How To Actually Get a Job Using Job Boards

​Tired of sending your resume out into the black hole of job boards?  Read on for 4 ways to use job boards so that you can actually get a job.

As you know I like to emphasize networking your way into a new job, since 70-85% of jobs are secured that way. 
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But I know that most people spend the majority of the job searching time on job boards, it feels like it is easier.  And after all, they DO work since 20% of jobs are found through job postings.   So I never want people to ignore job boards!  But I do want people to use them effectively.
Here are 4 ways that you can incorporate job boards into your search and getting them working for you instead of against you.

1. Use Your Time Wisely.

This is my number one tip, and one I really want you to pay close attention to.  DON’T SPEND ALL OF YOUR TIME ON JOB BOARDS.  Statistically speaking you need to send out about 40 resumes to get a job offer, and I’m not talking about getting a job offer for your dream job!
Plus, hitting enter or send on an application sometimes feels like you are sending your resume into a black hole which doesn’t leave you feeling good about yourself and your chances. 

Come up with a game plan on how much time you are going to spend and how to make it a more enjoyable experience.  For example your plan could to spend 1-2 hours every other day combing through ads and do it in a coffee shop.  Or if it could be to spend 3 hours a week all in one session at home with some good music playing. 

This helps keep you inspired during your job search and allows you remain positive which comes across in your marketing documents!

2. Look beyond the big Job Boards

Look I get it.  Indeed and the other big Job Boards (aka Job Aggregator Sites) are seemingly pretty amazing.  They appear to be a one stop shop but honestly they don’t capture all the jobs.  Employer Career sites, niche job boards and LinkedIn jobs don’t always (or ever) get picked up by the large job aggregators.

Plus some industries, for example culture and nonprofit, don’t have a large recruitment budget and therefore do not have the manpower or an Applicant Tracking System to review the large volume of resumes that they could get from posting on sites like Indeed and Glassdoor. So they won't post there or will ignore applicants that come through those sites.

Each industry has their own niche job board and I highly suggest adding the ones that are most relevant to your search to review once/week. 

Want an easy way to find the boards that are right for you, click here to download a list of 20 niche job boards for Canadians!

3. Market Yourself Properly

So this isn’t my newsletter, but I’m going to tell you a Recruiter secret anyways:

Recruiters HATE Indeed resumes.  They are boring, monotonous and often missing key information.  So when you find a job you want to apply to on Indeed or another large job board please submit your own resume! 

When submitting the resume, make sure that the resume is optimized for an Applicant Tracking System using key words and proper formatting.  Customize your resume as necessary to fit the job.

Don’t forget that at the end of the day a HUMAN will read your resume, so make sure it is a Modern Day Resume that will catch their eye and tell your story.  

Lastly, always send a cover letter.  Even if it doesn’t get read it shows that you are interested and willing to put in the time to deliver quality results, that is the worst case.  Best case, your engaging cover letter get the Hiring Manager excited to meet with you making it easier for you to get hired!

4. Use Job Boards for Research

I love research, gathering as much information as I can is something that I love to do.  However, I get that not everyone is like this.  But for a job search, the job boards are a great way to figure out all the different types of jobs that exist out there, like did you know there was such thing as a Diary Taster? 

It also shows you different companies and industries that could hire you, ones that you may want to being building a network strategy around.  Say you love risk management and you only thought to work in financial services, well a quick search on Indeed brings jobs up in banks (of course), but also in education, in government,  not for profit and healthcare.

All of this information will come in useful and will help you narrow down where you want to focus your work.

When you are looking for a new job or career it is important to have a game plan on where you are going to spend your job searching time.  And job boards should definitely be part of that and can be very effective when using the 4 tips above.  Don’t forget to get my list of 20 niche job boards, I’ve saved you the researching time!

Also, one last thing.  I just wanted to boast just once more (please forgive me!) about contributing to this article on what to negotiate for.  Next week I’m actually going to expand on it and give you some tips and tricks to asking for more money and other benefits, so stay tuned!