What are the disadvantages of job boards?

By Ruth Mayhew Updated December 07, 2021

Índice Show

Options to Recruit for an Open Position
Pros of Using a Public Job Posting
Cons of Using a Public Job Posting
What Is a Job Posting?
Types of Job Posting:
Advantages of Job Posting:
1. Aim towards getting a wider audience:
2. Find the right candidate for the Right Job:
3. Accessible 24 hours, anywhere and everywhere:
4. Easy to apply in just three steps:
5. Not an expensive affair to opt for:
6. Save time on connecting with the candidates:
7. Filtration of candidates made easy with online portals:
8. Tracking made simpler with online technology:
9. Be proactive:
Disadvantages of Job Postings:
1. Receive unwanted applications:
2. The online job posting doesn’t ensure filling up of vacancies:
3. People from all over the world can apply:
4. Is your company website attractive enough?
5. Can be termed as an informal way of interviewing:
6. Probability of “by chance” view reduced:
Methods of Recruitment:
Online Recruitment: Advantages and Disadvantages
List of Free Job Posting Sites 2018:
Final words:

Is applying for jobs online a waste of your time? It can be if it is done in a vacuum and you go through the wrong kinds of websites. The team at GCF Global emphasizes the importance of combining job hunting on the Internet with direct contact with employers and networking. And while most legitimate companies do post their openings on trusted sites, you do need to be careful. Some use clickbait to direct you to other websites, and other sites are not secure.

Wondering what's the first step you should take when organizing your job search? Believe it or not, it has to do with safety. Why is it essential to protect your privacy while conducting an online job search? Unsavory characters could share your sensitive information with criminals and scammers if you’re not careful.

When applying for jobs online, take steps to safeguard your information. Never provide your birth date, credit card number, bank account number or Social Security number to a potential employer until you're filling out onboarding paperwork (and even then, don't give out a credit card number). If prospective employers request these, chances are good that they are trying to rip you off.

One of the largest disadvantages of finding a job online has to do with privacy, security and having to guess at what is a legitimate opportunity. Should the job seem too good to be true (like a high entry-level salary or few responsibilities), it most likely is. An actual job posting usually includes the company name, specific job duties, a contact person and directions about applying. Be suspicious if anyone asks you to pay for a background check or training; this is another red flag. Do you feel wary about the posting or a recruiter who contacts you out of the blue? Trust your instincts.

Experts from Norton share a few tips for protecting your privacy when applying for jobs online. Limit the contact information you offer, and set up a separate email account for your job hunting. Be careful of the places you post your resume, and keep your phone number and address private. Keep track of every single job you apply to and where your resume is posted; you can check the list when companies reach out and remove your resume after you find a job. Also, limit what you share on social media while searching for a new job; you could get fired if a current employer learns of your job search.

What are the pros and cons of using the Internet for researching career information? The advantages are obvious; it is convenient, easy to access and free. In the case of the leading job posting boards, you will have to create an account, and most let you set up job search parameters and have open positions emailed to you for your convenience. You can either apply through these sites or be directed to company websites. Some allow you to research the companies; when using LinkedIn, you can review profile activity.

The team at John Leonard discusses some of the cons of job hunting on the Internet. Since the primary, legitimate job boards are so large, you may find that there is a lot of competition for the job you are interested in. This competitiveness is one of the main disadvantages of applying for a job online.

Some also have a lot of ads that you have to wade through, and this can cause you to inadvertently click on links that take you elsewhere, wasting your time. Others can be difficult to navigate, or they may send you emails about jobs you are under- or overqualified for, or for jobs you are simply not interested in.

As soon as our teams are ready to transition back to a closer-to-normal routine, many organizations will be considering how to start recruiting again. The primary method of recruiting is posting a job on various online locations. But this isn’t the only option. Let’s take a look at other methods and review some pros and cons of publicly posting a job.

Options to Recruit for an Open Position

Here are some options for recruiting to fill a position:

Public posting (typically utilizing online job boards and/or social media, etc.)
Recruiting specific people (aka headhunting or finding passive candidates)
Referral program only (usually done internally, with existing employees referring others)
Posting only on the employer webpage, not on separate public sites
Internal posting only, not public

While this list isn’t exhaustive, the point is that posting a job publicly is not the only method for filling a vacancy. There are several other options employers may use, or they could use a combination of these options for different vacancies.

Pros of Using a Public Job Posting

Here are some benefits of using a public job posting:

Publicly posting a job is likely to get a high volume of applicants if that is desirable.
Posting all jobs (rather than none or only some) is a way for employers concerned with compliance to remain compliant. Here are some examples of employers that may need to do this for compliance purposes:
- Federal contractors subject to the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA) must post jobs to meet their affirmative action plan needs.
- Any other employer that has an affirmative action plan that needs to meet those requirements.
- Any employer subject to a collective bargaining agreement needs to meet whatever terms are outlined in that agreement, which may include specifics about how jobs are posted.
- Some government agencies also have the requirement to publicly post jobs.
Posting all jobs is a method most likely to avoid the appearance of discriminatory practices or favoritism at this stage of the process.
Posting a job gives existing employees a chance to express interest in a position that may not have been previously known. (This is valid for either internal or public postings.)
Posting jobs publicly may be cheaper and faster in many cases than paying to headhunt.

Cons of Using a Public Job Posting

Here are some potential downsides to using public job postings:

There may be a high volume of unqualified applicants to weed out. This could significantly impact costs, as it may result in many candidates to review, which may take a lot of time.
Volume does not always equal quality. Posting to get a high volume of job applicants doesn’t guarantee the applicants will have the necessary qualifications. In other words, it could lengthen the process without improving the quality. It’s possible to have a wealth of applicants and still not find someone ideally suited for the role.
Having more applicants means more applicant paperwork must be kept for any organization required to keep this.

What has your experience been? Do you always use public job postings for all vacancies? Why or why not?

Bridget Miller is a business consultant with a specialized MBA in International Economics and Management, which provides a unique perspective on business challenges. She’s been working in the corporate world for over 15 years, with experience across multiple diverse departments including HR, sales, marketing, IT, commercial development, and training.

Human Resource is a huge market as every year you have a fresh batch of professionals who are ready to dive into the sea of corporate companies.

There are big fishes that are looking out for change because they are bored of the company or their values are not what they used to be or a jump in their salary or onsite positions within the company or anything else that is their current need.

Reaching out to a wide range of audiences is now a must as you can find deserving candidates on other sites other than the job portals.

You can now see a trend of using social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and many more are the hot spots for the recruiters to come fishing.

Posting your job on various portals and social networking sites will give you a better option rather than just sticking to your company website.

What Is a Job Posting?

A job posting can be defined as an official advertisement regarding a job opening or vacancy within a company that is created by the employer, human resources or a recruiter to alert current employees or job seekers in the business market.

The job posting is mainly classified on:

Organization’s bulletin board
Websites
Blogs
Print media
Newspapers
Magazines
Industry-related publications
Job portals
Job boards
Classified ads
Social networking sites
e-ticker-style signs
Mobile and browser apps.

Types of Job Posting:

The job posting can be categorized mainly into two types, they are

Internal job posting
External job posting

In the internal job posting the recruitment and hiring process completed within the organization. And In short one of the currently working employees who possess the required skills and abilities is replaced in that position.

In external recruitment, a candidate is shortlisted and undergoes the general type of interview and selection process for the specified vacancy.


Advantages of Job Posting	Disadvantages of Job Postings
Aim towards getting wider audience	Receive unwanted applications
Find the right candidate for the right Job	Online Job posting doesn’t ensure filling up of vacancies
Accessible 24 hours, anywhere and everywhere	People from all over the world can apply
Easy to apply in just three steps	Is your company website attractive enough
Not an expensive affair to opt for	Can be termed as informal way of interviewing
Save time on connecting with the candidates	Probability of “by chance” view is reduced
Filtration of candidates made easy with online portals

Advantages of Job Posting:

Advertisement is the key to let people know what vacancies you have and hence, you must post your requirements of the job on various sites to reach out to millions of job seekers.

You can still see many advertisements in the newspapers but the internet has taken over the chunk of attention that the job seekers give to the online world.

Since you can access the internet through your tablets and phone it has become a huge market for job seekers as well as job providers to find the right candidate for their job.

Let us now look at some of the advantages of Job Posting.

1. Aim towards getting a wider audience:

Posting your job requirements on job portals or social networking sites will give you a wider audience rather than just posting the requirement on your company website.

You can receive more candidates if your job is out there on the internet as millions of job seekers will be able to view what your company needs in terms of Human Resources.

A wider audience will lead to a higher probability of filling up the vacancy soon, giving you an edge over the others.

Many employees have joined their dream jobs through job portals or social networking sites.

2. Find the right candidate for the Right Job:

Are you always receiving junk resumes that do not apply to your requirements and slowly the process of recruiting is becoming frustrating?

You can change all that by being a part of job portals where you have access to post your requirement and also ask the applicant to answer questions based on the vacancy.

With the online access to post, the requirements come to the access to their database that can help in filtering and downloading the right candidates for your job posting.

This process is less frustrating and you do get connected with the right job seekers which help you to straighten out your process of hiring.

3. Accessible 24 hours, anywhere and everywhere:

The Internet is your best friend as it is there for you 24 hours a day. Be it day or night you can access portals anytime in the day to look after your requirements and ensuring closure on your job posting.

This is a blessing in disguise for freelancers who work from home or any place, giving them access anywhere and everywhere.

Even if you are a corporate employee with online portal access, you continue with your job (if you want to) post your office timings without spending a single extra minute in the office.

World Wide Web helps you to work from the comfort of your home or coffee shop or holiday home or any other place where you are!

4. Easy to apply in just three steps:

Online job postings are easy to apply and hassle free for a job seeker. All a person has to do is log in with his or her credentials, view the job requirements and click on apply if they are interested.

It is a three step process without the need to enter the details based on the company form and then upload the CV and then wait for the company to respond.

Hence, a recruiter can experience the volume of applicants in a day via online portals.

5. Not an expensive affair to opt for:

There are many online job portals where you can sign up personally or through your company to get access to posting your job requirements.

Some portals even offer this service as free but they will not put any emphasis on free posting as they do for paid ones.

It is affordable compared to any job agencies that a company ties up with and hence is a common choice that many companies are taking up.

6. Save time on connecting with the candidates:

Once you have taken the membership on any of the job portals then not only can you post your requirements but also have access to their database which is the home to millions of job Seekers.

You will not have to wait till someone applies for the job; you browse and extract the details of the candidate that you feel is right for the job.

The portals have their email and phone numbers through which you can get in touch with them immediately without wasting any of your time.

You might get your candidate within the day that you posted your job and close the vacancies.

7. Filtration of candidates made easy with online portals:

Once you have posted your job on the online portal you can just sit back and relax for the applicants to come, view and apply for the job.

With the huge list of candidates applying, there is no worry of going through each one of them. The filters that are available on the portals help you to filter out the right candidate before you click and view the resume.

The portals have made this job easier, efficient and less time consuming helping the recruiters to find their candidates in a nick of time.

8. Tracking made simpler with online technology:

The job posting sites are not just for posting and closing the job vacancies. It is a one stop shop where you can track the progress of your application.

Once a job seeker has applied for the job, he or she can track the status via the job portal.

Similarly, the job providers on the portal can also keep their applicants up-to-date with the current status without the hassle of calling them or receiving their regular calls.

This process of tracking has helped both the sides – job seekers as well as job providers, to remain updated on the status without the need to send hundreds of follow up emails.

9. Be proactive:

As a hiring person, you can proactively search on the candidate list based on the requirements that would be coming to your desk in the future.

This way you would have a list of candidates that could be contacted on the word GO, giving you a higher probability to close the vacancy faster.

There is no need to post a job to go through the database. You can save the candidate profile and create your database.

Disadvantages of Job Postings:

Everything in the world comes with pros and cons. So, before we go ahead with the job postings based on the advantages that are listed above it is also important to understand the cons that come with this process.

You need to know the system in and out before you decide to take the plunge. Your decisions need to back with the negative as well as positive aspects to know what you are going into.

Let us now look at some of the disadvantages that the job postings come with.

1. Receive unwanted applications:

Once you post your job requirements on any of the portals that you have access to, the job seekers will get attracted to it like bees as it will be public posting.

You will have no control over who is applying for the post and hence there are high chances that the applicants might not be fit at all for the vacancy.

This way you might have to filter the huge number of unwanted resumes which could be a pain area in the process of recruiting.

But there are options of filtering the candidates within the portal which might give you some relief from the pain.

2. The online job posting doesn’t ensure filling up of vacancies:

There is no 100 % guarantee that once you have posted your job online, then your requirements will be fulfilled by receiving the resume of the right candidate.

No online portal will give you that assurance of an instant hit. So, you might end up with the right candidate through the portal or with nothing at all.

It all depends on how the requirement post on the portal and what kind of applicants applying for it.

3. People from all over the world can apply:

There is no way you can put a filter where your job posting will view by job seekers from a particular country or area. Such location requirements will have to post in the job requirement section which many job seekers tend to ignore.

Hence, you can get large volumes of candidates who could fit in terms of the technical needs but might not be in terms of the location needs.

Job postings are viewed by everyone on the portal and it is not location-specific.

4. Is your company website attractive enough?

With your job posting, you need to ensure that the company also has a website that will attract the job seekers to apply for your vacancies.

If your website poorly designed then there is a probability that even the right candidates might go against their decision of applying for the post. Everyone wants to work in a company that can present itself.

As it is important for the employees to look good, it is equally important for the company’s website to look good as it represents the digital face of the company.

5. Can be termed as an informal way of interviewing:

Online recruitment is all about the recruiters getting in touch with the candidates via emails and telephonic interview calls.

It is just a casual call that happens to understand what the candidate has understood from the requirement point of view and what the recruiter has understood from the skill point of view.

It is like the first step to start the process of a formal interview with the company during which the candidate can also be rejected.

6. Probability of “by chance” view reduced:

If you see an advertisement for a job posting in a newspaper then you might end up applying for the job by chance. But that is not the case with the internet world.

You going to filter the job requirements bases on the skill set or years of experience or expertise and might miss out on opportunities that applying to you but not shown based on the filters that you selected.

A disadvantage that comes with technology is that it reduces the chances of applying and getting your desired job accidentally.

Methods of Recruitment:

The main purpose of the job posting is to find efficient and best performing candidates for their organization. But finding such candidates is a tough thing to do as the competition for jobs has grown to a great level.

Moreover, it is also essential to see that, your job post reaches a wide range of audiences. Here are a few methods of recruitment that help you do it effectively. Some of them are,

Online job boards and websites
Professional referral schemes
Recruitment agencies
Universal Jobmatch
Search consultants
Recruitment events
Press advertising
Social networks
Unsolicited applications
Apprenticeships

Online Recruitment: Advantages and Disadvantages

The recruitment and selection methods of candidates have changed a lot with time. Nowadays most of the employers are using modern techniques to attract job seekers and completing the hiring process.

Not only the interview process but the job posting or advertisement ways have undergone several changes. Social networking sites becoming the biggest medium take up by employers to search for the best candidates. The online recruitment has introduced a new, easy and effective way of recruiting to the interviewers.

Here are a few main advantages and disadvantages of using online-recruitment:

Advantages of Online Recruitment	Disadvantages of Online Recruitment
Cost Effective	Hard to Target
More Effective	Difficult to Measure Effectiveness
Easy	Large response rate
Flexibility	Impersonal
Accessibility	Fraudulent Applicants
Expedited Hiring Process	Post Maintenance
Longevity	Lost Labour Hours
Dynamic Content	Free' doesn't work always
Reach a Bigger Audience	Informal
Immediacy	Expense

List of Free Job Posting Sites 2018:

Free Job Posting Site	Description
Indeed	Allows totally free job postings, with the option to boost visibility. Most preffered job portal for job posting.
Wisestep	Best job board providing unlimited free plan.
Glassdoor	Biggest attrcation factor is its prominent employer rating system. Allows 10 days of free job listings. Glasdoor is a welcome addition to our free job posting sites list.
Google for Jobs	Your job postings can be included in Google search results if formatted correctly.
Jora	Free online job postings are available on Jora a relatively new free job posting site.
US.Jobs	One of the reputable top free places to post jobs. This site is run by the National Labor Exchange, and helps you to quickly post to state-run job boards.
FlexJobs	Flexjobs is one of the best free job posting boards, but you'll need to apply to post jobs there. Offers unlimited free postings if you're approved.
Ladders	A great place to list jobs for free online. Offers a free tier, and paid postings to boost applicants, similar to Indeed.
Learn4Good	Finest places to post jobs, this free job post site lets you post up to 20 for free over 6 months.
JobiSite	If you only want to post free job postings online then this is one of the few free ways to post jobs online.
LinkedIn	One of the best free job posting websites for employers it is actually a very effective way to hire employees for minimal cost.
PostJobFree.com	postjobfree.com is one of the first free job post sites it ranks well on Google for many job searches.
Job Spider	One of the easiest to use and completely free job boards for employers . Great place to post a job ad for free or post free help wanted ads.
Upwork	One of the top free job posting sites for employers that people don't often think of.
Jobvertise	This site won't let you post free job ads, but it will let you browse resumes for free, up to 10 per day. Tiered pricing plan does allow for posting and reviewing more resumes.
Angellist	Totally free job postings that tend to reach people in the tech/startup world.
ActiveHire	General purpose job board offering free job posting for employers.
Techfetch	Offers a free 7-day trial. Job board primarily focused on the tech and startup niche.
AngularJobs	Job board for angular developer positions. Offers a free 7-day trial.
Jobxoom	General job board. Offers a 90-day free trial for up to 100 job postings.
Hubstaff Talent	Job board focused on remote hiring. Offers totally free job posting.
JobInventory.com	This site helps you submit a feed of your jobs from your website to their job board automatically.
Hound	General job board. Offers 14-day free trial.
Scouted	Offers free job posting, but you pay for each candidate you hire.
Switch	A job posting app with a free tier. Tech-focused.
Square Hire	General job posting site that includes a free posting tier.
Smartly	General job posting site that uses a mix of human and artificial intelligence to make matches.
Workpop	General posting site that offers a 10-day free trial.
Veteran Jobs Gateway	Free site to post jobs for veterans.
Handshake	Free job posting, focused on student talent.
Anthology	Free job posting. Focused on skilled, experienced talent in major metro areas.
Startupers	Free job posting, focused on hiring for startups.

Final words:

The Internet is a good place to widen a recruiter’s search for candidates that could be fit based on the requirements that a recruiter has.

By posting your job requirements online, free or expensive, you can get a wider exposure within the job seekers world which will also lead to creating a huge database for yourself. Every process has its pros and cons that come with it as a gift.

For example, a wider range to search and apply can lead to huge volumes of unwanted candidates which can, in turn, waste your time in filtering out the right candidates. You need to take a call based on your needs and work on it.