For recruiters and hiring managers, platforms like Indeed, ZipRecruiter, and LinkedIn can offer a critical lifeline to target talent. However, access to those candidates by successfully posting on their platform may feel like navigating a minefield. With ever-changing requirements and guidelines that are often not well-known, the risk of having your job post go unoptimized—or worse, end up in “Job Board Jail”—is higher than ever.
But there is good news, modern hiring platforms like Datapeople ensure each platform’s unique requirements are addressed automatically, without the laborious game of guess and check. Datapeople will ensure you systematically avoid “Job Board Jail” while improving the quality and efficacy of your hiring process.
The hidden complexities of job board posting
One of the biggest challenges in job board posting is the lack of visibility into the rules and guidelines set by these platforms. For instance, many companies are unaware that Indeed has specific requirements around job titles, descriptions, and even how you format salary information. Failure to comply with these guidelines can result in your job post being flagged, hidden (job board jail), or even removed entirely. This can have a significant impact on your ability to attract the right candidates and, ultimately, achieve successful hiring outcomes.
The complexity doesn’t end with Indeed. Each platform has its own set of rules. ZipRecruiter might restrict the use of certain links, while LinkedIn may have its own preferences for job title length or frequency of job refreshing. For recruiters and hiring managers, keeping up with these changing requirements can be a daunting task.
To the credit of the job boards, they do publish their guidelines. However, tracking them down takes time, and the frequency of changes and specificity of requirements (that platforms don’t share) make compliance difficult. Below is a list of a few we have found most influential to posting success, some of which we’ve summarized in our own Datapeople help article. Please note, that this is not a comprehensive list to avoid Job Board Jail.
Indeed
- Free job posting eligibility
- Post jobs on LinkedIn
- Job post visibility
- Pay found in job posts – Best practices
ZipRecruiter
Non-compliance leads to “job board jail”
When job posts fail to meet the platform’s guidelines, they might not be promoted effectively. Even worse, there are times they get stuck in “Job Board Jail”—a term used to describe when job posts are neither clearly posted nor rejected. When in “Job Board Jail” job posts are in a limbo where they are virtually invisible to potential candidates. This limbo state often goes unnoticed until a company seeks to view its job post directly on the platform. This can be particularly frustrating for companies that rely on these platforms to source talent. This unseen status may have significant financial consequences. In addition to elongating time-to-fill, it unnecessarily encourages companies to spend to promote posts.
The implications of this can be far-reaching. Jobs that are hidden or poorly promoted can lead to missed opportunities, longer time-to-fill, and ultimately, a negative impact on critical business objectives and outcomes. For companies seeking critical talent, the last thing they need is for their job posts to be lost in the shuffle due to a lack of compliance with platform guidelines. For them, “Job Board Jail” can be a harsh punishment for a minor infraction.
Guidance through the maze
Witnessing the struggle of companies to successfully and consistently post to job boards, led Datapeople to embrace the role of guide. Job writers using the Datapeople Smart Editor, benefit from consultative guidance on platform-specific requirements such as salary formatting, job title optimization, and other best practices. This guidance removes the burden of remembering platform requirements and posting nuances allowing writers to focus solely on crafting the highest-performance job post. With Datapeople, companies can ensure that job posts are properly indexed and visible to candidates every time.
In our experience, just providing guidance may not always be enough. At times writers may disagree with the guidance which may not align with their historical experiences or expectations. To ensure the guidance is adopted, Datapeople provides actionable and insightful tooltips that explain the science and rationale. Merely making someone aware of requirements, is marginally better than a posting checklist. With Datapeople you can make them understand and care.
Datapeople provides support to customers to help them understand the latest job board compliance standards and the philosophy behind our Smart Editor guidance. Our Customer Success Managers help customers standardize and ensure compliance with consideration toward their unique organizational needs and brand voice. Datapeople University provides an opportunity for Talent Acquisition teams to go deeper in optimizing their job posts to attract more diverse and qualified candidates.
The specifics and importance of pay transparency
One of the most contentious areas in job board postings is pay transparency. With growing pressure for companies to be transparent about salaries, a push enforced by many states, provinces, and municipalities, job boards have introduced strict guidelines on how this information should be presented. However, compliance isn’t always straightforward. For example, Greenhouse’s default method of presenting pay transparency information has been found to be non-compliant with Indeed’s guidelines. For many companies, their ATS standards may lead to reduced visibility or hidden job posts aka “Job Board Jail”.
This issue is well-known within the HR tech and recruiting industry, and it highlights the delicate balance that job boards must maintain. On one hand, they serve as gatekeepers, ensuring that job posts meet certain standards. On the other hand, they can act as both “good cop” and “bad cop.” Enforcing compliance in ways that may not always align with a company’s existing practices and go far beyond regulatory compliance.
The good news is that satisfying job board compliance, at least as it relates to pay transparency, also results in superior alignment with candidate expectations and best practices. As a Datapeople study concluded, the inclusion of a pay range in a job post improves candidate pool quality and positively impacts critical hiring outcomes.
Confidently avoid job board jail
To avoid the pitfalls of “Job Board Jail,” companies need to stay informed about the ever-changing requirements of job posting platforms. This means not only keeping up with updates to guidelines but also understanding the nuances of each platform’s expectations.
A maze of complexity awaits
- Duplicate Content: Posting the same job listing multiple times or having identical job descriptions across various listings can lead to penalties. Duplicate content is seen as spammy and/or manipulative.
- Low Quality or Spammy Content: Job postings that lack detail, contain excessive keywords, or appear to be spammy can be flagged. Quality and relevance are crucial for job listings to ensure they provide real value to job seekers.
- Incorrect Categorization: Posting jobs in incorrect categories or using misleading job titles can result in the job being flagged. Accurate categorization of the job board delivers relevant job postings to users.
- Violation of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Best Practices: Excessive keyword stuffing or other SEO manipulations might result in job postings being penalized. Job boards focus on providing genuine and useful job content to their users.
Even minor infractions can end up in “Job Board Jail”
- Reduced Visibility: Jobs that are flagged or restricted may not appear in search results, reducing their visibility to potential candidates. This can lead to fewer applications and decreased overall reach.
- Impact on Employer Brand: If employers repeatedly face issues with Job Board Jail, it can impact their reputation.
If you’ve ever experienced “Job Board Jail,” your company may find that it is easier to reoffend. Many job boards offer less grace to previous offenders. Further, being put in jail isn’t something that the job board is forthcoming with. Many companies only realized this after they looked at their candidate pipelines and sources.
Customers of Datapeople have found that the platform plays a critical role in successfully navigating this maze. In-context guidance supported by actionable and educational tooltips builds understanding and compliance. To easily identify any that might have slipped through the cracks, Datapeople Insights provides at-a-glance check-ups for key requirements such as salary disclosure. Datapeople’s platform ensures that your job posts are optimized for performance, visibility, and compliance.
In a world where the rules of job board posting are constantly shifting, having a trusted partner to guide you through the process can make all the difference between a successful hire and a missed opportunity. Let’s discuss how Datapeople can effortlessly improve your job board compliance propelling your hiring outcomes to greater heights!
