You may have heard the term ‘career hub’ being bandied around again recently. It’s not a new phrase but we’re seeing a continued rise in its usage. As job websites are looking for new ways to engage potential candidates - and not just those who are actively looking for work - the concept of a career hub is beginning to evolve. Career hubs are platforms which are designed to act as a useful resource for both active and passive candidates. These hubs encourage users to log onto the site regularly, rather than just every few years when they’re looking for a new job.

But what exactly do these career hubs provide that job boards traditionally don’t?

The basis of the career hub is still job listings, but its content is more far reaching than that. Career hubs most often also provide content along the lines of:

• Industry news

• Candidate resources (CV builders and advice, profile pages, certifications)

• Employer services (job postings, adverts, company profiles, targeted emails)

• Career advice articles (how tos, professional development pieces)

• Blogs (opinion pieces, open comments)

• Events (webinars, career fairs, meet ups)

• Forums for candidates to interact

Universities are a prominent example of where career hubs are really taking effect. The majority of undergraduates and new graduates are either actively seeking employment or will be in the near future. However, they also need to prepare to enter the world of work, which means the extra resources provided by a career hub are highly relevant to them.

Originally job boards were just a vehicle to match up candidates with jobs, but that’s been changing over the years as job boards begin to adapt their websites. While many claim that job boards are dying out, that isn’t quite true.

According to figures from iCIMS’s Sources of Hire survey, while 71% of jobs are solved from internal moves, of the 29% of jobs which use external sources to hire a new employee 24% came through job boards. On top of that, there are millions of users logging onto large job boards like Indeed every day for their job searches.

So if job boards aren’t dying out, what’s happening? Like everything, they are adapting in order to survive.

There are two main ways in which job boards are adapting to meet the needs of the current job searching climate - either they are becoming more niche, or they are offering more resources (i.e. evolving into career hubs). Niche job boards are valued because of their ability to target high quality candidates, while career hubs provide users with valuable content in order to further their career whether that’s through development or a job change.

About the Author: Ron Stewart has worked in the recruitment industry for 30 years, having owned companies in the IT, construction and medical sectors. He runs the Jobs4Group, and is CEO of Jobs4Medical.