This article is sponsored by ZipRecruiter, the #1 hiring site.
Where is the best place to post a job? Where is the best place to actually find a job?
If you’re an employer, you’re writing a job post, zapping it out to the entire universe with the help of a job site, and scanning your incoming applicants. As a job seeker, you’re uploading your resume and waiting for incoming interest while you apply to jobs that suit you.
With hundreds of job boards and hiring sites to choose from, how can you decipher the right fit for you?
Is Indeed better because they have more resumes? Is ZipRecruiter the better option because you need to hire for more open roles? Is Craigslist still around?
We read reviews all over the internet—and we're here to profile the strengths and weaknesses of the seven most powerful hiring sites on the internet. Once you decide where to post your job, check out these secrets to using the top search engines.
1. ZipRecruiter
Works Best For: Best for growing businesses with plans to hire regularly
Best Feature: Powerful job posting and recruiter tools like their Invite to Apply tool.
Weakness: Can be a pricier option for very small businesses
Best Feature: Powerful job posting and recruiter tools like their Invite to Apply tool.
Weakness: Can be a pricier option for very small businesses
ZipRecruiter is perhaps unsurprisingly #1 on this list, but that doesn’t mean we are biased. Really! No, Really. We’re here to guide hiring managers (and job seekers) to the hiring site that is going to work best for their needs.
Here at Career Contessa, we have our own job board, where we host job opportunities. However, whenever we are approached by a larger company looking to fill multiple roles across different locations, we redirect them to ZipRecruiter.
ZipRecruiter is not just a hiring site. When you post a new job opening on ZipRecruiter, the site syndicates your post across other job board websites. This means many more people see your position, improving your odds of finding the right candidate. ZipRecruiter takes care of sending that job post out to over 100 top job boards.
In fact, ZipRecruiter’s big claim to fame is impressive. Eighty percent of employers who post a job on ZipRecruiter are matched with at least one quality candidate within the first 24 hours of posting.
That’s not surprising once you read up on ZipRecruiter's technology and tools. Hiring managers have access to ZipRecruiter's powerful matching technology, their “Invite to Apply” tool, and a host of features to make hiring the best candidates streamlined.
Other ZipRecruiter Reviews:
- CareerCloud (Best Overall Hiring Platform)
- G2
2. LinkedIn
Works Best For: Employers who want to build relationships before they need to hire
Best Feature: Access to professionals
Weakness: Dated and often confusing interface
Best Feature: Access to professionals
Weakness: Dated and often confusing interface
LinkedIn is the original social network for professionals—and it’s remained the most popular professional social network since 2003.
With over 750 million users, LinkedIn is a huge network of active professionals. That doesn’t necessarily mean that everyone is a job seeker, but it’s a great place to make soft connections to consider hiring down the line.
To hire on LinkedIn, hiring managers and recruiters should head to LinkedIn Talent Solutions to access all the tools to find new employees.
There are two ways to use LinkedIn to hire. The Recruiter Lite package, at $140 per month, gives users access to limited database access, search filters, and a set number of monthly messages and alerts. This is perfect for smaller businesses without large HR teams.
The complete LinkedIn Recruiter package is best for medium or large businesses. All the access to professionals will cost you. Contact LinkedIn for pricing for LinkedIn Recruiter.
Other LinkedIn Reviews:
- TechRadar (4 out of 5 stars)
3. Monster
Works Best For: A hiring manager looking to hire for a simple role without any frills
Best Feature: Huge database (+ a pretty cool mascot, no?)
Weakness: Lacks powerful features
Best Feature: Huge database (+ a pretty cool mascot, no?)
Weakness: Lacks powerful features
Founded in 1999, Monster is basically the twenty-something grandfather of job sites. Monster has a variety of options for customers looking to post a job. With paid plans, Monster starts at $279 per month for a single post.
With all their experience, Monster's recruitment process focuses on making the hiring process easier. To that end, hiring managers can use one of over 2,000 template job descriptions to make writing their own job descriptions much easier. Once the job hits the wild west of the internet, Monster's tools rank candidates according to the fit for the role.
Monster's ease of use is central. To that end, however, Monster has fewer features than competitors like ZipRecruiter or Indeed.
Other Monster Reviews:
4. Indeed
Works Best For: Best for small businesses with limited budgets
Best Feature: A huge database with reportedly over 200 million resumes
Weakness: Plain interface
Best Feature: A huge database with reportedly over 200 million resumes
Weakness: Plain interface
With over 250 million monthly users, Indeed is the largest online job search engine.
Indeed offers the option to post a job for free, but the saying “you get what you pay for” is true. To expand reach, employers can sponsor a job starting at $5 per day.
Once employers find candidates they want to hire, Indeed has a variety of recruiting tools to help the process. Hiring managers can use Indeed to schedule interviews, conduct video interviews, and organize candidates.
Other Indeed Reviews:
5. CareerBuilder
Works Best For: A larger business looking for a customized hiring solution
Best Feature: Integrates with most existing software
Weakness: Pricey
Best Feature: Integrates with most existing software
Weakness: Pricey
Founded in 1995, CareerBuilder has been around for quite a while. Businesses rely on CareerBuilder to help attract the best candidates for their open roles and job listings.
Using Cloud Talent Solution, CareerBuilder is able to match employers with candidates easier than ever.
CareerBuilder offers three tiers of pricing for employers along with a customizable plan based on hiring needs. The “lite” package starts at $219 per month and includes one job listing, resume matching, application alerts, and more.
The standard tier is $399 per month and includes 3 job listings. The Pro tier is $599 per month and includes 5 jobs per month. Other cool features include
Other CareerBuilder Reviews:
- CareerCloud Review
- TechRadar Review (3 out of 5 stars)
6. Glassdoor
Works Best For: People who love data + employers who want to pay competitively
Best Feature: Information on other companies and their salary data
Weakness: Some data is locked until you contribute information
Best Feature: Information on other companies and their salary data
Weakness: Some data is locked until you contribute information
Glassdoor also offers custom email templates to speed up your process, as well as analyze site visits and engagement, customize your profile depending on which part of the world you’re scouting, and personalize how candidate profiles view yours. Brand advertising lets you target qualified applicants.
The three options for Glassdoor posting are Free (basic), Standard, and Select (premium). Standard goes for $219 and Premium for $599. These plans let you promote your brand and target the right candidates for your job posts and avail of add-ons.
Other Glassdoor Reviews:
- TechRadar (4 out of 5 stars)
7. Craigslist
Works Best For: Small business looking for a local candidate or to hire for gig work
Best Feature: Easy to use
Weakness: Zero frills
Best Feature: Easy to use
Weakness: Zero frills
Craigslist gets a bad rap for some weird activity that goes in other sections, but their jobs section is easy to use, especially when dealing with a local hire.
Unlike the other hiring platforms here, Craigslist doesn’t have all the bells and whistles. It doesn’t integrate with applicant tracking systems. It doesn’t feature advanced AI or matching software.
Craigslist is a barebones, mostly unchanged digital echo of the classified section of a paper newspaper. As such, it’s great for a small business looking to fill a single role or gig work.
