/ Publishers & Newsletters / 8 min read
Run Your Own Jobs Section or Join a Job Network?
A publisher that wants a jobs section has two options. Join a job network or white-label partner that runs the section for you, or run your own on job board software. Networks cost the publisher nothing up front and supply the jobs. Running your own gives you control over the brand, the prices and the employer relationships. Here is how to choose.
Quick Answer
Join a network if you have traffic but no one to sell to employers, and you want a jobs tab without running anything. Run your own if you already sell advertising or sponsorships, because then the employers are your customers and the revenue from them should stay with you. Many publishers do a bit of both: their own board, filled partly with imported or partner jobs.
What a Job Network Does for a Publisher
A job network gives a publisher a working jobs section without building one. The two common shapes:
- White-label job boards for media. A partner hosts, sets up and maintains a job board under the publisher's name, and shares revenue. Recruitology, owned by Jobcase since 2022, describes its offer to newspapers as "we host, set up, operate, and maintain" a job board with "no effort or up-front expense", and lists partners such as Lee Enterprises, McClatchy and Advance Local. TheJobNetwork, relaunched by Jobiqo in 2024, powers more than 30 regional and industry job boards, including the New York Times jobs section and Newsday, and coaches publisher staff on selling recruitment ads.
- Pay-per-click job feeds. A network supplies its jobs to your site and pays you for each click. Talroo runs a publisher program on this model. ZipRecruiter ran one too, until it retired its publisher API in March 2025, which shows the risk: the partner can end the program.
None of these networks publish their revenue share or per-click rates. That is normal, but it means you are comparing on terms you only see after you ask.
What Running Your Own Looks Like
Running your own means using job board software, like Kardow, to put a jobs section on your domain in your brand. The software handles hosting, the job pages, search markup, employer accounts and checkout. You decide the prices and the products, and every employer who pays is your customer, with their details in your dashboard.
The old objection to running your own was the empty board. That is solved: jobs import from careers sites and feeds on day one, filtered to your area or field, so the section is useful before you sell anything. The work left is selling posts to your advertisers, which is the part that earns the money anyway.
Side by Side
| Join a job network | Run your own jobs section | |
|---|---|---|
| Up-front cost | Usually none | Software from $79 a month |
| Who runs the site | The partner hosts and maintains it | You, on job board software |
| Jobs on day one | Yes, from the network | Yes, if the software imports jobs |
| Brand and domain | Often yours, sometimes co-branded | Yours |
| Who sets the prices | Usually the partner, or within its terms | You |
| Employer relationship | Shared with, or held by, the partner | Yours, with every buyer's details |
| How you earn | A share of sales or a payout per click | Every sale, with no share taken |
| Search value | Depends on the partner's setup | Every job and location page is yours |
| Effort | Low | Low to set up, more to sell well |
Terms vary by partner and by deal, so treat the network column as the typical shape, not as any one partner's contract.
When a Network Is the Better Choice
- You have steady traffic but nobody who sells advertising, and you do not plan to hire anyone.
- You want a jobs tab for readers, and the revenue is a bonus rather than a goal.
- You are part of a group that has already signed a network deal for every title.
In those cases, a free partner that supplies the jobs and handles the rest is a sensible choice, and we would say so to a publisher who asked us.
When Running Your Own Is the Better Choice
- You already sell ads or sponsorships, so you already have the employers. A job post is one more product in the same conversation.
- You want to set your own prices and bundle job posts with your other advertising.
- You want the jobs section to build your brand and your search presence, not someone else's.
- You want to keep every employer relationship if you ever change software.
Run your own jobs section
Kardow gives publishers a jobs section on their own domain, filled with jobs from day one. Employers pay into your own Stripe account or by invoice, and Kardow takes 0% of your job sales.
Questions to Ask Any Partner
- Who owns the domain, the job pages and the employer accounts?
- Who sets the prices employers pay, and can I bundle posts with my own ads?
- What is the revenue share or per-click rate, and is there a traffic minimum?
- What happens to my jobs section and my employers if I leave, or if you end the program?
- Are job pages built for search, with clean URLs and JobPosting structured data?
The last question matters more than it looks. A 2017 review of one newspaper chain's move to a new partner criticised its URL structure for search engines (ERE). A jobs section that search engines cannot read does not bring you new readers.
For the bigger picture on what jobs can earn a publisher, read how news publishers make money from job listings.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much do job networks pay publishers?
Most do not publish it. The white-label partners that host job boards for newspapers describe revenue sharing or a mix of subscription and revenue share, and click-based programs pay per click on their jobs, but the rates are negotiated privately. Ask for the rate, the minimum traffic, and who sets employer prices before you sign.
Can I leave a network later and run my own?
Yes, but check what you keep. If the partner owns the domain, the job pages and the employer accounts, leaving means starting those again. If the board is on your domain and you can export your employers, the move is much easier.
Is running my own jobs section a lot of work?
Less than it used to be. Modern job board software imports jobs so the board is full from day one, and employers post and pay without talking to you. The work that remains is selling to your advertisers, which is the part that earns the money.
Can I run my own board and still earn from partner jobs?
Yes. Many publishers run their own board for direct employer sales and fill it with imported or partner jobs. What matters is that the brand, the prices and the paying employers stay with you.
For publishers and newsletters
- Job board software for publishers. For news sites, local media and trade publications.
- How news publishers make money from job listings. The revenue models that work today.
- How to sell job ads to businesses that already sponsor you. Rate card, bundles and a script.
- Job board software for publishers outside the US. Languages, currencies and invoices.
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