5 Tips for Using Online Job Boards

5 Tips for Using Online Job Boards 5 Tips for Using Online Job Boards 2Searching for a job sure can be overwhelming. While there may be thousands upon thousands of job listings, only a few may be applicable for you and your work experience. So if your eyes glaze over when you land on a job board, you’re not the only one. But there are ways to make your job hunt more strategic when using job boards. Here’s how: Use your time wisely. Large companies generally have a certain number of resumes they want to get for a position. If youre not among the top 50-100 first applicants, it might not even be worth applying. So pay close attention to the dates jobs are posted, and check to see if the job boards you are using clear out old or expired job listings. cleans out its job database weekly so that only current, open jobs are listed on our site. Schedule alerts. Most job boards offer functionality to alert you when jobs of interest are posted. Set up job alerts for any and every board you may be on, and be sure to set them up to alert you as soon as the job is posted. That way, youll know within mere minutes when a new job is posted and you’ll be able to apply ASAP. If you wait until the end of the day- or worse, the end of the week- the job may already be unavailable. allows users to set up alerts so theyre notified whenever a related job is posted. Use Twitter? has job search alerts via Twitter that you can follow. Think big…and small. Rather than using the biggest job boards to find the largest number of open jobs, it makes sense to pay attention to small niche job sites, too. Whether theyre industry-specific like ArtJob.org for jobs in the arts or job type-specific like.com for telecommuting jobs, these more specialized sites will help you find jobs that really fit your interests and skills faster and more efficiently. Use keywords. Let’s say that you’re looking to find a freelance job as an administrative assistant. If you simply type in administrative assistant though, you may be inundated with the number of jobs that match your initial search. So you’ll need to get super specific when you are job hunting. Enter as much info as possible about the job that you would like to find into the fields to get the results that you really want. Don’t ignore sponsored listings. Some job seekers shy away from sponsored job listings, but these postings can be a job seeker’s best friend. After all, employers have paid to have their listings strategically placed, so it’s worth the effort to apply. It may be that they need to fill the position fast and don’t want to take the time or effort to screen hundreds of candidates. Like every part of your job search, using a job board requires savvy- and strategy. So use the job boards to your advantage and find the job that is truly meant for you. Readers, what tips do you have for using job boards? Let us know in the comments section below!