The 5 Best Job Boards We Use

Deciding which are the best job boards to use for your recruitment campaign can be a mind-boggle - because there are just SO many out there. Check out this article to find out which five we've had the most success with over the years and why.

June 20, 2023

Got an upcoming vacancy you want to advertise?

Finding the right job board to post your position on is one of the biggest challenges in the recruitment process.

With over 2,000 job boards in the UK, each with their own particular USP, it’s hard to know where to start.

Unless you don’t mind sifting through huge numbers of CVs, using one is extremely important to find the right candidate fast and minimise any disruptions in productivity.

However, with some charging up to £400 per vacancy for a four-week listing, using one (or multiple) can really make a dent in your company’s finances.

So to help you cut out some of the guesswork, we’ve put together our personal picks that have brought us a lot of success over the past year.

1. Jobsite (Starting at £110 per job posting)

As the leading British job board, with over 150,000 vacancies listed on their site every month, Jobsite is a great place to start our list.

Their personalised touch means that your job advert will be mailed out to candidates who strongly match the criteria you require. While their application deadline notifications system is a first among UK generalist job boards.

As well as being highly effective for our clients, we also value the time and care spent on improving the UX of the website. It’s easy to navigate and makes the whole process effortless.

2. CV-Library (Starting at £75 per posting)

CV-Library is the UK’s leading independent job board, hosting over 170,000 jobs across all sectors. Their handy one-click apply feature makes this job board very user-friendly and accessible for those candidates wanting to apply on the move using their mobile phones.

Their app is very simple to use as well and the personalised alerts feature has worked wonders for our recruitment team in the past.

And with job postings starting from £75, it comes as a slightly more budget-friendly option if you’re looking to save a few pennies but maximise results.

3. Total Jobs (Starting at £99 per posting)

Total Jobs might not boast as many live job ads as CV-Library or Jobsite, reaching a maximum of 110,000, but it does drive six million job seekers to their site every month.

Their emphasis on careers advice and handy salary checker feature has enabled them to become a hub for a lot of job seekers. Whether they’re talking about ways to improve your CV and cover letter or surviving redundancy, Total Jobs offer ongoing advice candidates appreciate.

Their daily email notifications also give you a further outlet to draw attention to your advert as well. Candidates love Total Jobs, so they’ll love you even more for using their job board.

4. Adzuna (Free job postings)

Adzuna is ideal for smaller businesses looking to enjoy a free job board with strong traffic figures. It’s essentially a search engine for job ads, assembling relevant ones from thousands of websites so candidates don’t have to search the internet for hours. Think Compare the Market but in the recruitment world.

Recruiter pro tip To get true success out of Adzuna may require some creativity with the post as well. Your ad will sit side by side with millions of other job adverts, so it’s important to include:
  • Keywords
  • Punchy content focused on the employee’s role
  • A location in the title

You can find out more top tips on creating the perfect job advert in our previous blog: ‘8 ways to boost your online job adverts reach’.

5. Indeed (Free and paid for posting)

Indeed is the world’s number one job site, so it’s no wonder we’ve included it in our list of job boards. It attracts over 200 million unique visitors every month from over 60 countries and is the first place to look for many job seekers.

However, with the platform being so popular, we don’t recommend it to everyone. For instance, if you’re advertising a copywriting role in central London, you’ll face tough competition. This means you have one of two options; either pay for your post to rank higher on the job board, or face a smaller influx of interest in your job role.

On the other hand, Indeed is an extremely useful job board for businesses situated in remote areas or to advertise niche jobs. For example, a copywriter role based in a small town in Herefordshire might attract a lot of relevant attention as the area isn’t as competitive as London.

You’ll also have peace of mind knowing you’d still be using the most popular job board, so traffic and application numbers should still reach an optimum.

Conclusion

While these five job boards have worked very well for us, we always recommend tracking every recruitment drive you start. (Click here to find out which metrics you should be tracking).

This way, you can monitor results and find out whether they work for you. Every business varies and every job board will attract different types of candidates, so it’s a matter of seeing for yourself.

Whether that’s choosing a different job board altogether or simply making a few copy tweaks, recording the results will enable you to identify ways to improve your recruitment campaign next time

However, if you get the job advert content right from the start, you should find the five we’ve suggested very successful.

For further reading, check out our essential checklist for job advert success. You’ll find a step by step guide to setting the right tone, making it the perfect length and addressing the job requirements.

What job board has brought you the most success? Let us know your thoughts below.

Or for more top tips on recruiting, subscribe to our blog today.

Coburg Banks - Multi-Sector Recruitment Agency
We help great people get brilliant jobs in top companies.