Job Board Posting Requirements & Guidelines

Every job site has its own specific policies and guidelines. As an employer, it’s crucial to strike the right balance between best practices, posting policies on your chosen job platforms, and your own corporate and brand policies. In addition, it’s important to understand the differences in the rules between sponsored and organic jobs.

Best practices are continually evolving. They adapt and change as new job sites gain popularity, new laws and regulations influence candidate expectations, and as site search and matching technology improves.

To achieve the highest possible ranking for your job postings, employers should aim to understand the essential requirements for job acceptance, the factors influencing search and matching rankings, and what engages candidates during the application process.

While there are numerous recommended best practices, they can generally be summarized as follows:

• Job Titles: Job titles should accurately reflect what candidates type into a job search. Avoid adding unnecessary information such as advertisements, locations, sign-on bonus details, etc.

• Posting Freshness: Ensure job posting reference IDs and posting dates are as recent as possible. If they are older than 60 days, consider refreshing or updating them.

• Location Specifics: Specify the job location as accurately as possible, including a street address, following Google’s guidelines.

• Salary Information: Include salary information as a separate, precise data point. Avoid using wide salary ranges or multiple ranges in postings.

• Benefits: Present benefit information in a clear bulleted list.

• Qualifications: Clearly list minimum qualifications in bulleted form.

• Concise Descriptions: Keep job descriptions brief, with a maximum of 800 words.

• Simplified Application: Make the application process as straightforward as possible, offering candidates a direct on-site application whenever feasible.

There are several non-negotiable rules to remember:

• Content: Never include false, defamatory, pornographic, offensive, discriminatory, fraudulent, deceptive, scams, or phishing content.

• Legal Compliance: Always comply with relevant laws, particularly those pertaining to the hiring location of the position.

• Title Accuracy: Job titles must accurately represent the job description.

• Data Security: Never include spyware, phishing software, or requests for sensitive information such as banking, social security, or birth dates.

• No Fees: Job postings should not ask candidates to pay to apply, buy uniforms, or acquire equipment.

• No Unwanted Promotions: Avoid advertising multi-level marketing (MLM) opportunities, survey collections, or educational offers.

• Equal Employment Opportunity: Include any required language for an Equal Employment Opportunity statement.

Additionally, there are rules that may vary based on the job site. Some platforms allow for expanded job titles and locations, while others may have more stringent limitations or restrictions on organic content.