4 tips for using job boards

There seems to be a slew of articles this week about job boards so I thought I'd add something to the conversation.

Having run job boards for several years, I have learned a few things about maximizing your ROI when it comes to posting jobs.

Employers need job sites to promote their openings, and that will never change. Employers aren't good at marketing, job boards are.

So what can you do to make your experience/ROI on job boards better? Here are a few tips:

1. Add the right Keywords to your job titles: the other day on one of my sites a job came in with the title of

"Regional Sales Manager"

Sounds thrilling, right? If I'm a job seeker all that title does is confuse me. What kind of company? What kind of product? So I recommend adding keywords to the title. Like this...

"Wind Turbine Regional Sales Manager" or "Sales Manager Wind Turbines"

By simply adding a descriptive keyword you can make the job more search engine friendly while providing more pertinent information to the job seeker. Remember, the title is what they see first, think of it as a headline to attract readers.

2. Whenever possible, add your logo to your job postings. Some job sites may not allow this but many do, and if they accept HTML in the description field you could add it yourself through a tiny piece of code. This piece of code will display an image;

To get your logo go to your website, right-click on the logo and copy the image URL.

3. Call before you post. Give the job board a call first and ask for a discount or coupon code, you may be able to save a few bucks on postings.

4. Set the job seekers expectations. After people apply, let them know right in the job description what will happen to their resume. Tell them what to expect from here and that will go a long way towards demystifying the resume black hole. Simple information is easy to give and the candidate will appreciate it.

Chris Russell is an 11 year veteran of the online job search industry. As President & Founder of the regional job board network, AllCountyJobs.com, he has been helping local employers connect with local candidates since 1999.

Comment by Hassan Rizwan on March 17, 2010 at 4:38am: Great post. As per my experience with renowned Job Boards, i believe there is a lot more that can be done to make Job Boards Productive and useful. I wouldl iek to conenct with you for a conversation on the Phone to discuss that brilliant idea. Hope it benefits all.