Even in the most favorable hiring markets, candidates often overlook small business job ads. Job seekers read through dozens, if not hundreds, of open positions. Candidates who do apply may end up not being in your area or willing to accept a small business salary. One way to improve your candidate pipeline is to advertise on job boards geared toward small and local businesses.
Consider these eight job posting sites geared toward small merchants to make your business stand out from the crowd and target candidates who are a great fit for your company.
[Read more: 5 Small Business Owners Reveal Their Best Employee Retention Strategies]
Snagajob
Snagajob is a good place to look for hourly or part-time workers. Job seekers can fill out a free profile and browse hundreds of hourly positions. Seekers can browse by hourly rates (e.g., $15-per-hour jobs vs. $30-per-hour jobs), as well as by city, by company, or by job type. Snagajob also has tools that allow you to invite candidates to interview and browse profiles to find the right fit.
Craigslist
Craigslist is a budget-friendly option that can help you find candidates right in your area. A single listing costs between $10 and $75. Post a job for a specific city or state, and tag it with a job category—there are more than 30, including accounting, finance, wholesale, web design, and others. Note that Craigslist is ideal for finding entry-level or hourly workers; it’s unlikely that you’ll find senior leaders on Craigslist.
ZipRecruiter
ZipRecruiter stands out because it is user-friendly. Take advantage of their job templates to post your first job listing in minutes. Then, the powerful matching engine searches thousands of resumes on ZipRecruiter's database and invites candidates to apply for your role. You can find a variety of experts on ZipRecruiter, including contractors and freelancers.
Indeed
Indeed is one of the biggest job sites in the world, which can make it a challenge to compete for top talent; however, Indeed is a budget-friendly option. There are no commitments or long-term fees, and you'll only pay when Indeed works for you. Plus, with millions of active candidates on the site, plenty of applicants can see your listing.
Find.jobs
Formerly known as U.S. Jobs, Find.jobs is a local job board where you can post vacancies and connect with talented professionals from a range of industries. Jobs can be sorted by expertise (e.g., web developer), by location, or both. As an employer, you can offer full-time, part-time, or contract positions for free for seven days. Job ads can reach international job seekers, too, in case you decide to offer a remote work option.
Handshake
Handshake is a little different. Billed as a "career social network," this job site only targets U.S.-based college and university graduates and allows employers to post for free. Posting on Handshake means your open position reaches more than 20 million students and alumni across more than 1500 campuses. The platform includes tools to help you manage the hiring process end-to-end—from employer brand building to sourcing candidates and integrating with most of the popular ATS systems.
PostJobFree
PostJobFree offers exactly what the name implies: unlimited, free job postings. What makes this site unique is its distribution engine. Employers can opt to have their job shared across other platforms, including Google Search, Yahoo Search, LinkedIn, Zippia, and more. For hiring teams with few resources, this can be an efficient way to reach candidates with just one post.
Locanto
Locanto is a competitor to Craigslist: It’s a classifieds site for virtually anything that includes a robust job board. The job posting service is free and can be localized by zip code. “While Locanto Jobs is not a traditional job board and lacks certain hiring services, it's a good option for local employers looking to maximize their listing's exposure at affordable rates,” wrote BetterTeam.
There are certain job boards dedicated to specific industries, as well as for remote or hybrid work styles. If you’re recruiting for a highly technical position, it might be worthwhile to include your job ad on a more targeted site.
Which job posting sites are best for local businesses?
It can be a struggle for local businesses to stand out among the hundreds of opportunities listed on job posting sites. These sites can quickly eat up your budget without connecting you to the right applicants. Look for sites that offer tools to increase the visibility of your posting, contact candidates directly, or simplify the recruiting process in other ways.
Sites that charge little or nothing to post a job are also a good bet, since it costs you nothing but time to reach a wide range of applicants. However, you might have better luck investing your time and resources into sourcing candidates from your area through your local newspaper, nearby colleges or high schools, and your local chamber of commerce.
Some small businesses have luck hiring on social media sites, especially on LinkedIn. Posting an open role to those who already follow and support your business can be a great way to get referral candidates. These sites give you full control over how you share your job, but the downside is that they don't make it easy for candidates to apply. You'll have to manually collect and sort through resumes if you post a role on, say, Instagram.
A job posting site can play a key role in your hiring strategy, especially on sites that are designed with tools to help small businesses be proactive about finding candidates. Try a few to see whether your job ads get traction and reach a wider pool of applicants.
Tips for choosing the right platform for your industry
There are certain job boards dedicated to specific industries, as well as for remote or hybrid work styles. If you’re recruiting for a highly technical position, it might be worthwhile to include your job ad on a more targeted site. Here are a few options to explore:
- Health eCareers: For employers in healthcare, including hospitals, clinics, and doctors' offices.
- Hcareers: For employers in the hospitality industry, including hotels, restaurants, event spaces, and tourism.
- Lawjobs.com: For employers in the legal industry, including law firms, corporate legal departments, and government agencies.
- Dice: For employers looking to recruit tech and IT talent.
- We Work Remotely: For employers who are open to remote talent across different skill sets, such as tech, design, customer support, and marketing.
You can also post open roles in LinkedIn groups connected to specific industries, but be prepared to get a lot of interest.
Free vs. paid job boards: What’s better for small businesses?
Many people believe that free job boards are oversaturated and attract unqualified applicants. But if you’re recruiting on a budget, free boards do have a place in your hiring strategy.
“No channel reaches every candidate, passive or otherwise. You’re better off having a mix of channels in your recruiting strategy, where you don’t say ‘no’ to candidates from free job boards who could be relevant and are actively seeking jobs (which is good),” wrote Workable.
If you do decide to go with mostly free job boards, consider investing in HR tech that can help you screen candidates at scale. The right recruiting software can evaluate candidates that are totally unsuited to the role (such as those in different cities or with the wrong level of experience). It can also create a shortlist of candidates for you to interview.
Paid job boards also have a place in your recruitment strategy, but use them wisely. The simple truth is that candidates won’t apply for your role if the job description is poorly written. Before you invest in a paid ad, consider testing your job description on a free site to see what kind of response it gets. Then, use that insight to tweak your job description and boost it on a paid site.
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