There are many reasons people seek work, but the common denominator is the need to earn money. Making the problem even worse is that job seekers need to carefully spend money in order to maintain their competitive edge and land the job they’re after.

By understanding the hard decisions job seekers face, job board owners are better equipped to provide service that speaks directly to their users’ needs and desires. This is key for successful selling, and earning the status of being a respectable and popular job board.

The following topics exemplify the time- and money-based decisions job seekers have to make while hunting for employment. Should any service mentioned below not be readily available to you and your job board, it is well worthwhile to research the possibilities. An idea worthy of consideration is to become a one-stop shop. The more complete the job board’s services are, the more job hunters will utilize the board.

Resume Writing Service

Most job boards are now automated. For job seekers, this translates into needing appropriate and effective keywords to be distributed throughout their resume and profile. Unless their resume is up to date, or the job hunter is a marketing professional with SEO experience and knowledge, an expenditure should be made for revising the document so it can gain the most amount of views. This investment is essential, as this type of resume pre-qualifies individuals for jobs in their industry.

Job boards may consider offering resume writing services directly on their site, as well as through alliances with companies like Groupon and Living Social.

Coaching

Competition is fierce for securing a job. Hiring a coach who specializes in best interview practices requires a lot of thought; the decision will be based on both budget and specifically where help is needed.

A variety of industry-specific career coaches on your job board will increase loyalty and sales.

SEE ALSO: 3 Vital Stats on Modern Day Job Searching

Time Management

Prioritizing activities is essential because time is money. A job hunter’s to-do list includes reading through all of possible job opportunities and applying to those that hold the most appeal. The world seems to stand still as one tries to manage his job-hunting activities in addition to his everyday routine.

A job board should consider offering a simple online tracking system for the job seeker to easily keep note of which jobs she has applied for, and which jobs from whom she has yet to hear back. This could be arranged through a partnership, and offered at a nominal fee for the board user.

Preferred Job Boards

Upon finding appropriate job boards, job hunters then spend considerable time creating eye-catching profiles on each site. The only problem is, some job boards share applicant information with other websites. Soon the number of emailed job opportunities explodes, and unfortunately, many are irrelevant to the job seeker, who will most likely jump to another site.

Transforming your job board model should be seriously considered, if you fall into the category mentioned above. Instead of selling information to other boards and risking losing job seekers due to the chaos, instead consider selling collaborative services to new partners, and offer these at reasonable prices to your users.

Your Job Board

Adjustments to a job board’s business model, done to benefit job seekers, will improve the board’s bottom line. Job boards that provide a well-thought-out user experience are likely to receive praise in the form of reviews, testimonials and referrals. On the occasion a new job search is needed, returning clientele will have been earned.

Elinor Stutz, CEO of Smooth Sale, speaks and consults worldwide, and is the author of two best selling books: “Nice Girls DO Get the Sale: Relationship Building That Gets Results,” and “HIRED! How to Use Sales Techniques to Sell Yourself on Interviews.”