Launching a job board? Are you really really sure?
Thursday, February 2, 2012 at 6:44AM Are you launching a job board or planning to launch one? If so then good for you. There is still money to be made in niche job boards.
However you should go into it with your eyes wide open because the reality is that most new job boards fail, and generally in a spectacular exploding-rocket-like ball of flames.
I have been working in the job board space since I started my first site in 2002 and have observed hundreds if not thousands of sites come and go in the time. Here are some of the main reasons why a new job board will most likely fail;
1. Generating traffic is difficult. No doubt about it, generating significant traffic to a job board takes time, patience, careful planning and money. You won't do it in one year and it won't be cheap.
2. Getting job content is difficult and expensive. On the one hand multi posting systems have made it easier for advertisers to post jobs to more job boards, however as a result of this advertisers are constantly bombarded by new job boards wanting their job ads and have become cynical.
3. Your pants are down. Recruiting and job posting systems now measure applicant numbers, placement data and a range of other stats that show the advertiser how your job board is performing. So there is no hiding. If your job board is all pants then you will not retain customers past an initial 30 or 60 day free trial.
4. You will probably run out of money. Not because it is incredibly expensive to run a job board but because you have most likely not factored in the time it takes and the realistic amount of money you need to generate traffic and integrate to all the third party platforms. Advertisers rarely post job ads manually these days so if you want their ads you must integrate to their recruitment system or their job posting systems right from the outset. This costs money both at your end in dev and testing and also at their end. Most third party systems will ask you to share the cost of the initial integration so you must be sure to budget for this.
5. There's not much love. All business owners want love. A bit of appreciation and an occasional pat on the back go a long way when you work your butt off. Unfortunately no one is going to share any love with you in the job board game. Advertisers don't really value what you do even if they make hires or placements from it. They will always want more from you for less. And job seekers are busy searching for a job so they don't stop by to say "hey nice site" and "thanks for helping me find a job". So if it's love you seek then a job board is a blow up doll.
If this article discourages you then that's cool. It means you are most likely delusional and I have just saved you a LOT of money.
However if you have read this and are still on your horse with your visor down, charging the line then I slap your horse's arse and wish you safe passage.
Reader Comments (2)
I find it really disappointing that you think that you can't get any love from a blow up doll. There have been some amazing advances in technology over the last few years.......
Dear potential job boards
Before you call me offering me the exclusive privilege of listing my jobs on your site for the special discounted rate of $100 per job, so that I can leverage the 7 people that visit your site each month. Please stop, and take a moment to read this blog post and all will become clear.