By Don Goodman,

At one time, job boards were the way to go for job seekers. It’s where you could post your resume for employers and recruiters to view, and apply to job openings. But today, it’s a different story.

Job boards are simply not as effective anymore since there are social media outlets like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter where you can pretty much network your way to the right contacts. The fact is, job boards have a 2-4% effectiveness rate whereas networking has over a 50% effectiveness rate.

Think about if you were a hiring manager: Would you be more likely to take time to interview a candidate you don’t know except for what’s been given on a submitted cover letter and resume, or someone who’s been referred to you?

A referral has much less risk, and that’s why networking has a higher success rate than job boards when it comes to securing a position.

Here are a few other things about the limitations of using job boards when you’re a job seeker:

1. Your resume is falling into a black hole.

More than 85% of companies are now using Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) to review and rank resumes according to skills, experience, and keywords. The simple fact is that companies use internal algorithms, so ensuring a strong ranking is extremely difficult.

A recent HR manager told me that they get an average of 400 resumes for each position and only look at the top 10-20 – meaning 380 resumes are not even reviewed!

2. Hundreds of others have already applied to the job by the time it makes it to the job board.

In many instances, before a job posting goes up on the job board, it’s already been shared around internally at the employer and by trusted sources. So you are buried under hundreds of others who applied before you when you go through a job board.

3. You’re wasting time because you’re not getting to the decision maker directly.

Job postings through job boards generally indicate generic contact information. You have a much better chance when you get to the decision maker directly, and that’s something you can do through social media networking sites, not job boards.

4. Many job openings never make it to the job boards.

Big job boards are overwhelming with job postings (both relevant and irrelevant) to you. This is a similar perspective for the employer when they get an overwhelming number of applicants to the job opening posted to a job board.

It’s also reason why some may prefer to work solely with recruiters to source the right talent. If you’re not networking with the right contacts, you’re missing out on opportunities that will never be found on job boards.

5. Hiring managers and recruiters are sourcing talent through LinkedIn.

Ask any hiring manager or recruiter where they are going to find talent. Most will tell you they are looking on LinkedIn. Resumes that get posted to job boards are still viewed, but there’s a good chance the information is outdated, which is one reason why hiring managers and recruiters are relying more on LinkedIn where information is generally more current.

The message is not that job boards are dead because there are plenty of niche job boards worth going to as a job seeker, but that your job search results will be more productive if you tie in direct networking through the right contacts.