In today’s competitive hiring landscape, employers are constantly searching for high-quality talent, and association job boards provide a unique advantage that general job sites simply can’t match. Unlike broad, generic job platforms, association job boards connect employers directly with highly skilled professionals who are already engaged in a specific industry or profession. This niche focus, combined with the association’s trusted reputation, networking opportunities, and industry resources, makes association job boards a powerful tool for both job seekers and employers.
Understanding and leveraging these advantages can help your association attract more employers to your job board and create a thriving hub for industry-specific recruitment. Read our blog for strategies to enhance your job boards’ competitive advantage today.
Why association job boards have a competitive advantage
Your association’s job board offers multiple benefits to employers. Association job boards have a competitive advantage because they cater to a highly targeted audience, offering industry-specific job postings that attract both top talent and employers within a particular field.
Here’s why association job boards stand out:
1. Niche audience
Associations serve a specific industry or profession, meaning job boards affiliated with them attract qualified candidates who are already engaged in that field.
2. Trusted reputation
Employers and job seekers see associations as authoritative sources in their industries, making their job boards more credible compared to general job sites.
3. High-quality candidates
Association members tend to be the most engaged and high performing professionals in an industry, with specialized skills or knowledge.
4. Networking opportunities
Association job boards are often integrated with networking events, conferences, and online communities, giving job seekers and employers more ways to connect.
5. Access to passive candidates
Many professionals who may not actively be searching for jobs visit their association’s website for industry news, training, or certifications, making them more likely to see job postings.
6. Additional industry resources
Associations often provide career development resources, certifications, and educational tools, making their job boards a more comprehensive employment resource.
7. Better matching
Some association job boards offer customized matching services or vetting processes, ensuring a higher level of relevancy between job seekers and employers.
Because of these advantages, association job boards can command premium job posting fees while delivering higher-quality applicants, making them an attractive choice for employers looking for specialized talent.
4 top ways to attract employers to your association’s job board
Only your association provides access to such a concentrated niche audience of talent in your industry or profession. With the right tools and approaches, you can use this competitive advantage to attract more employers to your association’s job board.
Here are four fantastic techniques to get started:
1. Generate leads
Because of your association’s brand, some employers already know to go to you to reach job seekers by posting their jobs on your job board. But for every one employer that is posting on your job board, there could be nine other employers with relevant job openings that are not.
When employers could use your help, they hang out a sign declaring just that – in the form of a job posting on their website and other job board sites. So, if you have a salesperson or sales team, make sure they have a process in place to find these employers, reach out to them, and explain why they should turn to your association’s job board as a recruitment solution.
An effective way to find employers is to search for relevant open jobs on job board sites and then reach out to the employers to explain why your association’s job board is ideal to help them connect with more qualified candidates (your members). One way to do this is to set up job alerts on big aggregator sites with terms that are relevant to your profession, so you will regularly get an email with new relevant jobs (leads).
You can also use more sophisticated methods, such as job scraping on the web to make sure that you know every open job out there that should be on your job board. This way, your association can reach employers with a relevant and timely message encouraging them to advertise with you.
2. Make a strong sales pitch to employers
Making a good sales pitch is crucial in attracting employers to your association’s job board. Best practices include placing a phone call, then sending an email, then following up in a day or so with another brief email. When making these outreaches, little tweaks in content can make a significant difference.
Here’s an example of what not to do:
Weak sales pitch
In this pitch, the salesperson starts by talking about himself versus the employer and the value proposition. Employers are busy and more likely to respond if you get straight to the point.
This example also uses lots of different fonts and colors, which makes the email seem spammy. It also includes a photo of the sender, which can trigger a junk filter.
The email also would have been more impactful if it included job seeker data and demographics. Perhaps most importantly, the email should start with data about the talent that the organization can provide access to instead of leading with pricing and offering discounts.
Strong sales pitch
Now let’s consider a good sales pitch. This one is short, direct, and highly relevant, addressing the specific role this employer needs to fill. It also uses data to make its case. And finally, it closes with a clear call to action. This pitch shows that there are many compelling reasons for Binder & Binder to advertise its job with the State of Texas Bar Association Career Center.
3.Tell a convincing story to employers
In addition to generating leads, it’s important to market your association’s job board as professionally as you would other association products that you sell. An effective way to attract employers to your job board is to provide them with a compelling story about the job board.
For example, a short video that tells employers about your members and how your job board works can go a long way. Email marketing and landing pages are also great tactics when well-executed.
Giving employers a professional media kit that highlights the demographics of your members and how your various products help employers reach them is another effective technique. Providing a job board media kit will help ensure your recruitment value proposition is clearly understood, and that the products employers buy from you will get them the best return on their investment.
4. Offer employers more ways to reach your members
Another way to attract employers is to provide added ways to reach your members – beyond job postings. Here are some examples:
1. On-site career fairs
One “add-on” for employers is on-site career events. To reach more job seekers, employers will often sponsor booths to recruit at on–site career fairs. Sponsorships present an opportunity for employers to reach job seekers and for your association to enhance non-dues revenue.
At your events, consider sectioning off part of your exhibit floor, using an adjacent ballroom, or even setting aside a section of a hallway where employers can speak directly to job seekers.
To further enhance your career events, offer resume or CV reviews, private on-site interview booths, headshot photos, career coaching, and more. Elevate opportunities for your job board by selling job posting packs, booth sponsorships, and employee signage during your career events.
2. Virtual career fairs
Virtual career fairs work just as well as on-site events. Virtual career fair platforms can provide a great experience for both job seekers and employers. During a typical event, employers can live-screen dozens or hundreds of candidates, and candidates can screen dozens of employers, in just hours.
Clean reporting and workflows make following up on both sides easy and organized. Many associations hold multiple virtual events each year, never charging members or job seekers, but generating non-dues revenue from the sale of recruiter booths and sponsorships.
3. Recruitment guides
If you are in an industry in which hiring is in high demand, consider offering a “recruitment guide.” Typically, these guides are created and distributed with an association’s annual conference or meetings. It is a stand-alone supplement, essentially a magazine publication, that is available in hard copy and electronically so that both in-person and virtual attendees can view it.
A recruitment guide offers another way for employers to tell their story as an employer brand and to highlight the relevant jobs they have open for your association’s members. Employers can even include videos in the electronic version to convey how they provide the ideal place to work.
Learn more ways to attract employers to your association’s job board
Association job boards offer an unmatched opportunity for employers to connect with top-tier, highly qualified professionals within a specific industry. By leveraging a trusted reputation, a niche audience, and additional resources like networking events, career fairs, and recruitment guides, associations can position their job boards as the go-to hiring solution.
To maximize this advantage, associations must actively engage employers with strong sales pitches, targeted marketing efforts, and innovative ways to enhance job board value. With the right strategy, your association’s job board can become an indispensable resource for both job seekers and recruiters, strengthening your organization’s role in the industry while driving revenue growth.
