Even in the most favorable hiring markets, candidates often overlook small business job ads. Job seekers took 241 days to land a job in 2024, reading through dozens, if not hundreds, of open positions. Even after applying, candidates may not be in your area or willing to accept a small business salary.
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.
Look for sites that offer tools to increase the visibility of your posting, contact candidates directly, or simplify the recruiting process in other ways.
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. In addition to reaching more than 9 million students and alumni, small businesses gain access to diversity and inclusion experts who can help diversify their workforce. There are also tools built into the site that cover video interviews, virtual events, and analytics.
Jora
Jora positions itself as a competitor to Indeed. It's completely free for job seekers, and employers can post 10 free job listings per month. Jora's simple, intuitive website acts as a search engine for job listings, sourcing positions listed on job sites across the U.S. and 24 other countries. Note that you'll be unable to casually browse resumes. Candidates must apply directly to you, as there is no candidate database.
PostJobFree
PostJobFree offers exactly what the name implies: unlimited, free job postings. The real benefit to this platform is its search engine.
"On average, PostJobFree attracts more than 2.1 million local and global job posts and 7.4K resume uploads per week," wrote the experts at BetterTeam. Listings on this site are likely to show up in Google searches as well as other job platforms. If you're looking to broaden your pipeline, this is a good place to start.
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 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.
CO— aims to bring you inspiration from leading respected experts. However, before making any business decision, you should consult a professional who can advise you based on your individual situation.
CO—is committed to helping you start, run and grow your small business. Learn more about the benefits of small business membership in the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, here.
