The 2008 Top 100 US Job Board Niches report lists the 100 most searched for job categories. For each of these employment categories it lists the top ranked job boards according to Google but excludes the following:

A reasonably sophisticated friend (working on his Ph.D.) admitted to me recently that he has never heard of Monster or CareerBuilder.com and that got me thinking about the word 'job board' -- how many people actually know it?

I've been working in the job board industry for 11 years and come to realize 'job board' is not in the dictionary nor in Wikipedia. So what would the Wikipedia page for 'job board' look like? Maybe something like this:

A job board is a website that publishes job ads and is dedicated to matching employers with job seekers.

Contents

Here is why I am so fascinated by the free classifieds concept and in particular free job boards -- they create more value than they capture. I came across this thinking in a post by Aaron Wall today and realized that it perfectly illustrates a serious flaw in the typical job board business model. Generally speaking and within reason, we capture as much value as we can. And that makes us vulnerable, inspires competition and limits our growth. The quote that grabbed me comes from Tim O'Reilly's blog:

We just launched a website that aggregates the top career advice blogs - the site is only a few days old so you can expect to see some nice improvements happening in a couple of weeks.

Since this website builds on our experience with InternetRecruitingNews.com it's not really as crappy as you might expect for a few days work. Our Croatian designer disappeared weeks ago, so I had to do the logo myself and that's probably the weakest link!

Suggestions for improvements?

 

I love the job board business but could never have imagined the roller coaster ride that it is... sometimes talking to other job board people is just good therapy, because many of these things or some variation on them will happen to everyone sooner or later. This morning, I started this list in frustration after a database server crash.

Competition

Experience has taught me to launch first and fix later. Today Jason Calacanis' blog has a great explanation for this strategy.

Inspired by Sahar's how to ruin your health, here's my advice for how to fail in business on the Internet:

10. Write long e-mails, click more, faster. Most people read carefully and repetitive strain injuries do not happen to entrepreneurs.

9. Think about nothing but your business as long as you are awake. Do that 7 days a week, 52 weeks a year, year in and year out. It’s good for your health and relationships too!

8. Stay highly focused. Avoid networking and do not attend events outside your niche. You can get more done at your desk than anywhere else.

I am reviewing hundreds of job boards with top rankings in Google. It feels a little bit like rummaging through a landfill looking for something clean and usable. There is a lot of junk out there! Here is what you need to do to make sure you don't blend in with the garbage.

Build credibility in every way you can:

How do you launch a new job board or website? Once it is designed and built, you have a problem -- no links, no Google PR rank, and no visitors. Even with the best content, traffic does not happen magically. You have a chicken and egg problem -- no one will take you seriously, until other people take you seriously. And launching a job board is more complicated than most other ventures. Joel Spolsky explains why in How Hard Could it Be?: