How to Successfully Leverage Job Boards in Resume Writing and Job Search Strategy
There’s no argument that searching for a job has changed tremendously over the past years. It’s still an ever-changing environment that can leave even the most “job-searching-savvy” amongst us scratching their heads in confusion about the best way to go about their job search.
The typical approach is to hit the Internet, find job postings online, click the “Apply Now” button, and wait for the phone to ring. But it’s not that easy! Job boards can be a waste of time and it’s easy to be lulled into a false (and fateful) sense of security that using them would make your job search quick and easy.
While we don’t recommend you spend a lot of time on job boards, there is a time and a place for using them. Let’s explore industry best practices.
Job Boards – Love Them or Hate Them?
Before we jump into how to best utilize job boards for job search and/or job research strategy, let’s see what our experts have to say about these online tools. While some career coaches and resume writers “hate” job boards, many can see the value in them, depending on their use.
Nay to Job Boards
- They have become the standard for job search although they are largely ineffective time wasters.
- It’s very passive and doesn’t often garner any results. Talk about a non-targeted job search!
- While job boards are commonly known for reaching thousands of employers and recruiters, often jobseekers’ applications get quickly skimmed over or lost in a portal as they are competing among thousands of jobseekers locally and abroad.
- Job postings on job boards may be outdated or already taken (via internal hiring process) even though they are still posted. Some jobs may not even exist.
- According to CareerXroads, a recruiting site, only 12% of all hires can be attributed to job boards; other studies place the figure even lower.
- You get better results when you focus on professional networking to find your next position.
Yay to Job Boards
- You can set alerts for jobs of interest as it cuts down on ‘trolling’ time.
- All-in-all, job boards are not a one-stop-shop, but when cleverly combined with networking, cold contacting, building a strong presence on LinkedIn, and other creative methods, they can help to open doors to your success.
- Some job boards aggregate jobs from the internet and allow you to set up searches where you receive an email each time a new job match appears.
- While job boards are a less modern form of applying to jobs; they at the least, put resumes in the applicant pool.
- Job boards can be a springboard but not the whole breadth of your job search strategy.
Like Them for Research
- Job boards can be a useful tool to research what companies are looking for in their prime candidates.
- Job boards can be utilized in the job search as not only a resourceful job application tool, but for researching, forecasting, and strategic planning.
- Job boards represent a great way for finding alternative titles and positions that match your skill, broadening what you know you qualify for (since some companies use very specific, niche, and unusual titles). Indeed.com (Indeed) does a very good job of finding similar opportunities and emailing those leads.
- The job board can be used as an aggregator. This helps to effectively keyword-optimized and tailor your resume.
As you can see, there is a wide range of opinions on how to best utilize job boards. Next week we will take a deeper dive into how to use these tools for research, resume writing strategy, and job search. Then we’ll go into recommended job boards and alternatives to online job hunting.
