Job Board Leaders Reveal: How to Dominate 2026 with Niche Strategies and AI

Industry News and Information

Each month, Steven Rothberg of College Recruiter hosts the Job Board Leaders’ Roundtable, a collaborative meeting of leaders from job boards, recruitment marketplaces, and related organizations worldwide. The December meeting, sponsored by Job Boards Connect, focused on closing 2025 strong, opening 2026 strong, and whether 2026 will differ significantly from 2025.

Key Discussions from the Roundtable

End-of-Year Business Challenges Steven Rothberg opened by noting the busy and challenging nature of year-end for customers, with some reluctant to spend due to exhausted budgets, while others are anxious to finalize deals. He emphasized the importance of having staff available to sign contracts on the last day of the year, as this often secures significant sales.

New Roles and Industry Moves Ethan Bloomfield shared his new role at Bold, which acquired parts of Monster and CareerBuilder. His focus is on integrating these ecosystems into the marketplace, capitalizing on perceived weaknesses in Indeed’s offerings and LinkedIn’s resume seat renewals. Bloomfield highlighted that his role came through long-standing professional networks, underscoring the value of deep industry expertise over mere connections.

Strategies for Growth and Sales Jim Durbin of Respondable discussed helping vendors and Talent Acquisition (TA) departments improve operations, especially with AI. He noted two types of people in the current market: those frozen with fear of spending and those eager to act but unsure how. Mark Belaiche introduced Gahuza, seeking job board owners with resume databases for integration.

Product Infrastructure and Success Stories Matt Farrah from nurses.co.uk shared success stories of major client renewals, attributing them to driving decent applications. He highlighted their migration to the Jobico platform and implementation of a job data pipeline using AI to automate and classify job postings for better organic search. Farrah emphasized focusing on product in 2025 and shifting to marketing in 2026.

Vendor and Migration Timing Samantha Leech with UBO suggested that year-end, when candidate applications trough, is ideal for development and vendor discussions. Marty Aghajanyan of JBoard agreed, noting that November and December are perfect for vendor conversations, with leads peaking in January as people delay launches for New Year’s goals.

The Value of Niche Job Boards A key topic was how to pitch niche job boards to clients who prefer single suppliers. Mike Corso of disableperson.com emphasized that niche boards offer community and grassroots networks, reaching specific audiences effectively. Matt Farrah added that specialist boards, with proper tech setups like ATS integrations, can match the ease of use of generalist boards.

Deep Granularity and Customer Service Thibault Blanchetière highlighted that niche boards provide deep granularity and better taxonomy to compete against generalist sites like Indeed in specific sectors. Mike Corso gave an example of a niche board delivering over 20 applications quickly for an urgent hiring need. Farrah stressed that niche boards often offer superior customer service and personal touch.

Cost Efficiency and Budgeting Jeff Taylor suggested creating charts to show clients where their money goes with big players versus niche boards. He advocated for combining volume from programmatic vendors with targeted budgets for specialties, viewing it as more transparent and beneficial.

Leveraging Data and Networking Terry Baker noted that PandoLogic’s success in programmatic recruitment was based on using vast data to predict outcomes and set budgets, outperforming rules-based systems. Jeff Taylor reiterated the value of networking and coopetition, where knowing each other’s businesses aids sales and partnerships.

Fraud and Identity Verification Jeff Taylor raised the significant issue of fraud, including fake applicants and cash stacking, which has become a major concern for clients. Terry Baker and David Morgan discussed how candidates might use tools like ChatGPT to enhance resumes inaccurately, and the need for agentic agents to validate applicants. They also highlighted state actor threats, such as North Korea co-opting LinkedIn profiles, necessitating robust identity verification.

Competitive Strategy Matt Farrah shared that most generalist job boards, like Indeed, are not direct competitors. He emphasized that sensible clients use a mix of platforms and social media, requiring niche boards to differentiate rather than try to be everything. James Wood added that specialist boards succeed by delivering applications that Indeed and LinkedIn can’t, focusing on niche specialties and passive audiences.

Upcoming Meeting and Format Change Steven Rothberg announced a format change for the next meeting, scheduled for the second Thursday of the month. It will feature a panel discussion with Ben Eubanks and Gerry Crispin debating whether candidates hired through Agentic AI or other AI assistance are genuinely more productive.