How to Apply for Jobs on Job Boards
People often ask us "Which job boards should I use?" Each recruitment board is different, but here are some things to keep in mind when you decide to post your resume:
- Job seekers should be cautious of any employer or job that requires the job seeker to pay training or application fees. Requiring a candidate or potential candidate to pay fees is a red flag for fraud. CT Department of Labor recommends using CTHires, a free recruitment service that contains real, vetted, and available jobs.
- All job boards require you to either upload your resume or copy and paste parts of it into fields. To make it easier to copy and paste from your resume, have a version that doesn’t have graphics, borders, or tables.
- Most job boards will give you the option to post your resume and apply for jobs. When looking at jobs on various sites, keep in mind that not every employer looking for candidates will be posting jobs. Many employers use these sites as a resume database. Therefore, you should not be discouraged if you are not seeing jobs in your field.
- To ensure potential employers view your resume, you need to carefully follow the instructions for posting your resume. Employers may use keyword or other software to sort resumes, so you may need to tailor your resume to address skills that appear in the job posting. The American Job Centers have in-person and virtual appointments that can help you learn how to create, post, and update your resume.
- Many job boards have alerts that let you know when a job matching your criteria is added to the site. Be sure to set up these alerts so that you can apply for new job opportunities as soon as they are posted. You may establish multiple alerts with job post links going directly to your email.
Job Boards to Consider:
CTHires – This job board from the state is the one used by American Job Centers. It is a free service that has vetted employers and job posts. You benefits because the jobs and employers have gone through an extra layer of authorization to post to ensure the jobs are real and available.
CT Department of Labor is not endorsing or recommending any of the following Job Boards. This is not an exhaustive list and it is here for the convenience of the public.
- ZipRecruiter – This is rated as the #1 job site in the United States. It averages 90,000 jobs based in Connecticut.
- LinkedIn – Unlike other job boards, LinkedIn is also a business oriented social networking site. It averages over 100,000 jobs in Connecticut. In addition, it provides prospective employers with insight about your candidacy including recommendations.
- Indeed – This site offers a wide-variety of positions and averages 70,000 jobs based in Connecticut.
- The Ladders – This site focuses on candidates targeting positions that pay over $100K. At any given time, the site features 15,000 jobs based in Connecticut.
- Handshake – This site is focused on positions for college students and recent graduates. This site does not require any work experience. It features both jobs and internships.
- Guru – This is a job board for candidates who freelance including writers and programmers.
- Wellfound – This site is focused on jobs with new/startup companies.
- Monster – This is a generic, non-specialized job board.
- Dice – This site focuses exclusively on tech jobs. It is affiliated with Clearance jobs which offers position for job seekers with active government clearances in the United States. It features less than 1,000 job postings for Connecticut.
- Vivian Health – This site offers jobs for healthcare professionals including nurses, CNAs, and Physician’s Assistants. It usually has few postings for jobs in Connecticut.
- Dribble – This site is the #1 job board for graphic design positions. It usually has few postings for jobs in Connecticut.
The Connecticut Department of Labor (DOL) is not responsible for the contents of pages referenced through links on this page. The responsibility for content rests with the organizations that are providing the information. DOL is providing these websites as a courtesy to its customers and does not specifically endorse these services or products. DOL is not responsible for the accessibility to persons with disabilities of any off-site pages referenced through links.