What is the Best Job Board for My Search in 2021?

August 26, 2021

Here are the best job boards to use and how to use them for your job search in 2021. 

All of the job postings online right now can seem overwhelming. There are so many job boards out there and there seems to be a lot of overlap between the job boards. We have reviewed the job boards on the market to help you focus your efforts n your job search. Here is what we found about job websites in 2021.

What is a Job Board?

A job board is simply a website with advertisements for open jobs. These employment sites can be created by an employer, a company that recruits for their employer clients (like a recruiting and staffing company), and a company that is the business of advertising jobs.

What is a Job Board Aggregator?

A job board aggregator can function in 2 different ways. The first type of aggregator is one where the employer goes to the job board website and posts its job on that site. That site then pushes the employer's job out to many (sometimes 1000s) of other job boards.

The other type of job board aggregator is one that crawls the internet to find job postings. These sites are like a search engine for job postings. It will pull in all of the job postings from other websites and it will often operate independently of those first types of job aggregators. These types of aggregators frequently crawl commercial job boards, but they can also crawl employer employment websites.

In both cases, the job board receiving the job postings through the aggregation of job postings is pulling. Meaning the receiving job board is bringing in the job postings. They are not pushing back. Meaning that once the job is on the receiving job board through either form of aggregation, it is not taken down. Thus, the employer may take down or close the job on its original job board, but the site that received the job through an aggregation of the post may not be set up so that the posting comes down. Instead, that posting will only come down when it expires on the receiving job board.  

How to Use Job Boards

You should use job boards in your search. And, job seekers should use job aggregators to cast a wide net in their job search. The key to making sure those postings are good is in how you use the information. The best practice to using the following sites is to use them for research.

Meaning, if you can, go back to the original employer's own job board to apply directly to the job. This enables you to first verify that the job is still open. And, second, enables you to control how your information is put into their applicant tracking system (ATS). This second part is important because most applicant tracking systems have a job board page and are directly running the companies career site. So, by going direct to the company's page you are ensuring that all of your information is getting into their ATS properly. Thus, the best practice in using any commercial job board or job aggregator is that of research.

Job Sites to Use for Research in Your 2021 Job Search

Below is the list of job boards and job aggregators to use in your job search in 2021. These sites all have different posts, but some overlap or some have posts that are pushed to each other because they are aggregators. Thus, make sure you are using the filters and being smart about finding the right keywords for your job search. And, remember, that the postings are not typically created by the hiring manager. So, think broadly and take the time to submit a quality application to the position.

*Google for Jobs (simply type your job search in google and it will pull up the results using the google for jobs system)

*Indeed (www.indeed.com)

*ZipRecruiter (www.ziprecruiter.com)

*Glassdoor (www.glassdoor.com)

*Recruiting Agency Job Boards (like the Contingent Plan)

*Industry Group Job Boards (i.e. American Society of Safety Professionals, Association of Corporate Counsel, Project Management Institute, and any other profession focused group that creates a job board for its members)

*Angel.co (www.angel.co/jobs)

*CareerBuilder (www.careerbuilder.com)

*Monster (www.monster.com)

*SimplyHired (www.simplyhired.com)

*USAJOBS (www.usajobs.gov)

*Specialized Job Boards (i.e. Lawjobs, RecruitMilitary, Idealist)

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