Where should employers post their job openings?

Today, people no longer sit down with a copy of the morning paper and a marker when they’re looking for jobs. Employers don’t advertise in newspapers either. The world has clearly moved on.

The question that many business managers and human resources professionals, however, ponder over is this: Where are today’s job seekers looking for jobs? And therefore, where should today’s employers post their job openings?

Seasoned professionals who’ve made a living out of helping companies find and hire the right candidates know that there’s no single answer to that question.

In some ways, it’s harder to reach potential employees than it has ever been. In many others, finding the right talent for your business has never been easier — no matter where that perfect candidate is or what they’re currently doing.

Here are some thoughts, ideas, tips, and best practices to help you find and hire the right people for your business:

# 1 | Who looks at job sites?

There are a few popular job sites that were founded in the early days of the internet. Indeed, Monster, Zip Recruiter, and so on still exist, but they’re struggling to compete in the new marketplace.

Their biggest selling point used to be the fact that almost everyone once registered on the site, helping to create a huge repository of personal details about ‘potential candidates’ that companies could essentially ‘lease’. It’s what recruiters would use to reach out to candidates based on their education and skill.

However, with the arrival of LinkedIn, and the rise of privacy regulations such as the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), these job sites are finding it tougher to operate as usual.

On the plus side, postings on such sites aren’t very expensive and can offer great reach if you’re looking to hire junior executives. They can also be a great place to host your job opening if you’re unable to post them on your website.

# 2 | Link up on LinkedIn

Professional recruiters will tell you that LinkedIn has changed the game for them. It’s one platform that not only makes it easy to post job openings but also incentivizes people to keep their profiles updated — making it more useful and effective than any job site.

Since LinkedIn is also a social network, users find it easier to share content that they like and engage with other users via messages and groups.

As a result, several professionals — especially high ranking executives — often visit the site daily. If you’re looking for senior executives, this is the place to post your opening.

For recruiters posting jobs on LinkedIn, there are two things to keep in mind:

• Unless absolutely necessary, avoid asking users to apply via an external link. Using Easy Apply allows those interested in the job to quickly express their interest.
• The platform is more suited for senior and mid-senior hires than for fresh graduates, although that is quickly changing thanks to programs that the platform is running in partnership with local institutions and organizations.

# 3 | Looking for talent on Twitter

Twitter is perhaps quite a favorite social media platform among those in media, sales, and marketing roles. As a result, posting openings on Twitter with the right hashtags can help get you quite the right audience.

Since the platform doesn’t allow long-format posts, you’ll need to host your job somewhere on the internet — perhaps a job posting site or your own website. It’s this place that your Twitter post will link to and lead interested candidates through the application process.

Before posting job openings on Twitter, here are three things that recruiters must keep in mind:

• Craft a neat posting that clearly mentions the job title at the top
• Make sure you use the right hashtags — find things that people who’re interested in the position will be following
• Use an interesting image to go with the post — either a logo or a picture of your facilities
• Finally, include a link to the job posting — on your website, on a job site, or even on LinkedIn
• Promote the post if you want it to reach a bigger audience

# 4 | Job-related Facebook groups

Facebook is a social platform and it’s meant to be quite casual and informal. However, if it fits with your company’s culture and the job role, maybe posting on a Facebook group is a good idea.

If you’re a large entity, posting on your Facebook page is possible — and will yield good results if you’ve got quite a large fan following. This post can also be boosted if you’d like to better target who sees the ad.

On the other hand, if you’re a smaller business, maybe someone from your company can find some appropriate groups on Facebook and leave a post on the group’s wall.

The rules of engagement on Facebook are somewhat similar to Twitter, which means, keeping it short and crisp is good and including a picture is a great idea.

Plus, Facebook doesn’t restrict your wordcount as much, so you can post a full job description and do away with the link to an external page — such as the posting on your website or on the job site.

According to experts, Facebook groups are a good place to find creative talent — especially graphic designers, social media executives, and video editors.

# 5 | Careers on your website

Using the careers section of your website is a good idea — no matter the size of your business. A link to a job on your website makes it easy for candidates to understand who you are, what you do, and how you do it.

It also offers glimpses into your company’s culture, its mission and vision, and the kind of people they’ll be working with if they’re chosen to come aboard.

Whether you’re a new company or a Fortune 500 enterprise, there’s some magic in hosting a job on your website that shouldn’t be discounted.