What is a Job Site and When Would an Employer Use Them?

What is a Job Site?

You’ll probably be familiar with online job sites (aka job boards). These sites allow employers to advertise vacancies and receive direct applications from active jobseekers. At the same time, almost every applicant’s CV is automatically added to a CV database that employers and recruitment agencies can search through at an additional charge.

Jobseekers are very active on job sites – more than 90% of jobseekers will look at a job site before anywhere else – and that’s why you should use them.

There are thousands of job sites in the UK, let alone the world. Some are generalists, advertising in a wide range of sectors and locations. Others are specialists in a particular industry sector or location.

If you’re in doubt about the importance of job sites, consider this: even well-known traditional recruitment agencies are closing their prominent High Street offices because they get most of their applicants from job sites.

The main downside is that job sites can generate a high volume of low-quality applicants, and this problem is becoming more acute with jobseekers using artificial intelligence to generate applications! Fortunately, I have lots of advice to help quickly shortlist applicants.

Another problem is that job sites are highly competitive. An employer’s advert may get lost among competing job listings. Therefore, you need to use tactics to optimise your advert so it is seen by more jobseekers.

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Which Businesses Should Use a Job Site?

Employers of almost every size, industry, and location have successfully advertised on job sites.

Because job sites are relatively cost-effective, they are a particularly good solution for smaller businesses that don’t have strong cash flow. But companies at any stage of the business life cycle find them affordable.

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<span class="purple-callout"><p>A little reminder – I'm available to offer advice and help advertise on the best UK job boards (get your free consultation to find out more).</p><p>For just £199, we can advertise a job on all the UK's best job sites.</p><p>And be sure to read my best-selling book on recruitment as well.</p></span>

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What Type of Job Can You Fill Using a Job Site?

Almost anything. Certain types of roles are more challenging to recruit than others. For example, I would get more applications for a managing director than a TIG welder or tree surgeon!

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When Would an Employer Use a Job Site?

Unless you’re using a recruitment advertising agency (discussed in a moment), I recommend advertising on a job site at the beginning of a recruitment process.

Crucially, use a job site to advertise a few weeks before considering using a recruitment agency. That’s because recruitment agencies also use job sites to attract many applicants. If they send you an applicant’s details before you receive them via a job site, you are contractually obliged to pay them a significant fee. I’ve been a witness in the High Court, providing independent testimony that an applicant was first received from a job site before a recruitment agency submitted them. They were saved from a hefty recruitment agency fee because they had evidence that they received an applicant via a job site a few seconds before the recruitment agency!

Similarly, nothing is worse than interviewing a great applicant introduced by a recruitment agency and finding out they applied via a job site! I’ve sat on panel interviews and watched hiring managers become very frustrated when they realised they could have saved themselves some money by advertising on job sites first.

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How Much Do Job Sites Cost? Time vs. Money

I have another article that provides a lot more information about job site charges and how to negotiate a good deal. In general, most job sites charge the same as a recruitment advertising agency; between £100 and £300, depending on the quantity you purchase and the upsells you agree to. Some job sites try charging over £1,000, which in my opinion is ridiculous (it’s not as if they guarantee to fill the job for that price!).

The time costs are sometimes high and unexpected. They include:

• Researching potential sites.
• Negotiating appropriate deals.
• Writing effective job adverts.
• Publishing job adverts.
• Fielding calls from applicants and salespeople (if you fail to advertise anonymously).
• Managing the response.

Once you have established relationships with job sites, research and negotiation aren’t as necessary. However, you still need to invest your time writing job adverts, and you’d be surprised how many salespeople will interrupt you. Most hiring managers only see the more apparent time-consuming part of managing the response, which can be significant.

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Do Employers Have Any Guarantees When Using Job Sites?

No, because it is advertising. A job site has little influence or control over what is advertised (because employers write their own adverts), so cannot be held responsible for the outcome.

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How to Choose Which Job Sites to Advertise On

A SECRET of choosing a job site is that you need to advertise almost everywhere to avoid missing relevant applicants.

However, it can be complicated to decide which job sites to use. There are so many types of adverts, pricing models and “enhancements”.

That is why I providesa detailed step-by-step guide on how to choose enough job sites to fill your job with Great Performers.

An alternative to advertising on lots of job sites directly is to use a recruitment advertising agency.

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Additional Resources

• Recruitment Book; The Secrets of Great Recruitment: How to Recruit Great Employees.
• Downloadable PDF guide; Navigating Job Sites Like a Pro: Strategies to Fill Your Vacancies Fast.
• Downloadable PDF guide; Efficient Strategies for Using CV Databases to Find Applicants.
• Article; Advertise a Job: How Choosing the Wrong Job Site Could Cost Your Thousands!
• Article; Choosing the Right Job Site to Advertise a Job: A Simple Guide for Employers.
• Article; CV Databases Exposed: Are They Really Worth Your Time and Money?
• Article; Using a CV Database: Best Practices for Sifting Through CVs.
• Article; CV Database Techniques: Using Boolean Logic for Applicant Searches.
• Article; How AI is disrupting Job Boards, Recruitment & HR.
• Article; Advantages & Disadvantages of Using Job Sites for Advertising Jobs.
• Article; How to Advertise a Job - Best Way to Advertise Job Openings.