How To Build a Job Search Website

One of the things that 2020’s lockdown has taught us is that the Internet is a powerful tool for finding information.

Due to the lockdown, many people have lost their jobs and were forced to explore alternative options online. As it turns out, in 60-70% of cases, people use job search websites to look for job opportunities. Indeed is the top platform used for job hiring, followed by ZipRecruiter, LinkedIn, and Facebook.

These job search platforms are extremely popular. We have built such platforms before, and below we will tell you how to build a job search website and make it competitive.

What Is a Job Search Website?

A job search website is an online platform that helps people to find employment opportunities.

With the help of job search websites, employees can create and share their resumes and search for vacancies, while employers can post job offerings and look for suitable candidates.

The first job search websites started to appear in the mid-1990s. During the dot-com boom a few years later, hundreds of websites started on the global market, and online job searching became very popular.

During the next 20 years, the world experienced huge growth in job search engines:

• The Monster Board (1994)
• CareerBuilder (1994)
• HotJobs (1996)
• Applicant Tracking Systems (1998)
• LinkedIn, The Ladders (2003)
• FlexJobs (2007)
• Glassdoor (2008)

Today, job search websites are the most popular tools to use while looking for a job. As we already mentioned, up to 70% of job seekers choose this option when they are searching for career opportunities.

Top 5 Job Search Websites 

How to build a job search website? Before starting to create a job board from scratch, it’s worth checking out who your key competitors are.

Glassdoor

It is a service that allows employees to leave reviews about the companies they worked for.

The Glassdoor website also provides its customers with the ability to search for job opportunities and post resumes/CVs. Moreover, the platform allows customers to anonymously submit and compare salaries.

Glassdoor Homepage

LinkedIn

LinkedIn is a service that focuses on employment and professional networking. 

The service helps companies to post job offerings and search for qualified candidates, while regular customers can use their accounts to post their resumes/CVs and connect with employers.

LinkedIn Homepage

Indeed

If you are thinking of how to create a job board website and its core features, we advise you to take a closer look at Indeed.

Indeed is a job-seeking website that gives employees free access to search for

• jobs
• post resumes/CVs
• companies and job opportunities

To make search results more relevant Indeed scrapes vacancies from company career pages. Additionally, employers can post job offerings directly on the Indeed platform.

Indeed Homepage

CareerBuilder

Launched in 1995, CareerBuilder was one of the first job-searching websites that helped in finding appropriate job vacancies through

• keyword searches
• detailed reports
• tips on how a job seeker can compete with other applicants

CareerBuilder Homepage

Job.com

Job.com isn’t just a website that allows customers to search for jobs. The service uses advanced data science and blockchain technologies to provide its customers with instant job matches. It’s also possible to submit a resume/CV and communicate with employers directly on the job.com platform.

Job.com Homepage

The Business Model Of a Job Searching Website

How to start a job board? Before creating a job search engine, it is worth researching to learn more about the core competitors and consider how this product should be monetized to bring revenue.

How do job boards make money? They use a working monetization model for their business. The core monetization options include fees, subscriptions, and premium features.

Listing Fees

A job listing fee is money that users pay to keep a job posting activity in the feed for a longer time.

This allows employers to have more visibility in the search results. For example, an employer who is paying the job listings fee can post job offerings that will be displayed on the website for a longer time.

Examples: Glassdoor, Indeed.

Resume Access Fees

Job searching websites that have already existing resume databases can offer paid access to them for companies that are looking for candidates.

However, this monetization model may be unsuitable for startups that have just started to grow. Nevertheless, it is always possible to include this monetization option in your future growth strategy.

Subscriptions

Monthly subscriptions allow customers to use several features to the fullest. For example, a subscribed user can post several job offerings for free.

If one wants to post multiple job offerings at a time, it is possible to purchase a monthly subscription that offers this option.

Examples: LinkedIn, Glassdoor.

Premium Features

This monetization model allows job search websites to earn money by offering some additional features for a fee.

For example, it is possible to offer the customers to use the service for free, but some features, like

• job offering advertisements (for employers)
• ability to hide CVs from the current employer (for employees)

These features may be offered for an additional fee.

Examples: Glassdoor.

7 Core Features Of a Job Search Website

How to build a job search website? Any startup needs an MVP to be developed first, and job-searching websites aren’t an exception. An MVP (minimum viable product) is the first version of a website or application that has only core functionality but offers enough value to its users.

We have gathered a list of the core features that any job search website should have.

Registration

Sign in/Sign up feature allows the customers of the job searching platform to register and log into the service.

As a standard, users are asked to specify their names, locations, emails, and passwords. It is also better to include social login options so that users can enter the website using their social network accounts such as Facebook, Google, Twitter, etc.

Sign-In Feature

Personal Profiles

The personal profiles of a job search website contain all the tools and information one may need to start searching for a job. 

Such websites as Glassdoor provide personal profiles of their customers with job filters and recommendations, and opportunities to

• explore salaries
• follow companies
• read featured articles
• obtain other valuable information

Employers, in turn, can use their profiles to share information about their companies and job offerings.

Personal Profile

Resume Creation

The resume creation feature helps users to create their resumes online. The users are asked to fill in a questionnaire about the work they do, their education, skills, previous experience, desired salary, location, and certifications.

Build a Resume Feature

File Uploader

An opportunity to upload a resume file comes in handy in those cases when the customers already have a ready-made resume. In that case, users can just upload the document without spending additional time filling in the questionnaire to build their resume.

Upload Resume Feature

Bookmarking

The bookmarking feature can be helpful when job seekers like a vacancy, but due to lack of time or hesitation can’t apply right at that moment. With bookmarking, people can save their favorite job posts to check them out later.

Bookmarking Feature

Job And Candidate Search

Using a job search website, both job seekers and employers should be able to look for suitable job options and candidates. At this point, the website should contain a search feature with such filters as

• job title
• salary
• company size
• ability to work remotely

Search Feature

Notifications

Notifications are needed to inform the users about any job search platform updates. For example, it is possible to share news, inform about job searching statistics, or remind the customers to apply for jobs or complete their resumes.

Notifications Feature

Challenges of Creating a Job Search Website

When starting a job board website, it’s important to make sure you’re ready to face some challenges. Among the most common ones are candidate mismatches and the reliability of job postings.

Candidate Mismatch

The matching algorithms of job-seeking websites help users to find their desired vacancies. The more keywords job seekers use in their resumes/CVs, the more chances they have to get onto a shortlist of companies that are searching for new teammates.

However, the problem is that lots of job seekers happen to be overqualified, or vice-versa, not skilled enough for a particular position. This causes mismatching.

Solution: Advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning can deliver more accurate search results for better matching.

For example, it is possible to use AI and ML to check not only keywords but social networking accounts to learn more about someone’s soft skills to find the results for the desired job.

Reliability Of Job Postings

When creating a job search website, it is crucial to block spam posts or remove outdated job offerings.

Solution: To avoid such problems, we suggest improving the moderation of your website, and always remembering to regulate the quality of job offering posts.

The spam issue appears when employers and companies get some personal information about job seekers. For example, by having email and phone numbers, companies can easily start spamming candidates – so make sure that the personal user information is well-protected.

Tips On How To Create a Job Search Website

Choose Your Niche

There are lots of job search websites on the market, which makes competition very tough. However, while most of the services offer wider job searching opportunities, a startup can choose a specific niche in which there are no direct competitors.

You can choose a narrow niche to get more of your customers like Gary’s Job Board did. They created a board for truck drivers. Or Creativepool, who built a platform for creative specialists.

Determine Your Target Audience

Once the niche is determined, it’s time to focus on the target audience study. For example, if you’re building a job search website for students, you can think about the integration of features such as

• part-time job posting filters
• internship and study project promotions

It is important to understand what the product’s target audience needs the most: this will not only attract more loyal customers but may help to find more monetization opportunities or ideas on how to create a better UX and architecture that will be convenient for customers.

Discover Your Competitors

Before starting any development, it is crucial to determine the core competitors. The idea of a job-searching website isn’t new. There are lots of strong players on the market, but that doesn’t mean that your job search website cannot be successful.

Competitive research helps to determine the core MVP functionality and see the strengths and weaknesses of the main competitors, so it would be easier to create your unique value proposition to stand out from the competitors and attract more users.

Choose the Monetization Model

Don’t ever start without a monetization plan. It often happens that the idea itself may be good, but its further development shows that there are no opportunities to monetize it. Think about this first after the competitor research to be sure that a job-searching product will be profitable.

For example, there are ways to monetize a job search website including

• advertisement
• partnerships
• subscriptions

Watch Market Trends To Create a UVP

Watching the current market trends helps to create a job board website that is unique and in high demand. For example, in 2020, remote working became very popular due to lockdown. In the USA there are already 44% of employees who started working remotely during COVID-19 compared to 17% during pre-coronavirus times.

Such a trend may be an idea of a job-searching service that is only dedicated to remote jobs. Such approaches help to distinguish startups from the existing services due to their UVP – the unique value proposition – something unique that you can offer for your users that no competitor has. A UVP helps to expand the market of potential customers.

How to Build a Job Search Website: SaaS vs Custom Development 

While SaaS allows a job search website to be delivered more quickly, custom development provides more room for customization and scalability. Let’s dive into some details about each solution.

SaaS Solutions

SaaS solutions are a simple way to create a job search website. Such software providers offer ready-made solutions that allow building and maintaining a service for a fee.

However, a product created with SaaS will be difficult to customize, so such a solution may be great for those who need their idea to be implemented quickly. Let’s talk about the pros and cons of SaaS more precisely.

Core Benefits of SaaS Solutions

• Easy to use. No technical knowledge or coding skills needed. The hosting and upgrades are included in the package.
• Low price. SaaS fees are cheaper than custom development. However, usually such services have fewer options for customization and won’t allow building a website with complex functionality.

SaaS Pitfalls

• Impossible to customize. With an SaaS solution, it is only possible to use the ready-made templates. Forget about implementing your own features or changing the existing ones.
• No control. Along with controlling maintenance and updates, the service provider also controls all rights.

Custom Development

Usually, custom development gives entrepreneurs more control over the product they create. 

Long story short, custom development is the process of creating a job search website that includes

• manual design
• coding
• deployment

It allows creating scalable products, implementing all the required features, and changing them if needed.

Custom Development Pros

• Scalability. Custom development allows choosing the core features to implement first for an MVP. Once the business idea is verified and feedback is analyzed, it is possible to carry on the development of a fully featured product.
• Customization. When creating a custom job search website, it is possible to customize everything – from architecture solutions to UX/UI design.

Custom Development Cons

• Time. This solution option requires more time and is more expensive than a SaaS solution.
• Pricing. Custom development is more expensive than ready-made solutions – naturally, quality takes more time and money. However, there is always an opportunity to find cheaper options – for example, by choosing the right outsourcing destinations.

Cost to Build a Job Search Website

The cost of a future job search website usually depends on:

• number and complexity of features
• technology choice
• staff costs
• maintenance time.

Number and Complexity of Features

More complex products require longer development, which means higher expenses. That’s why it is always better to start with minimum viable product development.

An MVP approach allows entrepreneurs to implement all the core features they need on a budget. The MVP core features provide enough value to

• target audience
• deliver products in a shorter time
• launch more quickly

Once an MVP is ready, it’s time to analyze the feedback received from the first customers. Also, it helps to represent the service to investors.

Technology

The technology choice determines all the further development of the future job search website. When choosing a tech stack, it’s crucial to pay attention to factors such as

• flexibility
• scalability
• popularity of the chosen technology

Staff Costs

How do you start a job search website on a budget? Any product development requires specialists such as

• business analysts
• project managers
• UX and UI designers
• software developers
• quality assurance engineers

At this point, labor costs may be expensive once you’re hiring an in-house team, which requires additional taxes and office rentals

However, it is always possible to save more time and money by hiring an outsourced team. For instance, the most popular outsourcing destinations such as Eastern Europe, Asia, and Latin America offer hourly rates that vary from $25 to $50.

Our Experience

B2C Consulting Marketplace

B2C Consulting Marketplace is an online consulting marketplace for job consultants and job seekers. During the consultations, job seekers receive career guidance services that help to identify

• their values
• interests
• professional talents

Our client’s goal was to extend an existing MVP with new essential functionality.  

Our solution:

After the product analysis, we decided to implement the most time – and cost-effective solution: to create a sub-marketplace that is connected to the core platform via an API.

Our team enriched our client’s marketplace with an opportunity to use online video consultations.

Now, job seekers can book a personal consultation to get professional recommendations for improving their careers.

SAFHYRE

SAFHYRE is an online recruiting platform that helps job seekers and employers to find each other. Additionally, SAFHYRE also allows employers to use the database of job candidates.

Our solution:

When we met our clients, they only had an idea for an online recruiting platform. So Sloboda Studio helped to create the service from scratch.

During the product development process, our team provided SAFHYRE with a full development cycle and helped to implement features such as:

• Matching algorithm
• Email notifications
• Preview, save, and publish a job vacancy
• Edit job post details or delete job posts
• Search and filter resumes
• View candidates’ profiles
• Share a resume
• Contact the candidate
• View the employer’s job posts

Final Thoughts

Building a job search website entails some challenges:

• high system load
• lots of functionality
• strong competitors

Sloboda Studio has already gone through these challenges with a number of our customers. We know how to face the challenges of creating your job platform and building a successful product.

How do you start a job website? Follow this simple plan to make your product development process go more smoothly:

• Step 1. Conduct a discovery phase to learn more about the market, choose a niche, and study the core competitors.
• Step 2. Estimate your future product and determine the features your MVP requires.
• Step 3. Find a reliable and professional team.
• Step 4. Develop and test your product.
• Step 5. Make sure to maintain it after launching.

Got any other questions about how to build a job search website?

Sloboda Studio has been developing projects and supporting businesses for 11 years. Our team is here and we are ready to help in creating your job search website. Book a free consultation with us.