Why Use Niche Job Boards
Job boards fall into two main buckets:
- General boards like Monster and Careerbuilder and
- Niche boards like Dice and CollegeRecruiter.com.
I recommend that candidates use two or three general job boards as they tend to have the most jobs advertised and the most employers searching their resume banks but also a handful of niche job boards because the jobs advertised tend to be of higher quality and the employers who use niche boards tend not to use the general job boards to fill the same positions. The employers who use the niche boards tend to do so because the quality of the candidates are often higher.
An employer who wants to hire an intern or recent graduate is far more likely to hear only from students and recent graduates if they use a college job board like CollegeRecruiter.com than a general job board like Monster or Careerbuilder. Similarly, a job seeker who wants to find an internship or entry-level job will find far more of those both in absolute numbers and by percentage on a college job board than on a typical general job board. In addition, the articles, blogs, videos, and other such content on a college job board will be far better suited to a student or recent graduate than the content on a general job board.
We firmly subscribe to the concept of "vertical" job boards, or niche boards, if you will. The larger, all-encompassing boards have their place, but for candidates and employers operating in specific markets - and where relevant job boards are available - it's probably always a good idea to at least check out those sites that are the most highly-targeted. Good advice - use the big boards, but find the small ones that can help you just as much (or more) for specific job searches and hiring needs.