Job Board Leaders Monthly Online Roundtable | Beyond Job Posts: Unlocking Hidden Revenue

This was the 11th of these informal get-togethers where job board leaders chat informally, share best practices, and ask questions. Our founder, Steven Rothberg, has moderated these since the 2nd session, and we’re happy to continue to do so.

Each session is sponsored by Job Boards Connect, which is led by Louise Triance and Louise Grant. They host a highly engaging Slack channel as well as two, in-person conferences a year.

Today’s meeting focused on diversifying revenue streams beyond standard job postings and resume searching, with participants sharing experiences and strategies for generating additional income. Discussions covered various topics including employer branding, career development tools, virtual job fairs, data monetization, and display advertising, with participants exploring both successful approaches and potential challenges.

Shout-outs to Matt Farrah, Anton Buyanovskiy, Michael Corso, Patrick Toet, Dev Sangha, Simon Wingate, Peter Weddle, Patrick Martinchek, and Chris Russell.

Summary from Zoom:

Job Boards Revenue Diversification Discussion

The meeting began with Steven introducing the Job Boards Connect roundtable, a monthly gathering for job board leaders, and discussing the topic for the day: diversifying revenue streams beyond standard job postings and resume/CV searching. Louise Grant, a sponsor of the events, provided an update on Job Boards Connect activities, including in-person events in the UK and upcoming awards in October. She encouraged participants to join the Slack community and provided her LinkedIn contact information for further connections. The conversation ended with participants sharing their LinkedIn URLs in the chat to facilitate networking.

Job Board Revenue Stream Challenges

The group discussed additional revenue streams for job boards and recruitment marketplaces, with Matt sharing his experience that employer branding options were appreciated by clients but not willing to pay for them directly, though they helped with client retention and sales. Mike confirmed similar challenges with upselling, while Matt noted success with paid blog content and promotional mailshots for non-job posting clients. The discussion concluded with Steven observing a market shift toward measuring application quality and effectiveness, suggesting that the focus may need to move from quantity to quality of traffic and candidates.

Job Board Revenue Generation Strategies

The group discussed strategies for job boards to generate additional revenue, with Steven and Matt sharing experiences about offering employer branding content and “golden apple” packages that include non-standard features to encourage larger investments. Anton from Interview Smile explained their resume writing and AI interviewing services, noting that lower price points around $10-20 per month have better conversion rates than the typical $200 industry rate, with their highest converting clients being older job seekers. Louise raised a cautionary point about third-party add-on services, suggesting that while they can be valuable, businesses often struggle to justify the effort required when these services don’t align with their core business model.

Career Development Integration in Job Boards

The group discussed strategies for integrating career development tools into job boards, with Steven sharing his experience of testing resume help services and emphasizing the importance of placement and user experience. Patrick and Dev from Learnisa presented their platform that enables job boards to offer courses to candidates, highlighting the opportunity to create career hubs and generate additional revenue while providing value to job seekers. Mike shared that his organization partners with Skillsoft and Pluralsight to offer training programs for people with disabilities, though they currently promote this separately from their job boards rather than integrating it into the candidate journey.

Monetizing Job Data Insights

The group discussed potential revenue streams, with Mike suggesting virtual job fairs as an adjacent business opportunity. Steven shared experiences with virtual career fairs, noting challenges in measuring success and aligning with brand offerings. Patrick Martinchek highlighted examples of customers monetizing job board data through insights and consulting packages, particularly for staffing agencies and sales intelligence organizations. The discussion emphasized the value of job-related data as a leading indicator for various industries, including financial institutions and recruitment agencies, with opportunities for businesses to analyze and sell insights derived from structured job data.

Display Ads Profitability and Future

The group discussed display advertising on job boards, with Steven sharing his experience that display ads were once more profitable than job postings in the mid-1990s but are now less viable due to lower CPMs. The discussion explored whether display ads could still be profitable, with Simon noting they can be effective with high traffic volumes and strategic placement, though there are competing views on whether they detract from the candidate experience. The conversation ended with Matt suggesting a future discussion about social media opportunities, particularly for reaching younger audiences in the care sector, and Steven announced the next roundtable would focus on social media on the second Thursday of July.