Job Boards Vs Job Search Engines online

With the advent of technology, many businesses and services have transformed and moved to the internet. The recruitment industry has also grown to a massive size in the last few years and today it far outpaces physical recruitment agencies. Online job boards and job search engines have brought job applications and job posts to the fingertips of people and anyone from anywhere can apply to jobs all over the globe today. Silkroad reports that in 2016, job boards and job search engines were the most commonly used hiring sources. While both of these are aimed at scouring for jobs for the modern job seeker, some prime differences are overlooked.

 

Job Boards

A job board is essentially a website where employers of one or more companies, post job vacancies, a digital alternative of the “Staff Wanted” sign. A job seeker searches through the job board for one that matches his qualifications then applies to any one of them. 

The job board acts as a mediator between the two groups- employers pay to post their jobs, and search for the right fit for their company; job seekers create a profile and post their resumes so they could be easily searched by prospective employers. 

There are two types of job boards:

  • General Job Boards:

    A General Job Board focuses on a broader range of industries. Monster, one of the largest job board focuses on industries ranging from IT to airlines. CareerBuilder focuses on people who just graduated from college. These were the two earliest job boards in the United States and helped make the whole concept mainstream. 

  • Niche Job Boards:

    These focus on a particular industry. For example, Dice specializes in tech jobs, TalentZoo covers advertising and marketing, Culintro specializes in the food and beverage industry.

 

Job Search Engine

A Job Search Engine or a Job Aggregator searches the web and finds job listings from job boards and company websites. While most charge employers to post job vacancies, others like Indeed let them do it for free only if they post the vacancy on their site and nowhere else. Job seekers, however, post their resumes online for free. 

 

There are three types of job search engines:

  • General Job Search Engine:

    It aggregates jobs for a broad range of industries, usually in one market or country. ZipRecruiter caters to the U.S. market. 

  • Niche Job Search Engine:

    It aggregates jobs for specific markets or industries. LawCrossing.com caters to the legal sector. 

  • Global Job Search Engine:

    It is a broad network that aggregates jobs for various markets strewn across many countries. Indeed is considered to be a Global Job Search Engine by many due to its presence in over 60 countries. It allows you to search for jobs across specialties and markets.

There are some employment websites that neither fit into the category of a job board nor of a job search engine. One example of such a site is LinkedIn– a confluence of both in certain regards. While it was built to be a networking site for professionals, it is common to find employers posting job vacancies on their LinkedIn company page. Glassdoor, meant to be an employer review site has evolved into a job posting website. An employer with good reviews garners many interested candidates. 

 

Job Boards vs. Job Search Engine

The clear demarcation between a job board and a job search engine is created by the fact that while a job board only shows postings of companies that came to them, a job search engine actively searches through thousands of listings to bring the ones that you wanted using an algorithm. 

However, the real differences are hidden in the way both operate. 

 

  • Pricing models

 

The pricing structure varies greatly between a job board and a job aggregator. The former sells job postings individually while the latter offers a job advertising model. While choosing a job site, you must be aware of the length of the contract. While some sites charge a fee for a job posting which then remains active for a set timeframe, others run on the “pay per click” model. You would have to pay for each candidate clicking on your post even if they do not apply, and it can run from anywhere between $0.10 to $5 per click. Thus, it depends on your choice- with a job board you enter into a contract for a specified period while with a job search engine.  

 

  • Job Search Optimization 

 

The search engines of both job boards and job aggregators function differently. A job aggregator uses bots to find new jobs across various websites and job boards and hence, show more results. Their search engine goes through everything- a job posting’s title, posting date, location and more. However, a job board looks only for job titles and location and brings up comparatively fewer results. So, if you are a candidate you may find the job search engine to be more suitable for your needs. 

 

  • Market competition 

 

Generally, a job aggregator brings in more prospective employees to the company as it shows more results as discussed above. However, visibility does not correspond to talent and more often than not, unqualified candidates show up for the job interviews. However, this does not happen with a job board and they focus on niche professions to bring in qualified people. 

Conclusion-

It is worth noting that job boards bring in fewer hires but in this age of intense competition, why leave an opportunity? When seeking jobs it would be wise to use both a job board and a job search engine because that would ensure maximum outreach.

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