Career Tip: Job Board Aggregators versus Job Boards in Your Job Search

Like them or not, job boards are not going away, and continue to be a popular way for people to search for new positions being advertised.  They can come with a few issues such as reverse spamming (you join and put your resume on one site, and now it’s on 50 partner sites too), fake ads and job scams, and just like any other site, occasionally someone may hack them, but they do provide a good service.  The reason for this post is to learn a better way to use the job boards while protecting yourself from the above-mentioned issues. 

I am big promoter of Job Board Aggregators.  They still allow the jobseeker to use the job boards, but in a different way.  Instead of searching dozens of different job boards for potential positions, you can now use an aggregator to search hundreds, if not, thousands of job boards at a time.  Think of them like a database gathering the jobs posted on all the sites it searches and stores information from, and then allowing you to do ONE search.  Like in hospitality industry aggregator ads on TV, and I quote, “search one and done.”

So, here are two recommendations:  www.Indeed.com,  and www.Linkup.com.  Indeed.com is the number one job board aggregator online, and acts as a job board as well.  My suggestion is you use it as an aggregator only and then go direct to the company advertising and post your resume on their site.  To be more effective in your search use multiple job titles for the same job for which you are searching, such as:  Administrative Assistant, Administrative Coordinator, Secretary, Office Manager, Office Coordinator, Office Assistant, and Executive Assistant.  If you use only one title, you will limit your search significantly.  All of the above titles will fit in the search bar, and you can then sign up at the bottom of the first page with your email only for daily updates of the new jobs posted.  The other type of aggregator I listed is Linkup.com which actually aggregates company job boards.  If the company job board doesn’t require you to sign up before seeing the jobs they offer, then it will aggregate their content.  It works the same as a job board aggregator, you can sign up for the same type of daily digest email, but it is just for company-specific job boards like H&R Block, Sprint and Garmin.  I counsel jobseekers to use at least one job board aggregator and Linkup.com as there will be some different returns.

I hope this helps you refine both your job search, and saves a lot of time in your overall searching online.  Any time that is saved can be used to network, personalize your resume and cover letter for specific job applications, apply for jobs, and practice interviewing skills. 

New Year, New Job?

It's a common practice - a new year brings the desire to change jobs.  If you have decided to hunt for a new job in 2016, let's get our job search house in order:

1)  Update your resume and make sure there is appropriate detail.  A resume is not a duties and responsibilities document - but a marketing document.  Tell the potential employer the successes you have had in your current and past jobs, and be sure to include appropriate key words and key phrases to your career target.  Also, don't fall for the one-page myth.  A two or three-page resume is fine, and is what most jobseekers will have after they have been in the workforce for a few years.  Your experience, education, professional development, technical/computer profile, and professional and civic involvement warrants a depth of information.

2)  Consider more than one resume.  You are not a one-trick pony and most likely have two or three different career types your can pursue.  Don't try to make one resume fit two or three career choices. Instead, tailor a resume and cover letter to each career type to ensure your career marketing documents work for you and not against you.

3)  Use job board aggregators, not single job boards.  Indeed.com and LinkUp.com are my two favorites.  Why search ten different job boards when you can search thousands at a time.  Sign up with just an email and a list of job titles (you may have two or three searches per site depending on your career choices) and let these sites do the search for you and send you a digest of new jobs that posted daily.  Then you can go direct to the company or recruiter site and apply for your job at the source.

4)  Set a specific amount of time for your job search and plan it into your schedule every week.  If you do not make time for your job search, and just work on it when you feel like it, you will have a long job search indeed and typically get very little done.

5)  Set up or update your LinkedIn profile, including a professional picture, and completed profile. You can make your updates private so they don't show to your connections unless they go directly to your profile page (just go to the Privacy and Settings area).  Once your profile is up to date, target individuals from the organizations you have the most interest in and recruiters in your field(s) of expertise.

6)  Keep at it, a job search is not a short race, but a marathon.  That new job could be just around the corner, so don't give up.

To your job search and career success!

The Difference between Job Boards and Job Board Aggregators

Like them or not, job boards are not going away, and continue to be a popular way for people to search for new positions being advertised.  They can come with a few issues such as reverse spamming (you join and put your resume on one site, and now it’s on 25 partner sites too), fake ads and job scams, and just like any other site, occasionally someone may hack them, but they do provide a good service.  The reason for this post is to learn a better way to use the job boards while protecting yourself from the above mentioned issues.

I am big promoter of Job Board Aggregators.  They still allow the jobseeker to use the job boards, but in a different way.  Instead of searching dozens of different job boards for potential positions, you can now use an aggregator to search hundreds, if not, thousands of job boards at a time.  Think of them like a database gathering the jobs posted on all the sites it searches and stores information from, and then allowing you to do ONE search.  Like in hospitality industry aggregator ads on TV, and I quote, “search one and done.”

So, here are a few recommendations:  www.Indeed.com, www.SimplyHired.com, and www.Linkup.com.  Indeed.com is the number one job board aggregator online, and acts as a job board too, as does SimplyHired.  My suggestion is you use them as aggregators only and then go direct to the company advertising and post your resume on their site.  To be more effective in your search use multiple job titles for the same job for which you are searching, such as:  Administrative Assistant, Administrative Coordinator, Secretary, Office Manager, Office Coordinator, Office Assistant, and Executive Assistant.  If you use only one title, you will limit your search significantly.  All of the above titles will fit in the search bar, and you can then sign up at the bottom of the first page with email only for daily updates of the new jobs posted.  The only different type of aggregator I listed is Linkup.com which actually aggregates company job boards.  If the company job board doesn’t require you to sign up before seeing the jobs they offer, then it will aggregate their content.  It works the same as a job board aggregator, you can sign up for the same type of daily digest email, but it is just for company-specific job boards like H&R Block, Sprint and Garmin.  I counsel jobseekers to use at least one job board aggregator and Linkup.com as there will be some different returns.

I hope this helps you refine both your job search, and saves a lot of time in your overall searching online.  Any time that is saved can be used to network, personalize your resume and cover letter for specific job applications, apply for jobs, and practice interviewing skills.