What don't you like about job boards?
January 17, 2009 12:51 PM Subscribe
What things don't you want to see on job boards? I'm currently working on a job board, but before I run into "feature bloat", I was wondering what things people do not like on job boards.
Don't allow "National" to be put down as the location under any circumstances.
posted by Benjy at 1:06 PM on January 17, 2009 [4 favorites]
posted by Benjy at 1:06 PM on January 17, 2009 [4 favorites]
Ads that appear to be actual jobs but just turn out to be agencies trying to get people on their books.
Although I suspect you're probably talking about features as opposed to a policy for accepting ads.
posted by le morte de bea arthur at 1:08 PM on January 17, 2009
Although I suspect you're probably talking about features as opposed to a policy for accepting ads.
posted by le morte de bea arthur at 1:08 PM on January 17, 2009
Best answer: Oh, I didn't actually answer your question. So, let me rephrase what I said to include that I would be much more concerned about the quality of job postings, signal to noise, etc. than I would be about features. The most thoughtful features in the world won't save a board with bad/useless/misleading content.
posted by mrmojoflying at 1:09 PM on January 17, 2009
posted by mrmojoflying at 1:09 PM on January 17, 2009
Reject all ads from "Creative Circle" headhunters (using that term loosely).
posted by Maisie Jay at 1:10 PM on January 17, 2009
posted by Maisie Jay at 1:10 PM on January 17, 2009
Best answer: One job board I've been looking at has a little button you have to click under "salary" for each listing. If you click on it, and the listing HAS a salary, it shows you, If the listing didn't publish a salary, you get taken to a little calculator doohickey that lets you look up what the average salary for that typical position would be in your state.
I don't need to know what the average secretary makes, I want to know how much THIS employer pays its secretaries. If you don't know that, just say so.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 1:14 PM on January 17, 2009
I don't need to know what the average secretary makes, I want to know how much THIS employer pays its secretaries. If you don't know that, just say so.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 1:14 PM on January 17, 2009
If you're referring to functionality, you may want to permit surfers to be able to look at job postings without encountering a "You Must Register First" wall when they attempt to click on an interesting post. Many people will heave a sigh of frustration and surf away, rather than register in order to read the entire listing.
If, OTOH, your visitors can find and read a tantalizing job posting, they'll be more likely to register -- and do so properly -- to learn more, find others like it, and apply.
posted by terranova at 1:27 PM on January 17, 2009 [1 favorite]
If, OTOH, your visitors can find and read a tantalizing job posting, they'll be more likely to register -- and do so properly -- to learn more, find others like it, and apply.
posted by terranova at 1:27 PM on January 17, 2009 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Remember that your paying clients for a job board are the employers, so put their needs first.
When I used job boards from the employer side, I really found it annoying that people's freeform "headline" or objective was what you'd see in the listings. So someone would describe themselves as, say, a "clinical research associate" and would come up in searches for that job title, but when you actually reviewed their resume, they were actually a personal trainer with a dream.
I was also intensely annoyed when my job ads got placed into categories that had obviously been designed by somebody who didn't really understand that particular marketplace. So I'd write an ad for a pharmaceutical regulatory affairs job, and find out later that it had been placed in the "Legal" category, hence nobody with the right qualifications was seeing it.
As a job hunter, I really hate job boards that force you to enter your resume into a text field or "build" your resume through structured questions, skill lists, etc. Let me upload a word file or PDF.
I'd be happy to take a look at your site and give you feedback if you want. Just memail me.
posted by sevenyearlurk at 1:30 PM on January 17, 2009 [1 favorite]
When I used job boards from the employer side, I really found it annoying that people's freeform "headline" or objective was what you'd see in the listings. So someone would describe themselves as, say, a "clinical research associate" and would come up in searches for that job title, but when you actually reviewed their resume, they were actually a personal trainer with a dream.
I was also intensely annoyed when my job ads got placed into categories that had obviously been designed by somebody who didn't really understand that particular marketplace. So I'd write an ad for a pharmaceutical regulatory affairs job, and find out later that it had been placed in the "Legal" category, hence nobody with the right qualifications was seeing it.
As a job hunter, I really hate job boards that force you to enter your resume into a text field or "build" your resume through structured questions, skill lists, etc. Let me upload a word file or PDF.
I'd be happy to take a look at your site and give you feedback if you want. Just memail me.
posted by sevenyearlurk at 1:30 PM on January 17, 2009 [1 favorite]
Oh, also, there should be an intelligent approach to geography. If I'm trying to place an ad for a sales rep that can be based anywhere in the northeast, I shouldn't have to assign it to a particular state & city, or place multiple ads for a variety of possible locations.
Good luck with your project. A lot of the job boards out there are really crappy -- there's definitely an opportunity to build a better mousetrap.
posted by sevenyearlurk at 1:33 PM on January 17, 2009
Good luck with your project. A lot of the job boards out there are really crappy -- there's definitely an opportunity to build a better mousetrap.
posted by sevenyearlurk at 1:33 PM on January 17, 2009
registration just to view a job ad is a pretty nasty hurdle to throw up and results in me checking bugmenot or abandon a site in general. what you should do is check the ads posted for quality. kill all the fraudsters, hucksters and temp agencies that don't post real jobs and ban those 'we don't pay but it's a really good resume thing' ads that want starving college kids to do full-time work. that's the toughest housekeeping part.
next make your site searchable in as many ways as possible, be it by salary, zip code, job titles, employers, features, you name it. just keep adding categories to sort by. people have different priorities and if you cater to the one I am most passionate about I'm going to come back to you more often. there is a thought in even adding a service kind of like the one zappos has: if they don't have a particular shoe, they will tell you a competitor who has. if you knew job board xyz had a fitting job on file, direct them there. it sounds counterintuitive but giving people more than they expect and more than you need to just compete makes you stand out.
posted by krautland at 1:43 PM on January 17, 2009
next make your site searchable in as many ways as possible, be it by salary, zip code, job titles, employers, features, you name it. just keep adding categories to sort by. people have different priorities and if you cater to the one I am most passionate about I'm going to come back to you more often. there is a thought in even adding a service kind of like the one zappos has: if they don't have a particular shoe, they will tell you a competitor who has. if you knew job board xyz had a fitting job on file, direct them there. it sounds counterintuitive but giving people more than they expect and more than you need to just compete makes you stand out.
posted by krautland at 1:43 PM on January 17, 2009
Make the job postings flaggable. Introduce and have the ability to enforce community standards.
posted by rhizome at 2:01 PM on January 17, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by rhizome at 2:01 PM on January 17, 2009 [1 favorite]
I will answer the question not posed - what I do want to see.
Require that each posting include the date it was added, or stamp it automatically. It is a real PITA to review a posting and not know whether it was posted eight months ago.
posted by megatherium at 2:13 PM on January 17, 2009
Require that each posting include the date it was added, or stamp it automatically. It is a real PITA to review a posting and not know whether it was posted eight months ago.
posted by megatherium at 2:13 PM on January 17, 2009
One annoyance I associate with online job postings is URLs that are not active links. I suppose job posters are typically given a simple text box to write the job ad in, and when they include the URL of their company, it is displayed as plain text to job seekers. Automagically convert it into a clickable link, please! I shouldn't have to copy and paste a URL to get to a website.
posted by oulipian at 3:00 PM on January 17, 2009
posted by oulipian at 3:00 PM on January 17, 2009
Have someone else who understands the needs of the job read a draft of your job posting. Ask them to double-check for description accuracy, add any requirements that are missing, and drop BS that should be.
If the working world has taught me anything, it's that written material visible outside of office walls should never be approved by just one person.
posted by spamguy at 3:29 PM on January 17, 2009
If the working world has taught me anything, it's that written material visible outside of office walls should never be approved by just one person.
posted by spamguy at 3:29 PM on January 17, 2009
Um, after rereading, I totally misunderstood the point of your question. I thought you meant working on a job board post.
Ignore me.
Though it's still sage advice.
posted by spamguy at 3:32 PM on January 17, 2009
Ignore me.
Though it's still sage advice.
posted by spamguy at 3:32 PM on January 17, 2009
One thing I find very tiresome is the amount of duplication across job boards as they all "feature" postings from each other. I know you're trying to make it look busy so people will buy postings, but it's very irritating to open up several jobs and realize they are the same jobs I didn't reply to on five other boards. Anyone who is diligently looking for work has already been to all those other boards, so making it hard for me to find what you have to offer by cramming "partner postings" down my throat isn't helping anybody. At least make it obvious where your content ends and partner content begins.
Err... that turned into a mini-rant. But seriously, I hate that.
On the positive side of things:
* what megatherium said: If I don't see a date, I don't reply
* RSS is key. Even better if you provide RSS feeds for searches so I can just look at the postings that are the most relevant to me.
posted by systematic at 3:41 PM on January 17, 2009
Err... that turned into a mini-rant. But seriously, I hate that.
On the positive side of things:
* what megatherium said: If I don't see a date, I don't reply
* RSS is key. Even better if you provide RSS feeds for searches so I can just look at the postings that are the most relevant to me.
posted by systematic at 3:41 PM on January 17, 2009
1) That you can rate recruiters
2) That you can report spam from recruiters
3) Nthing: Ads that appear to be actual jobs but just turn out to be agencies trying to get people on their books.
4) That the job is pulled when the position is filled
5) Nthing: I really hate job boards that force you to enter your resume into a text field or "build" your resume
6) Nthing: Make the job postings flaggable. Introduce and have the ability to enforce community standards.
And most importantly: if you can somehow find ways to make the process of job hunting more honest, fair, accountable, and respectable I will worship the ground you walk on.
posted by ezekieldas at 5:45 PM on January 17, 2009
People do not like applying for jobs and hearing no response.
People don't like seeing jobs that aren't relevant to them.
posted by chesty_a_arthur at 6:46 PM on January 17, 2009
People don't like seeing jobs that aren't relevant to them.
posted by chesty_a_arthur at 6:46 PM on January 17, 2009
echoing what @systematic said.
Don't syndicate jobs that are posted on some other site. Or if you do, clearly mark the jobs that are unique to your system.
Features are nice, but it really all comes down to the data (unique, relevant job listings)
posted by bug138 at 9:32 PM on January 17, 2009
Don't syndicate jobs that are posted on some other site. Or if you do, clearly mark the jobs that are unique to your system.
Features are nice, but it really all comes down to the data (unique, relevant job listings)
posted by bug138 at 9:32 PM on January 17, 2009
negative keyword searching. allow me to input what i DON'T want in the search box. for example, if i type in:
computer -sales
i want it to show me matches for "computer," but filter out the ones that have "sales."
i also like being able to search by whether or not a job is on the bus line, but i've found that many employers will say a job is accessible via public transportation, but still put "must have own vehicle" in the job description. which kind of defeats the purpose.
posted by almostmanda at 11:46 PM on January 17, 2009
computer -sales
i want it to show me matches for "computer," but filter out the ones that have "sales."
i also like being able to search by whether or not a job is on the bus line, but i've found that many employers will say a job is accessible via public transportation, but still put "must have own vehicle" in the job description. which kind of defeats the purpose.
posted by almostmanda at 11:46 PM on January 17, 2009
If it takes more than 20 minutes to read through your list of categories, you are doing it wrong.
posted by gmarceau at 2:05 AM on January 18, 2009
posted by gmarceau at 2:05 AM on January 18, 2009
basically, things I don't like on a job board are job posts that make me lose my time, and it's usually something along this :
- job post with no salary, at least a range should be given
- job post where the poster is unknow. it should be clear if it's an agency, or directly the employer
- job post with no precise location. I mean precise, city is not enough.
- job post which are miscategorized. or categories that are
- job post that takes me to a talent managing hr BS website that want me to fill hundreds of forms.
posted by anto1ne at 3:26 AM on January 18, 2009
- job post with no salary, at least a range should be given
- job post where the poster is unknow. it should be clear if it's an agency, or directly the employer
- job post with no precise location. I mean precise, city is not enough.
- job post which are miscategorized. or categories that are
- job post that takes me to a talent managing hr BS website that want me to fill hundreds of forms.
posted by anto1ne at 3:26 AM on January 18, 2009
Ability to report agencies that spam job hunters. There's one agency in Texas that sent day labor job opportunities to everyone with email address in the DFW metroplex. I contacted careerbuilder and they said that the companies were allowed to email any job to anyone in the database. This was a few years ago, but I'll always remember it as spectacularly poor control.
posted by 26.2 at 4:44 PM on January 19, 2009
posted by 26.2 at 4:44 PM on January 19, 2009
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by mrmojoflying at 12:59 PM on January 17, 2009 [3 favorites]