15 Best Job Boards in Ireland for Sourcing Candidates in Any Industry

Ireland’s job market is rapidly evolving, and employers from all over the world are increasingly seeking out talented candidates in this country. It has one of the most educated populations in Europe, a robust economy, and a world-class educational system. As native English speakers, Irish workers can easily integrate into multilingual and geographically diverse teams, making them a prime target for international recruiters.

In today’s digital age, online job boards have become the primary resource for locating top talent in Ireland. To help you navigate the vibrant local employment market effectively, we’ve researched and curated a list of the 15 most popular job boards in Ireland. We’ll analyze their costs, key features and drawbacks to help you choose the platform that best aligns with your recruitment needs.

1) Jobs.ie

With 800,000 monthly visits and 4,500 job ads, Jobs.ie is one of Ireland’s most popular job platforms. Launched in 2002, it has since become a part of StepStone, the world’s leading e-recruitment group, and a subsidiary of Axel Springer SE, one of Europe’s largest media and digital publishing companies. Jobs.ie also has an impressive client list, having collaborated with big names like Apple and UPS.

Source: Jobs.ie

Jobs.ie Pricing 

Jobs.ie operates on a slot-based system, allowing clients to swap out filled positions for new ones at no extra cost. If you need more than one slot, you can request a tailored offer through a phone call with the platform’s representatives.

Three types of slots are available, all active for 30 days:

1. Standard—First job €645; regular price €795
2. Professional—First job €825; regular price €1,095
3. Premium—First job €995, regular price €1,350

The primary difference between the 3 ad types lies in their visibility. Standard ads are refreshed (moved to the top of the list with newly posted ads) an unspecified number of times, but less frequently than the other two types. Professional ads receive double the refreshes of a standard ad and are highlighted in the platform’s search results and job alert emails. Premium ads receive 4 times the refreshes of a Standard ad, get highlighted in search results and job alert emails, and enjoy additional promotion on social media.

Even the basic Standard ads provide access to various tools for managing applications and filtering and shortlisting candidates. They also include employer branding options, such as incorporating company logos and images into the ads. 

Jobs.ie Features

Jobs.ie uses an innovative technology called StepMATCH to identify the most suitable candidates as soon as you post an ad. StepMATCH searches through over a million CVs in the TalentBank, a resume database shared with two other StepStone job boards (IrishJobs.ie and NIJobs), to automatically find prospects that match the job description criteria. While it is possible to search TalentBank directly, it is unclear whether an additional fee is required.

Upon signing up, clients receive a dedicated account manager to guide them through the job posting process. Account managers will offer suggestions to make ads more effective, ensuring maximum exposure. 

Jobs.ie offers many valuable features in its basic plan but doesn’t allow individual job postings. While the job slot system is cost-effective for clients planning to replace one ad with another, it might be too costly for those looking to fill a single vacancy. 

2) IrishJobs.ie

IrishJobs.ie, another member of the StepStone network, is the leading job board in Ireland, with 1.1 million registered jobseekers and over 9,500 job ads. Some of its notable clients include J.P. Morgan, Pfizer, Intel, and Amazon. 

To register, you need to provide your contact information, undergo a phone verification process, and select a plan to post your job advertisement.

IrishJobs.ie uses the same digital job board software as Jobs.ie, resulting in the same set of features on both platforms. The difference lies in the pricing and the ability to post individual ads besides slots. A dedicated account manager is available for those who purchase a job slot but not for the individual listing. 

IrishJobs.ie Pricing and Features

Employers can choose between 4 types of ads:

1. 7-day job ad—€280
2. Classic job slot—First job for €950; regular price €1,050
3. Advantage job slot—First job for €1,407; regular price €1,507
4. Prestige job slot—First job for €2,055; regular price €2,155

All ad types come with the following features:

• Company profile
• Candidate matching through StepMATCH™ technology
• Application management tools
• Email job alerts

The job slots on IrishJobs.ie have a duration of 30 days, while the differences between Classic, Advantage, and Prestige slots correspond to those between the 3 pricing options on Jobs.ie.

Below you will find a side-by-side comparison of the features that come with the 7-day ad versus those included with the job slots:

Source: IrishJobs.ie

IrishJobs.ie is widely considered the best Irish job board, providing a variety of features and excellent visibility for your ads. On the other hand, while its 7-day ad allows you to try out the platform without a high upfront cost, all other pricing options are relatively expensive.

3) JobsIreland

Operated by the Irish Department of Social Protection’s Public Employment Service, JobsIreland is a free job board with over 80,000 monthly visits and around 5,000 job ads. 

Although government-run, it accepts registrations from companies worldwide. You will have to provide a square-format company logo and a business registration number from your country of origin. During sign-up, you may encounter an error message if your company information cannot be found in the platform’s database. However, you can still proceed with the registration, and the platform’s staff will manually verify your account.

When posting a job ad, employers can enable the candidate matching feature, which automatically compares the job requirements to jobseeker profiles in the platform’s database. This feature generates over 250,000 matches every year. There’s also a messaging function to communicate with jobseekers who have applied for or matched a vacancy. The platform also shares job listings on its social media pages.

While lacking typical job board features such as visibility boosts, employer profiles, and a searchable CV database, JobsIreland provides excellent value as a free, well-respected, and reasonably popular job board endorsed by the government.

4) Locanto

Launched in 2006 as a local classifieds website in New York City, Locanto has since expanded to 58 countries. It offers a platform for advertising various goods and services, including real estate, cars, personal ads, and jobs. Although not a dedicated job board, Locanto has over 30,000 listings and receives 500,000 monthly visits in Ireland alone. 

Ads are free and remain active for 42 days. There are 3 paid promotion options: 

1. Premium Ad—€3.95/week; highlighted ads
2. Top Ad—€6.95/week; ads pinned to the top of their category
3. Gallery Ad—€7.95/week; ads displayed in the side gallery next to the search results

Package deals offer discounts on promotional options, and there are 2 to choose from:

1. Plus—€27.80/month (saves €7.9 for 2 weeks of Premium promotion)
2. Pro—€59.60/month (saves €15.8 for 1 month of Premium promotion)

Source: Locanto

With unlimited free posting, high traffic, and relatively affordable promotional options, Locanto provides excellent value for money. However, it is not a dedicated job board, and it lacks essential features commonly found on specialized job search platforms, such as a searchable resume database, candidate matching and tracking, email targeting, and social media distribution.

Additional 11 Job Boards Ireland Has To Offer

If you are still searching for the best Irish job board, we recommend checking out these 11 options:

Best Job Boards for International Recruiters

Finding the right job board in a new country can be a daunting task, especially if you’re not familiar with the local job market. Our international job board reviews will help you make informed decisions for your recruitment needs.