Job boards and job portals at a glance

What job boards do

For many vacancies the job advert remains the most important route to applications. Generalist job boards offer broad reach across occupations and regions. Specialist boards address particular groups – IT professionals, apprentices, students and graduates, medical or legal professions – and often deliver better-matched applications with less wastage.

Beyond the advert itself, many portals offer employer profiles, access to CV databases, matching functions or events. Some platforms also place freelancers or staff for short-term assignments.

What to look for in a job board

Which board fits depends on the role, not on the size of the portal. These points help when comparing:

• Audience: which occupations, experience levels and regions actually use the portal?
• Scope of service: duration, placement, refreshing of the advert, employer profile and extra reach through partner networks.
• Pricing: fixed price per advert, bundles, flat rate or performance-based billing per click or application.
• Connectivity: posting adverts from the ATS or via multiposting, and return of applications without manual effort.
• Data protection and reporting: GDPR-compliant transfer of applicant data and figures on views and applications per advert.

Jobboard, Talent Acquisition or Sourcing?

A job board is one channel. Talent Acquisition & Employer Branding covers solutions that manage adverts across several channels and strengthen the employer brand. Sourcing does not wait for applications but approaches talent directly. The ATS manages whatever comes in through the boards.