Every single day, it seems like another job board comes into the world. Regardless of whether you flock to a local employment site a treadmill of the "biggies," like Monster or CareerBuilder, there's something they all have in keeping; they protect the identity from the hiring managers and decision makers you're signing up to.

Initially, this may seem like no problem. Why does it matter who you submit your resume to, right? Today, I wish to show you why it matters just how you use a job board, and discuss the very best practices you are able to implement today, to create your entire job search process fine tuned.

Job Board Guidelines

1. A great source for employment leads.

webjobs

Employers spend a lot of money to publish their jobs on these employment websites. Visit them regularly, and search for your next position, by keyword and location. Sift through the results to find out whether or not you want to submit your resume and cover letter. Do your research about the company, before applying.

2. Get new job postings emailed for you daily or weekly.

The goal here is to automate this task as much as possible. See your favorite job board, and check for the target position. About this web site, you will see an option to possess your search results delivered via email, or RSS feed. Depending on your individual preferences, choose either the e-mail or even the Feed option. Now you'll have fresh job leads that match your specified search criteria.

3. Consider using an aggregator.

What am I talking about? An aggregator compiles the entries all from the major job boards, and places them on one website. The very best example, and the most popular aggregator is Indeed.com. Why bother using Monster, Career Builder, and all others, when you are able visit Indeed, perform a search, and also have ALL results either emailed or sent via the RSS feed we previously mentioned. Now that's automation!

4. Avoid posting your resume.

Employers are leaving paying to gain access to the task board resume databases, simply because they can find quality candidates while using social networking sites, like LinkedIn, Facebook, MySpace, etc. If you wish to connect with the right hiring managers and recruiters who still access job boards, consider going with the board that are experts in your niche. Of course, if you're currently working, you can seriously jeopardize your employment status by posting your resume on any job board, because your boss may be the someone to find it. When in doubt - expect to target your employers; not the other way round.

5. The first choice should always be to apply directly with an employer's website.

If you've ever applied for employment on any of the major job boards, you realize there is usually no contact information provided. There may be some background information concerning the company, although not nearly enough to find out you need to develop a career with this particular employer. Once you have determined what organization is hiring, immediately go to the corporate website. Find out as much as you are able to concerning the position, and also the stability of the employer. When you apply through a job board, this is one additional layer your resume and contact information must go through, before reaching the desk of the decision maker. What if there is a technical failure? What if the task board's server is down for that short period of time when you're uploading your data? I recommend going right to the source, and applying directly with the hiring organization's website.

Regardless of how you slice it, the social networks are slowly using the place of the job boards - just like the job boards took the place from the traditional classified advertising. While it's still important to utilize employment and career websites like a source of leads, they dwindle important in actually connecting with the decision makers.