generic Where Can I Post Jobs for Free? Here Are the Best Free Job Boards for Finding Your Next All-Star Employee
If you need a pipeline of candidates for an open position, then don’t count out free job boards. Knowing where to post jobs for free can help you get the ball rolling quickly, and help you find candidates who are casting a wide net, as you are.
Hiring a great candidate for an open position is a lengthy, time-consuming, intense process filled with ups and downs, post-interview follow-ups, offers and hopefully the perfect person at the end. It takes a lot of dedication and the right tools to ensure your job posting hits the right eyeballs and draws in a qualified pool of applicants.
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It’s also an expensive process for companies, from the recruiter’s salary to travel expenses for applicants, time spent on interviewee’s calendars and other logistics. The average cost to a company looking to externally hire a candidate is $4,000, though cost varies depending on the role.
Regardless, we’re here to try to make that process cheaper and help you find where to post jobs for free. There are plenty of free job search engines designed for small businesses and entrepreneurs that don’t have thousands of dollars to spare every time they have an open position.
Some job boards offer an initial free trial and then a small fee after, while others offer free, non-premium membership access to post as many jobs as you want. We’ve outlined our five favorite free job boards below, all of which offer affordable and accessible options for finding the right candidate.
What Are The Best Free Job Posting Sites?
Best Free Trial: ZipRecruiter
Best For Small Teams: LinkedIn
Best For Finding Freelancers: Upwork
Best For High-Value Positions: Ladders
Best For Mobile Hiring: Indeed
Best For Internships: Chegg
Best For In-Depth Candidate Profiles: Scouted
How to Post a Job for Free
Many of the job sites below offer the ability to create a free account from which you can use their services in a limited capacity, making them an excellent solution for where to post jobs for free. Many of them offer more expensive memberships that give you the ability to post multiple job postings at once, browse unlimited numbers of candidates for your jobs, message and sometimes video chat and hire your candidate all from their site.
Posting a job on these sites almost always involves the following steps:
1. Create a Free Account: All of the job boards allow you the ability to create a free account from which you can take advantage of their free and paid services.
2. Draft a Job Posting: Next, you’ll want to draft a description of the job you’re hiring, making sure to include keywords and phrases for the relevant skills so the site’s software can match you with qualified candidates.
3. Post a Job for Free: Next, you can post the job for free, and typically browse a set number of candidates per day or total, before needing to pay to see more applicants. All of the free job boards below, however, offer at least one job posting for free.
4. Message, Interview and Hire: Many of the job sites below allow you to contact, message, negotiate with and hire your desired candidate for free as well. Some require payment for more advanced features, but in general, you’re able to complete the hiring process for free with the following tools.
1. ZipRecruiter
SPONSORED
If you’re researching where to post jobs for free, then you’ve probably already heard of our No. 1 pick in this list. ZipRecruiter offers a four-day free trial, after which you’ll need to sign up for one of their membership plans starting at $299 per month. The cost of your plan will depend on how large your company is and how many roles you’re looking to fill. During the free trial, you can post job postings and keep whichever candidates apply even after your trial is over, before signing up for a membership.
This makes your first few hires through ZipRecruiter free and gives you access to their network of over 100 job sites to which your posting instantly gets pushed. Four out of five employers on ZipRecruiter find a high-quality candidate within the first day of posting, and you’re not locked into 30-day job posts, so whenever you’re ready to post another position you’re free to do so.
Instantly submit your job to 100+ job boards
Easily boost important openings
User-friendly dashboard for employers
Free trial for employers
2. LinkedIn
GREAT FOR SMALL TEAMS
LinkedIn offers the ability to post up to one free job at a time per employer, perfect if you’re only hiring for one headcount and don’t need a ton of resources. They offer basic targeting to applicable candidates for free, as well as the ability to direct message candidates and reject applicants in bulk if needed. You can also pay to promote your job posting within search results.
For large companies, Linkedin won’t be a very practical solution for posting jobs for free, but if you’re only trying to fill one position, it can be a great resource.
Small employers can post 1 free job at a time
Job applicants are already using Linkedin
Excellent platform for networking
Promote your job posting on your company’s Linkedin page as much as you want
3. Upwork
BEST FOR FINDING FREELANCERS
Upwork is a free job board designed to find freelancers, whether they be writers, editors, designers or other part-time talent. You can post a job for free, browse candidates by talent or category, and check out an applicant’s work samples, resume and identity verification all from their site. There’s no cost until you hire someone, so the job posting and browsing for candidates is all free, and in the end you only pay for work you approve.
Find talent from all over the world
Overseas talent is often more affordable
Pay directly through Upwork platform
Get connected with verified freelancers immediately
Read reviews from other employers
4. Ladders
BEST FOR HIGH-VALUE POSITIONS
Ladders, a recruiting site aimed at helping fill six-figure salary positions, offers basic access, Lite Access, Full Access and Enterprise options for larger teams, as well. Their $0 basic plan includes:
10 job posts per month
10 résumé views per month
10 emails through their Ladders user interface
The ability to save your candidate searches so you can return to them
Ladders is a great solution for companies looking to save on the hiring process and post a job for free without sacrificing the quality of the candidate pool. They also offer the ability to sponsor job posts for a set daily or weekly budget, along with the possibility of receiving eight times the number of candidates for your role.
5. Indeed
MOBILE APPLICATIONS
Indeed is another top-notch free job board with just under 70 million users and an easy user interface where you can pre-screen candidates, connect with your top prospects and make compelling offers. They offer the ability to post jobs for free and appear in their candidates’ search results, or you can sponsor a job for as little as $5 per job per day and attract the right candidates to your position faster.
With their free job postings option you get the following:
Your job postings appear in general search results
You can accept mobile applications
Access to their candidate management tools for free
Free job postings
6. Chegg Internships
BEST FOR INTERNSHIPS
If your company is launching an internship program, then you might be reluctant to spend too much money on your job search, which is why it’s important to know where to post jobs for free. Fortunately, there are resources like Chegg Internships, which lets employers post internships for free. Unlike most free job boards, Chegg Internships has a focused mission: helping connect ambitious students and college graduates with the right internship.
With Chegg Internships, employers can:
Post internship opportunities for free
Tap into a national network of college students
Access resources on launching an internship program
7. Scouted
BEST FOR LOOKING BEYOND THE RESUME
Scouted is a job board designed to help you post a job for free, and look beyond someone’s resume to the human behind it, because the hiring process is ultimately about the people. The platform has an advanced AI that matches you with qualified, vetted candidates who have already filled out a comprehensive profile beyond just a resume and cover letter.
Every candidate on Scouted is required to fill out an in-depth questionnaire to give potential employers a sense of their personality, work style, experience, etc. You can also require potential candidates complete a short video intro, that you can observe at your leisure.
It’s free to post on Scouted, but they do charge a small percentage of the role’s salary if you hire someone using their tools. There are also paid options if you have the budget to dedicate to them.
7. Local College Job Boards
THINK LOCAL
You might not realize that there are lots of free job boards in virtually every city and region in the country where employers can post jobs for free. We’re not talking about a specific free job board, but rather the websites of colleges and universities in your area. Most colleges (even community colleges) have online resources for students, which often include job boards and local opportunities.
Often, these job boards include separate sections for internships and full-time work. Even if a college doesn’t have a public job board, they may have a newsletter or similar option for sharing your job posting with local college students and alumni. So if you’re hoping to attract high-quality candidates but don’t have a budget for promoting your job listing, then we recommend contacting colleges in your area. In addition, this can be a great way to tap into local job fairs for college students.
Get your job posting directly to local college students
No cost for employers to post jobs and internships
Support local colleges and universities
Other Ways To Promote Your Job Posting for Free
Successfully hiring a candidate is harder today than it’s ever been. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, which has been tracking labor statistics since 1884. And as of April 1 (the most recent month data was available), there were an estimated 5 million more job postings than there were job candidates searching for work. On top of that, the bureau’s “Job Openings and Labor Turnover Summary” found that an incredible 6 million workers left their jobs, a number that doesn’t include layoffs.
In short, it’s hard out there for employers.
So what can you do to extend the reach of your job posting, especially when you’re competing with companies that have a budget for paid promotion and recruiting? Employers and small business owners have to get creative. In addition to finding free job posting sites, there are several steps you can take immediately to get your job opening in front of more people:
Ask your employees to share your job postings on their social media accounts, especially Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin. You may need to ask them more than once, and it’s important to emphasize how important this request is to the company. After a few reminders, most of your team will likely be willing to lend a digital hand.
Contact local colleges and universities. As we explained above, most colleges have resources to help connect students and graduates with internships and jobs. In addition, they may have career fairs and newsletters that you can participate in for free. You can also contact local alumni networks.
Promote your jobs on Linkedin. Does your company have a Linkedin page or other social media profiles? Be sure to post links to your job postings on these channels. In general, you should create a post at least once per week until the position is filled. You can also pin the posting to the top of your feed.
Contact potential applicants directly. In today’s cutthroat labor market, you have to be willing to hustle. Employees are getting poached left and right by headhunters and recruiting firms, so don’t be afraid to reach out to qualified candidates directly via Linkedin, social media or email.
Until the labor market returns to normal, employers have to be creative to fill open positions. Often, posting a job online or using free job boards is only the first step.
Frequently Asked Questions About Posting Jobs For Free
1. Where Can I Post Jobs For Free?
Many popular job boards include a free option to post your first or first few jobs for free, and only charge you if you end up hiring a candidate via their platform. ZipRecruiter, Indeed, LinkedIn and many others make it easy to post a job for free, look at resumes and manage prospective candidates easily on their platform.
2. What Are The Largest Free Job Posting Sites in The U.S.?
ZipRecruiter, Indeed and LinkedIn all have large libraries of candidates to choose from and have advanced algorithms for sorting through lots of candidates and matching your job opportunity with the right one.
3. What Are The Pros of Posting a Job For Free?
Hiring budgets at certain companies can be limited, and it’s always a good idea to reserve resources especially if you’re trying to hire for many positions at once. Using a free job site doesn’t mean you have to skimp on the quality of the site or potential candidates, as many of the top job posting sites offer a free option.
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