Ever since the business of job posting boards was conceptualised, the dominant revenue model for this online business has been the pay per click model. Employers who used these job search engines sometimes got what they wanted, sometimes not. Lately, the concept of free job advertising, where the job board would get paid only if the advert was responded to, has gained favour among employers.

The problem in pay per click models is that employers can end up paying for hits and not for quality. The current job market favours employers and as a result, a desperate job seeker can send out tens of resumes daily, which end up in job boards. When a job posting or a job search engine combines the results, the duplicates can number more than half. This resume spam is most prevalent in job vacancies advertising a common skill set and the volume of responses from common skill sets swamp the employer or recruiter who has to sift through the applications. A pay per click model will obviously not work in this situation.

The current model favoured by users, the recruiters and employers, online is the pay for performance model. These are the sites which post free job advertising to employers. Employers are only required to pay when they click on the details for a resume. This method obviously does away with the majority of resume spam and allows the job boards client to manage their budget. Sometimes though, the employer can end up paying the job board more is the job vacancy elicits a strong response from mostly qualified applicants.

Forward thinking job boards have adopted this pay for performance model as revenue source because the free job advertising tends to attract more job postings from employers. An upfront cost of nothing, for the employer, cannot be beat. Once the site develops credibility, this revenue model can generate higher revenue per posting because the site will have attracted a huge number of job seekers. Employers concerns over unqualified applications and resume spam, excessive numbers of application, can be handled through innovative methodologies and technology. For example, the employer can be given the option to limit the number of applications for each job posting, which would limit costs to the employers budget, and having 3 to 6 qualifying questions for each particular job posting. Another way for employers to cut costs is in wisely knowing where to spend their hiring budget. For example, it would be advantageous to go to specialist or niche boards for posting a vacancy for a highly unique skill set, such as an operator for a specific machine. The medical industry has a lot of specialised skill sets and niche boards specialising in the medical profession have had good success in this regard.

It would be good to remember that a job seeker works in a specific industry, so a site that is industry focused should have a built in advantage to job seekers with a unique skill set. Employers will find value in niche sites that offer quality, targeted applicants at a reasonable cost. Job seekers will stay loyal to job posting boards that serve their niche as long as they see jobs from targeted employers that fit their skill sets.

However, free job advertising boards are not a threat to the extent that it will kill off revenue from boards relying on pay per click models. Free job posting boards can be difficult to run effectively and not all these pay for performance job sites are the successes they would want to be. Fake job postings, banner ad clutter and even AdSense combine to make these boards unsightly and ineffective. Multiple postings from the same job vacancy bloat the site and administrators must establish a daily routine to weed out multiple and spurious postings. Imagine the frustration of a user who sees the same job offers again and again in the course of a job hunting session. All these things detract from the user experience and may compel these users to seek alternative job search engines. Aside from seeing banner ads, the user will appreciate good content and excellent service. Offering helpful how tos, webinars, articles and sponsored campaigns will attract the job seekers who can qualify for the job posting on the board. Attracting more job seekers will also have the effect of expanding the database for employers to peruse.