiter offers a free trial period.
Pros: With wide reach across multiple sites, you’ll have easy access to a large pool of candidates, whom you can rate through the dashboard.
Cons: Because ZipRecruiter uses keyword match to connect you with applicants, you may need to do considerable weeding out of those who don’t meet your qualifications.
Monthly visitors: 700 million
How it works: Indeed is the world’s largest job site, with over 200 million resumes. It’s free for employers to post jobs, but you’ll get far more visibility for your listing if you put money behind it (Indeed calls this a “sponsored” job post). Sponsored jobs start at $5 per day or $150 per month. With a daily budget, you’ll pay whenever a job seeker views your post, but with a monthly budget, you’re only charged when they hit “apply.”
Pros: You can add pre-screening questions to help filter out candidates who don’t possess the right qualifications. The interface is extremely user-friendly, and the applicant pool is potentially huge.
Cons: Even with pre-screening tools, the large number of applicants you’re likely to get can be challenging to sift through. Any jobs posted without sponsorship are unlikely to generate traction.
Monthly visitors: 11 million
How it works: Handshake is an app rather than a traditional job site. It bills itself as an “early talent network,” meaning that it’s primarily focused on recruiting recent graduates or those still in school. While Handshake offers unlimited free job postings and virtual job fairs for employers, you’ll incur costs if you want access to job posting analytics and other premium features.
Pros: Because Handshake is focused on a particular demographic, you’ll get access to young talent eager to learn and build a career.
Cons: It’s not ideal for hiring experienced workers, so it may not meet your company’s needs. As with many job sites, free postings may not yield much insight into your applicant pool.
Monthly visitors: 1.6 billion
How it works: LinkedIn is the world’s premier professional networking site. Employers can post a limited number of free jobs, but as with other sites, sponsoring your job post means greater visibility and more applicants. LinkedIn offers employers a pay-per-click model, with options for daily or lifetime budgets.
Pros: Because it is essentially a social media site rather than an online job board, LinkedIn offers rich access to user-generated data, which employers can use to target their job listings.
Cons: Even though LinkedIn has a massive user base, it serves many other functions besides being a job site. Thus, its users may not be as engaged with job listings as those using more traditional job sites.
About Wood Staffing
If you need assistance in recruiting the most qualified candidates, Wood Staffing is here to help. Contact us anytime and we’ll put our expertise to work for you.