Creating a job board supports both businesses and individuals in your association’s industry in a unique way. An association job board enables employers to find essential, highly qualified talent, which they may not otherwise find. An association job board also lets job seekers in a specific industry see options for employment and filter these choices based on their needs.
Both job seekers and employers can find the perfect fit for their careers or business when using an association job board – making it a valuable member benefit, a helpful industry resource, and a powerful source of non-dues revenue for your association. So, let’s look at some essentials for creating a job board for your association.
How to create a job board website
Creating a job board website requires some understanding of web design and website building, but by following these steps, you can build a job board for your organization:
1. Register a domain.
Any website you create requires a name and domain. When choosing a name, select something that’s short and available on various social media platforms so that you can build a cohesive marketing campaign. Try to develop a name that makes your site’s purpose as clear as possible.
Once you’ve chosen a name and made sure the domain is available, register your domain through Google.
2. Choose hosting for your site.
Web hosting provides a secure place for your online content (your job board website) to be stored. You have a wide variety of options when choosing a host. A quality web host should provide your domain with excellent performance no matter your chosen hosting plan.
When you’re first starting out, it’s best to choose a basic web hosting plan. These are typically budget-friendly plans that have plenty of resources for you to start your job board.
3. Select a platform.
You will need a tool to build your website with, and for a job board, it’s best to use a content management system (CMS). Using a CMS will make marketing your job board easier for you and provide a more cohesive experience for your users.
4. Add a job board plug-in.
If you use a CMS such as WordPress, you can set up a job board plug-in that will streamline your website design process while making your platform functional. The plug-in will allow you to publish listings and view ones already posted.
How to get job postings and job seekers
You can only post listings on your new site if you have some to begin with.
- Start by setting goals: What do you want your job board to achieve other than connecting businesses with job seekers? Are you seeking to increase your site traffic, attract sponsors, deliver member benefits, or drive non-dues revenue? Set specific metrics that align with your goals so that you can more accurately monitor your progress.
- Reach out to employers:The best way to obtain the job postings you need is to reach out directly to employers in your industry. Use your existing contacts and reach out to new ones to get them involved.
- Market your job board: For your job board to thrive, you must continually get it in front of job candidates and employers in your association’s industry. Exactly how you go about this will depend on your industry. You can use many tools to effectively publicize your job board, including:
- Press releases
- Emails
- Blog posts
- Social media posts
- Online advertising campaigns
It’s important to market to new site visitors as well as those who have already visited. You should re-engage those visitors so that they return when you update your job board with new listings.
Posting success stories that come through your job board is a great way to keep users engaged. You can also post content about new companies in your area and any opportunities they may be offering.
Reaching out to employers
The best way to obtain the job postings you’re looking for is to reach out to employers in your area that fit into your niche if you have one. Leverage existing contacts to your advantage while also reaching out to new ones and getting them involved.
If you hit a block after reaching out to employers for a while, you can take another avenue. Job board companies like YM Careers can collect job postings directly from business websites to add to your job board.
You’ll want to avoid backfilling jobs, as this provides lower-quality postings that are not directly from company sites. Find a way to get the postings from the source instead.
Cost-effective job board practices
While creating a job board that’s free for users would be ideal, it’s not always practical. You must generate money to sustain your job board and grow it into a tool that can help more people. That means it must run efficiently while producing revenue.
Implementing job board software like YM Careers is a cost-effective solution that will ultimately streamline your operations and drive revenue. One of the great things about YM Careers is that you pay no up-front costs: YM Careers doesn’t start making money until you do.
Create and grow your job board with YM Careers
Creating a robust online job board is a great way to provide member value, help employers in your industry, and drive revenue for your association. YM Careers can help you create a thriving job board for your association. Learn more about YM Careers: Request a demo today or contact us with any questions.
