Does Your Association Have the Best Job Board Software?

With so many job board providers in the marketplace, associations can face many challenges when finding the ideal provider for them. Your job board provider should continuously work with you to find ways to maximize engagement, increase enrollment, and generate revenue.  

So, how do you know if you have the best job board software? 

The software should have stellar reviews 

More than two-thirds of software buyers say reviews significantly impact their purchasing decision. Looking at reviews can help renew your confidence in your current job board software provider, or let you know that it’s time for a change. Reviews give you a snapshot of the software you’re looking at and allow you to evaluate pros and cons from verified reviewers – many of whom are association professionals like you. 

Capterra, the world’s leading software reviews and selection platform, is a great resource. Their reviews are from real buyers who’ve been validated through a rigorous process. YM Careers has 4.6 out of 5 stars on Capterra, a higher rating than any of our competitors on the platform! 

The software should provide the following: 

For your association

Career advancement destination

Become the most reputable place for job seekers and members to job hunt by providing them access to niche jobs in your industry and offer career resources on top of open opportunities.

Learn how to elevate career advancement opportunities for your members.

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New member acquisition  

Your job board may be frequented by non-member professionals within your industry. Utilize these visitors by collecting these new, potential member leads via your career center as prime leads for membership prospecting.  

New learner acquisition  

Career opportunities and continuing education go hand-in-hand. If you offer continuing education course opportunities that correspond with relevant job opportunities, your members will see your association job board as a one-stop-shop for all things professional development.  

Advanced data, reporting, and analytics  

Empower your staff with access to job board sales, trends, data, and performance. See user behavior details that can be used to target messaging, grow revenue, and strengthen membership.  

Boost in non-dues revenue  

Employers will pay a premium to reach passive job seekers, resulting in incremental revenue for your association. In addition, you should be able to offer hiring managers additional paid options, such as job emails, banner ads, and promotions on your association’s social media feeds. These opportunities maximize exposure of their job postings while driving more non-dues revenue for your organization.

Admin portal

Regardless of the kind of job board software you choose, the software should allow for association administrators to easily access and review jobs and generate insight reports.

For your members

Higher candidate recognition for job seeking members 

Offer badges on candidate profiles and resumes to indicate they are a member of the organization.  

Personalized search and recommendations  

Increase engagement and job views by recommending opportunities to job seekers based on their prior searches.  

Relevant job openings via email  

Provide your members with emails that feature jobs from your job board directly in their inbox.  

Engaging UI design

Ensure your association branding is present with your association career center branding to allow for a seamless user experience. Be sure to highlight networking opportunities, available CEU courses, and upcoming events on prime areas of the job board homepage.  

Offer career resources  

Provide your members with opportunities to earn new certifications and credentials or learn a new skill. 

For employers

High ROI employer products  

Offer hiring managers sophisticated options that maximize exposure of their job postings to improve their return on investment.   

Candidate screening and management  

Provide employers with functionality to attract, screen, and manage applicants.  

Access to resumes  

Provide an anonymous resume bank that safeguards job seekers’ identities but allows employers to proactively approach qualified candidates for their open positions 

Employer directory

Encourage employers to place compelling facts about their organization in their Company Profile for job seekers to see.  They should include company benefits, history, mission statement, and company logo to strengthen brand awareness. 

Exclusive branding

Allocating available homepage real estate for employer banner advertisements helps employers increase their brand awareness with your members. Banner advertisement options are a way to increase the ROI by directing more traffic to their open jobs. 

Increased job exposure

Jobs optimized for search engines can reach existing and potential members through various channels by bringing them back to your job board and subsequently, your site. By sharing newly posted or Featured jobs on all channels you use to communicate with your members, employers will plainly see the value of their recruitment investment using your job board.  

The software should offer the following capabilities: 

Job alerts and matching  

Automatically send jobs to interested, relevant job seekers via email when they are posted.  

SEO and job distribution  

Optimize every job for search engines, and reach candidates through social media, email, mobile channels, and sophisticated programmatic advertising.  

Mobile responsiveness  

Allow your members to quickly apply to jobs from their mobile devices.  

Anonymous resume bank  

Allow job seekers to upload their resume for employers to proactively approach qualified candidates for their open positions while protecting the job seeker’s identity.  

Pane view job search

Job seekers search and view jobs without leaving the site. Filters are available to focus search results on finding relevant job openings. Saved resumes make viewing and applying to multiple jobs quick and easy. 

Ability to connect with AMS

Connecting your job board software with your AMS can help you recruit members and provide a better overall member experience. For example, YM Careers offers a range of APIs for integration with other systems, including YourMembership AMS by Community Brands.

Robust upgrade options

A variety of upgrades available to target and grow job exposure. Compliant upgrades to meet diversity and veteran requirements. As well as options to maximize job reach to a broad professional talent pool on and off the job board. 

Provide marketing and sales enablement 

Ensure your job board success by having dedicated marketing and recruitment advertising sales teams at your side. 

The best job board software should never be considered finished, but instead, like any good web-based service, it should always evolve and get better. That means your career center should constantly be working for the future and always planning ahead.