Should I Advertise My Job On More Than One Site?

11th May 2022 Last updated on 23rd August 2022

Advertising jobs across multiple job boards, social media platforms, and career-focused sites sounds like a lot of work, swallowing huge chunks of time, resources, and money. These thoughts bring many employers, recruiters, and hiring managers to the question; Should I advertise a job on more than one site?

Maximising job advertising exposure is crucial for a hiring and recruitment strategy to bear fruit. So, it less about whether you should advertise job openings on more than one site, and more about how to efficiently post job ads on multiple job sites in the UK in a cost efficient manner.

In this article, we discuss:

Do you have to advertise a job internally?
Do you have to advertise a job externally?
Where you can post your job advert
Single versus multiple job advert costs
How to post your job advert
Applicant Tracking Systems
Comprehensive list of job boards and aggregators

Do You Have To Advertise A Job Internally?

Your company does not have to advertise a job vacancy internally. However, there are many benefits to sharing your job advert with existing company employees. For instance, internal candidates understand your business, recruitment is quicker and cost-effective, training costs may be less, and the evidence of a proven track record is already in your hands.

While many employers and recruiters immediately think of posting on job advertising sites and leading job boards, it is crucial not to overlook your existing pool of talent.

Do You Have To Advertise A Job Externally?

Do I Have To Advertise A Vacancy Externally

No law says that a business must advertise a job opening externally. However, if your recruitment process only considers existing employees, you have a limited talent pool and may not be hiring the strongest candidates for your jobs.

Even though it is not unlawful to only consider potential candidates from within, indirect discrimination requires careful consideration. For example, if you were to hire for a senior management position, are you indirectly discriminating against protected characteristics, such as women if you have an all-male business?

Discrimination during external advertising might also lead to issues if the advertising is restricted and targeted. For example, a targeted job advert that is visible only to social media users in a specific age group may be considered discriminatory.

The comments made above are not intended to be legal advice. Still, they demonstrate that casting a wide net will help you attract a higher number of applicants from a wider range of candidates while also helping you avoid recruitment process issues and legal claims.

Where You Can Post Your Job Advert

Reaching qualified candidates who can fill your job vacancy requires having your jobs advertised across multiple sites. The types of sites are broadly categorised as:

General Job Board

General job boards attract a large audience, allowing you to reach a high number of candidates. Out of the hundreds of job boards, the top job boards in the UK include TotalJobs, Jobsite, Monster, Indeed, Reed, and Glassdoor.

Niche Job Boards

Niche job boards can help you fill a difficult or more specialised role. Specific groups of professionals visit these sites frequently, so if you were looking to post a job for a qualified accountant or a specialist in research and data analysis, there are multiple job boards with that focus. The term niche job board could also be used to describe sites that focus on contract workers or freelancers.

You may not be putting your job ad in front of millions of monthly visitors. However, a niche job board has, in effect, applied filters on its audience of candidates, just as you would use filters to refine shopping results.

Aggregators

If you could only search for jobs on Google, then you would consider them a jobs aggregator. Aggregators look like job boards, but they operate under a different methodology. They crawl company careers pages, other job sites, professional associates, and more to list job ads from multiple sites in one place.

Is your company careers page up to scratch? Read What Should Be On A Company Careers Page.

Free Job Boards

Of course, free job boards exist as another option. However, the only job advert candidates tend to see are those that are sponsored, with free listings appearing much further down any job search page.

You can read more about the statistics for free job advertising in our article; How Does Free Job Advertising Stack Up?

Single Versus Multiple Job Advert Costs

Job advertising costs are one concern of companies seeking to post jobs on multiple sites. Posting job ads individually across multiple job boards, soon results in a mountain of costs, not to mention hours of time. One submission multiple job board posting allows you to reach your target audience and a diverse range of potential applicants, while keeping your hiring budget predictable and under control.

Posting your job ad individually on just four job boards could be three times as expensive as a one submission job advertising solution covering the same sites, and more. You can advertise to job seekers the way you want to, with many options and packages.

For example, fixed fee recruitment services can include:

CV Filtering
CV Targeting
Telephone Screening
Interview Setting

Are you looking to reduce your recruitment agency hiring costs? Read How To Avoid High Recruitment Agency Fees.

How To Post Your Job Advert

To post a job, you will need a job title and job advert, usually created using a job description. A job description template and job advert template can assist you in writing an effective job posting. Before you post a job, ensure the post includes:

A job title that accurately describes the role – what might a candidate search for on a job board?
An introduction that conveys why your company is a great employer – what are your values, vision, and company culture?
A job description that incorporates job responsibilities and duties – what will the individual do on a daily basis, and who will they report to?
Qualifications the job requires
The location of the job and if jobs are onsite, fully remote, or hybrid
Pay (or pay range), benefits, and perks
A call to action, such as a link to start an online job application process or an email address for sending a cover letter or a CV

We appreciate that it can feel like a challenge to create a job advert that stands out against others. Therefore, we have several resources that invaluable reads for employers and recruiters:

Applicant Tracking Systems

An Applicant Tracking System (ATS) is crucial for saving time when posting a job ad across multiple job boards and managing applicants. A recruiter can easily increase their productivity by using an ATS to perform CV parsing, candidates analysis, report creation, interview scheduling, and onboarding.

To discover more about how an Applicant Tracking System can help your business, read Centralising Recruitment With ATS.

Comprehensive List Of Job Boards And Aggregators

When your create a job ad you can post on a single website or choose a package to suit your, with ads placed on:

Leading General Job Sites:

Niche Industry Job Sites:

Aggregator Job Sites:

Geographical Job Sites:

Job Advertising FAQs

Here we take a look at your advertising and hiring questions:

Where is the best place to advertise your jobs?

The best job boards still outperform all other recruitment and advertising routes. For the best results, your job ad should appear on multiple job boards, including Reed, Indeed, Monster, Glassdoor, and TotalJobs.

Do you have to advertise a job?

You do not have to advertise a job and many employers first consider employee referrals or internal promotions. A job posting on LinkedIn, partner sites, and your careers website can attract applicants from your professional network. Job boards are the most effective route to reaching external applicants, with a paid job posting typically bringing in more than 8x the number of applicants compared to a free job listing.

How do I post jobs?

Job board resellers provide the most cost-effective route to post jobs, with an Applicant Tracking System automating actions, such as job posting, candidate responses, and candidate filtering. Start by choosing a job title, then create a job description. You can begin writing a job advert using the job description, adding crucial employment and role information, such as location, salary, benefits, responsibilities, and your values.
Be careful to avoid discrimination issues, such as targeting job ads only to a certain age group, sex, or other protected characteristics.

What are the common paid advertising methods?

Paid advertising of your vacancy may cover LinkedIn Recruiter, general job boards, and niche job boards.

Will I be overwhelmed by applicants if I post jobs on multiple job boards?

By posting to different sites your candidate numbers will increase. A job posting platform that includes an Applicant Tracking System is essential for managing applicants and will help you hire the best candidate.

Should a small business publish a job advert on multiple job boards?

Yes, demand currently outweighs candidate numbers so you should cast a wide net to help ensure success. With remote, hybrid, and flexible working becoming more practical and high on the list of candidate expectations, geographical recruitment borders are no longer firmly fixed.

Job Advertising