You’ve done it: You’ve finally written the perfect resume. You’ve included keywords, written accomplishment-focused bullet points, and run it through a resume checker to make sure it’s fully optimized. So … now what?
Applying for jobs is the obvious answer, but it’s not the only one. Maybe you aren’t actively looking but are interested in putting yourself out there, or maybe you haven’t found the right job yet but you know it’s out there somewhere. If that sounds like you, it’s time to consider using a job board.
How to find the right job board
Of course, you could just upload your resume to one or two of the bigger job boards and call it a day. While that’s undoubtedly the quickest approach, it’s far from the most effective. The best way to start posting your resume online is to look for niche job boards.
Tips for effective job searching
Finding job boards for your industry doesn’t have to be complicated. The easiest way? Google it! To find niche job sites, go to Google and search "[your industry] jobs” — for example, “customer service jobs” or “product owner jobs.” You don’t need to specify a location if you’re searching within the United States, since most sites will cater to job seekers nationwide.
Related: How Many Jobs Should You Apply For in 2022?
Optimize your resume
Before uploading your resume to a job board, upload it to the tool below. It'll perform a quick scan, identify any mistakes and provide personalised suggestions on how to improve every section of your resume.
25 of the best niche job boards
Ready to get started? We’ve already done some of the heavy lifting for you. Here’s a list of 25 of the best websites to post your resume in some of the most common industries:
- CollegeGrad
- Snagajob
- AllRetailJobs
- RemoteOK
- FlexJobs
- EcoJobs
- Idealist
- Dice
- Stack Overflow
- Upwork
- Fiverr
- Craigslist
- AngelList
- K12JobSpot
- HigherEdJobs
- AllHealthJobs
- eFinancialCareers
- Working Not Working
- Behance
- ConstructionJobs
- USAJobs
- LawJobs.com
- GoOverseas
- GoAbroad
The best casual and entry-level job sites
For recent graduates: CollegeGrad
CollegeGrad is dedicated to helping recent graduates find entry-level work. You can use keywords to search for jobs, as well as filtering for entry-level positions or internships and browsing jobs by level, title, industry, and location.
For hourly jobs: Snagajob
Snagajob is ideal for those looking for hourly jobs — and best of all, it's completely free. You can browse jobs by industry, company, or location, filter by hourly wage, or get recommendations for jobs aimed at specific age groups.
For sales and retail jobs: AllRetailJobs
Job seekers looking for retail, sales, and seasonal positions should try AllRetailJobs. The website allows you to search for open jobs (including hourly and management positions), browse companies that are hiring, or post your resume.
The best remote work job sites
For all-round remote work options: RemoteOK
In today’s climate, job seekers are increasingly looking for remote work. RemoteOK is a large job board featuring 100% remote jobs across the United States and Worldwide. You can filter job postings using keywords, allowing you to search for jobs by industry or job title.
For remote career development: FlexJobs
FlexJobs is another site catering to remote work, including work from home, hybrid, and flexible job opportunities. It also comes with support including webinars, events, and career coaching, but at a price — you’ll need to pay a subscription fee to sign up.
The best ethical job sites
For environmental jobs: EcoJobs
EcoJobs advertises green jobs across different industries, including renewable energy, conservation, outdoor education, and environmental law. It also features internships and degree programs, which makes it ideal for those just starting out in their careers.
For nonprofits: Idealist
Idealist is a job board catering for different industries across the nonprofit sector. Users can search for jobs by keyword and location or browse jobs, internships, volunteer opportunities, organizations, and degree programs.
The best tech job sites
For all tech jobs: Dice
Dice allows you to browse tech jobs by title, skill, or category. It also offers a customized job match option to help you find jobs that meet the exact criteria you set.
For programming and developer jobs: Stack Overflow
Stack Overflow is a hub for developers. Users can filter job ads by keyword, location (including remote-only jobs), programming languages, background, and compensation.
The best freelance job sites
For the biggest range of freelance work: Upwork
There’s no shortage of job sites catering for freelance work. Upwork is one of the most reputable, allowing you to actively search for jobs in your niche or to create a profile to attract inbound work. The downside is that you can only apply for a limited number of jobs for free, so search wisely.
For maximum flexibility: Fiverr
Fiverr allows you to completely customize what services you offer. Select a category, add the details, and name your price — and let clients come to you.
For anything and everything: Craigslist
Craigslist has a reputation of being able to find anything, and for good reason. In addition to garage sales, accommodation, and personals ads, Craigslist also has millions of jobs posted each year — and a lot less competition, with an average of 20-30 respondents per job vs hundreds on larger job boards.
The best startup job sites
For remote and on-site work: AngelList
If you’re looking for jobs at a startup, AngelList has you covered. The website offers access to over 100,000 startup employers, including well-known companies like Twitch, Stripe, and Patreon, as well as the option to view salary and benefits upfront.
The best education job sites
For K-12 teaching jobs: K12JobSpot
K12JobSpot advertises jobs in elementary, middle, and high schools across every district in the country. You’ll need to create an account to get started, which is free.
For jobs in higher education: HigherEdJobs
HigherEdJobs is a central resource for jobs in higher education, including two-year and four-year institutions. The website features nearly 100,000 administrative, faculty, and executive positions, including adjunct and part-time roles.
The best healthcare job sites
For jobs across the healthcare industry: AllHealthJobs
AllHealthJobs features over 500,000 positions across the healthcare industry, including nursing, physician, pharmacy, dental, administration, and allied health positions. You can search for jobs or create a profile and post your resume online.
The best financial job sites
For jobs in the finance sector: eFinancialCareers
eFinancialCareers features jobs in finance, banking, accounting, and technology. With thousands of jobs across all financial sectors, the site offers a good range of openings as well as the option to create job alerts and upload your resume.
The best creative job sites
For a wide range of creative jobs: Working Not Working
Working Not Working is a website for creative professionals, from graphic designers to copywriters to creative directors. Users can browse creative jobs in the US and around the world, or filter by company, location, skill, perks, experience, and job type.
For showcasing creative work: Behance
Behance is part of the Adobe group, and just like you'd expect, is ideal for showcasing your creative work. In addition to uploading a resume and linking to examples of your work, you can organize and tag work samples for potential employers to view.
The best building and construction job sites
For jobs in the construction industry: ConstructionJobs
ConstructionJobs features thousands of jobs in the construction industry, including opportunities for builders, painters, estimators, and project managers. You can search for jobs by keyword or browse popular industries including commercial, civil, engineering, and residential.
The best legal and government job sites
For US government jobs: USAJobs
USAJobs is an official website open to all US nationals where you can search and apply for jobs in the federal government. The website caters to job seekers as well as veterans, Peace Corps and National Guard members, military spouses and family of overseas employees, current federal employees, and students and recent graduates.
Related: How To Include Military Experience on a Resume
For jobs in the legal sector: LawJobs.com
LawJobs.com advertises over 1,000 jobs daily in the legal sector. You’ll gain access to a directory of employers and legal recruiters as well as a job board allowing you to filter by location, job category, industry, type of practice, and experience level.
The best high paying and executive job sites
For when you're at the top of your field: The Ladder
The Ladder is a job board dedicated to higher paying positions ($100K+ per year). The website allows you to upload your resume for a quicker application process, as well as to filter for jobs that are a good match based on your desired role and work experience.
The best overseas job sites
For overseas work, study, and volunteer opportunities: GoOverseas
If you’re based in the USA and interested in living and working overseas, GoOverseas has information on thousands of programs including study abroad, internships, gap year programs, language schools, volunteer opportunities, and teaching abroad.
For teaching overseas: GoAbroad
If you're interested in teaching English overseas, GoAbroad has you covered with targeted work programs to help speed up the process. You can also find jobs in industries like tourism, agriculture, and hospitality, or browse by region.
The biggest job sites
It wouldn’t be a comprehensive list without including the major players. While industry-specific sites are still the most effective way to search for relevant jobs, there are obvious benefits to using some of the larger sites, especially if you’re looking for a wider range of positions.
Indeed
Probably the largest and most well-known job board, Indeed features millions of job postings. You can search for jobs by role and industry, or browse open jobs based on location, category, or company name.
Monster
A generalist job board to rival Indeed, Monster allows you to search for jobs, access salary tools and career advice, and create a custom profile where you can upload your resume.
While not technically a job board, LinkedIn is still one of the largest job search websites in the world. You can use it to search for jobs, connect with recruiters and other professionals, or fill out your profile and have job openings sent to your inbox.
GlassDoor
Another site that isn’t just a job board, GlassDoor also provides industry insights like salary information and company reviews to help job seekers decide if a job is the right match.
Related: Most Common Job Scams and How to Avoid Them
Why use industry-specific websites?
There’s no debating that more well-known sites like LinkedIn or Indeed have a large volume of jobs, but that’s because they cater to every position in every industry and location. Which, if you’re specifically looking for financial positions in the nonprofit sector, or openings for a construction manager in Minnesota, is not likely to be especially helpful.
Industry-specific sites, on the other hand, feature a lot less fluff — which makes it a lot more likely that you’ll find what you’re looking for. These smaller, dedicated websites often feature jobs that aren’t aggregated by the larger job boards, not to mention that you’ll be competing against fewer applicants, which all adds up to a higher chance of landing the right job.
Additionally, employers focus their recruitment efforts on smaller job sites since they get more targeted applicants (unlike Indeed where people usually apply to every single job) — this means you'll be competing against less people and will get a higher response rate.
The pros and cons of job boards
The benefits of job boards are fairly obvious: They provide an easy way to search for jobs all on one website, with many offering extra services like careers advice, professional development opportunities, and resume portals.
With access to so many features, it may be hard to see the drawbacks, but they’re there. Apart from websites that require users to pay, either to search for jobs or to access the full range of benefits, the other major disadvantage of posting your resume on job sites is the lack of customization and control. While uploading your resume and waiting for the offers to roll in sounds like the perfect alternative to actively job seeking, it isn’t always that easy.
How to get the most out of job boards
Don’t easy apply
But it’s so easy! We know — and therein lies the rub. If you’ve uploaded your resume to a job search website, why not just use the easy apply option? While it may shave off a few minutes, you aren’t doing yourself any favors by applying with a generic resume. Instead, take the time to upload a customized version of your resume for each job you apply for.
Target your resume
Even if you’re applying for jobs with the same title, or in a single industry, no two roles are identical, and no two resumes should be, either. Make sure you’re tailoring your resume to fit the position you’re applying for by pulling keywords from the job description and using an ATS resume scanner to make sure your resume can get past Applicant Tracking Systems and into the hands of a recruiter.
An effective way to target your resume to the job you’re applying for is to include hard skills and keywords related to the job in your skills section. Use the tool below to find relevant ones.
Go straight to the source
The larger websites attract a lot of resume bombing, which makes it harder for good candidates to stand out. To avoid getting lost in the crowd, once you’ve found a promising lead on a job board, go straight to the company website instead and see if they have their own application portal. This gives you a direct line to the company and may even give your resume the higher visibility it needs.