Ladies, are you tired of overused boards like Indeed and CareerBuilder? How many of us have tried to search for a tech job on these sites but found a whole list of jobs that are not in your field, not in your location, and definitely not in your salary range. But don’t fret, help is here. Recently, innovation in the online job board sector has produced the gift of more choice for job seekers, especially women in tech. I am here to say, the world has changed and it’s a wonderful thing. Women-based tech job boards are here. 

Tech job boards for women are built expressly to assist women enter, re-enter, and scale their careers upwards. These boards address the many barriers we as women face when job hunting, including: 

• Gender pay gap
• Work/life balance issues
• Benefits that support families
• Opportunities for advancement
• Flexible scheduling

On these sites, you may find: 

• Lists of benefits available/wellness programs, child care, medical benefits for families
• Remote work or flexible scheduling opportunities
• Reviews from women employees
• Learning and growth opportunities
• Expected salary range for every job

Most of these boards also provide blogs, videos, articles, and more with tips and testimonials on how to nail your job search and find the perfect job. This kind of women-friendly content can be highly engaging and very useful for any woman, new or experienced.  These boards are sorely needed in every sector, every vertical, every location, and for every woman. 

Let’s take a look at some of these job boards and how they can help you find the perfect job.  I’ll offer some details for each, including a list of pros and cons. These boards may not offer you the entire list of benefits described above but they are close and deserve a look. 

InHerSight 

InHerSight believes in data-driven hiring. There are a ton of data-driven lists, articles, and resources developed expressly for women. You can review the 50 best places to work for women, and you can break the list down by industry, size, and location. You will find peer reviews of many of the companies posting jobs on the site. There are also articles on every aspect of work, including work-life balance, returning to work, and working from home. There’s a message board to ask questions or converse with other job seekers.

The job search function is interesting in that you can search for jobs based on whether or not a certain attribute is available at a company. These are your “must-haves.” It could be work/life balance or wage satisfaction or a wellness program. Of course, you can still search by industry and location. When you click on an available job, you are first taken to the company profile where you can review extensive ratings and reviews on the company. There is also a page for the company’s benefits.  The job listings are largely informative, although I don’t see salary information. To apply, you are directed to the company’s website. 

Pros

• Company reviews and ratings
• Great benefit information for companies posting jobs
• Data-driven resources
• Message  boards to  connect with colleagues
• Search for jobs by “must-have” features 
• Follow companies to receive more information

Cons

• No consistent salary information
• No ability to post resumes
• No search notifications

PowerToFly 

This site is very event-driven, using remote job fairs as tools to provide resources for job seekers and match employees with companies at hiring events. There are also articles and webinars. If you feel you need some one-on-one coaching, there are mentors and coaches who have been in your shoes to talk to. The job board is excellent. You can search by category, company name, keyword, or location and you can sort by relevance or date posted. Make sure to scroll down past the featured (paid sponsored) listings. There may be better matches for you below.  The listings are extensive, with a lot of great information. 

Pros

• Remote job fairs and educational events
• Coaches and mentors available
• Easy-to-use job search function

Cons

• No ability to post resumes
• No salary range
• No search notifications

Women’s Job List 

This website caters to employers more than job seekers, but the site does have an easy-to-use job search function where you can search by location, category, employer, or keywords. You can filter a job list by even more features. There are also links for employer sites on the front page.  Most of the job listings are not actually on the site. They are found by clicking through to the employer’s webpage or LinkedIn. You can also post your resume for employers to find. This is a bare-bones listing site with very little other content. 

Pros

• Easy to search function
• Schedule email notifications for new listings
• Dedicated to diversity
• Client list includes leading companies
• Ability to post resumes

Cons

• No learning or networking features
• Actual listings are on employers’ sites/no uniformity on job details
• Not all company and search result links are active

Where Women Work  

This website only posts job listings from employers that meet 10 important criteria, including a commitment to gender equality, approves of flexible working schedules, and has a dedicated program to hire women from early career to executive level.  That’s a good clue that their listings are worth a look! To that end, the site sorts employers looking to hire by experience level and offers extensive landing pages focused on that employer. There is a section for women returning to the workplace. These employer pages offer video testimonies from employees who were in that situation when hired as well as the company’s pertinent HR information like benefits.  To me, these pages are very inspiring! 

That being said, there is no way to search for jobs by location, title, occupation, or keyword. You must search by company. That’s definitely limiting. The job links take you to the employers’ websites, so there is no standardization for the job listings. 

Pros

• Only companies dedicated to gender equity are listed
• Jobs are sorted by experience level
• Lots of great company information 
• Job search resources including blog, podcasts, and events

Cons

• No way to search for listings by location, title, occupation, etc
• No standardization of job listings
• No ability to post resumes
• No search notifications

Career Contessa 

This site defines itself as a career coaching site featuring advice and resources for the “grey-area” questions that come up in our careers, like the best time to quit a job or when you should tell your boss about your side hustle. There are on-demand classes, webinars, videos,  a weekly podcast,  and downloadable resources. You can also engage a personal career coach to help you with your specific career questions and challenges.  There are quite a few coaches to choose from at all levels of experience and varied hourly rates. Most coaches have several reviews from past clients posted on their profiles. Lastly, there is a really useful feature called The Salary Project™, a salary database to research what others in your industry and position earn in salary.  That is priceless (pun intended) when deciding what salary range to ask for in the job hunt or planning to ask for a raise.  

As for the job search function, it’s very clear. You can search by location, industry, experience level, position type, and job function. However, locations are limited to large cities and metropolitan areas.  There are tech jobs available from some of the larger companies like Amazon and Zoom. The job listings are informative. However, I didn’t see a lot of salary ranges. Applicants click through to the company’s website to complete the application.  

Pros

• Lots of great resources
• Personal job coaches
• Simple job search function
• Salary database

Con

• No consistent salary information
• Postings are mostly for larger cities
• No ability to post resumes
• No search notifications

Fairygodboss 

The front page includes a Facebook-like news feed for job seekers to interact with each other. This site has plenty of educational articles, webinars, group discussion boards, and reviews of companies. You need to create an account to access most of it. However, you can post your resume for employers to review.  The job search function is pretty basic, just keyword and location. The companies posting jobs on this site seem to be large global companies, not local small or mid-sized businesses. 

Pros

• Good resources
• Ability to interact with others 
• Company reviews
• Ability to post experience in profile
• Receive job listing updates

Cons

• Few filters on job search
• Not many mid or small business postings
• Must create an account to access most of the site

Tech Ladies

Tech Ladies bills itself as a worldwide community with more than 100,000 members. You need to apply for a free membership to review the job listings, receive their e-newsletter, and gain access to the online community boards. However, most of their webinars and events are available for anyone to attend. Some of the webinars are free, while others charge a ticket price.  There is also a Founding Member version of membership that is about $60-$80 per month. This membership allows you to take advantage of extra coaching, events, and networking opportunities. The focus is on STEM jobs however their definition of “tech” is wide enough to include positions in marketing, business development, design, and research.  There are a ton of very inspiring success stories on the website. One very cool detail is that they are members of the United Nation’s Equal Pay International Coalition. 

On the job listing page, you can search by keyword and filter by category, type, and location. The job listings are comprehensive and include icons to point out the company perks, including work from home and flexible schedules. Some of the postings include compensation ranges. To apply, you are sent to the company employment page. 

Pros

• Diverse types of tech jobs
• Simple job search function
• Great success stories to keep you motivated
• Comprehensive job descriptions

Cons

• Must apply for membership for free access to most of the site including the job board
• No consistent salary information 
• Some events and resources are not free

Lane

Women 2.0 is focused on gender, diversity, and inclusion in tech and startups. The site offers resources for founders and leaders who support the ”advancement of women and other underrepresented groups.” The job board is at a separate URL, which is not evident on the Women 2.0 website. I finally found it under the “Work With Us” tab. Under the same tab are a wealth of programs, book lists, events, and more for anyone in the tech industry, including allies. The blog content is also wide-ranging and comprehensive. 

Once on the job search page, you can search by job function, company, and/or location. All types of jobs are available, not just tech. The listed jobs click through to the company’s employment page. The “explore companies” search option looked interesting, but on further review showed that it just lists available jobs and links to a company’s website instead of offering new information. There are only about 20 companies posting jobs at the time of this review.

Pros

• Simple job search function
• Diverse list of job functions
• Expansive amount of resources for founders and leaders on the Women 2.0 site. 

Cons

• No consistent salary information
• Small number of companies posting positions 
• Hidden link to the job board from the Women.20 site
• Limited resources on the job board site

Elpha

The tagline for Elpha is “Elpha is where women build our careers together.”  You must apply for membership to access the site. When you join, you will see a Slack-like interface customized to your interests and needs. You can choose community discussion threads to network with others, or you can create a community discussion board of your own. The existing boards are wide-ranging in terms of subjects, everything from compensation to parenting. The resources page is limited, with just a few blog posts. There are also Elpha points you can collect by interacting on the site and redeem for rewards like events, resources, and swag. 

The Browse Job function is easy to find. Once there, you can search by the percentage of women in leadership a company has, the type of culture and funding, as well as the usual location, sector,  and company size. These company profiles have more information than most other job boards I’ve reviewed. The profiles include the company’s mission, values, culture, benefits, DEI principles, work/life balance ideals, and some compensation information. Also, Elpha members who work at the company are highlighted for job seekers to contact. The job listings are also very detailed and include information like benefits and impact, but do not include compensation ranges. When you click apply, you are taken to the company’s website or recruiting site. The jobs are primarily tech positions, and the list of posted positions is large. 

Pros

• Detailed and informative company information
• Ability to interact with others through active message boards
• Large number of job postings
• Interesting job search categories, including culture, percentage of women in leadership, etc.

Cons

• No consistent salary information
• Must create a profile to access most of the site
• Resources are limited

There are hundreds more job boards out there, including ours, Lady Bird Talent. These are just a few options. As in most things in life, no job board is perfect or complete. Choose the board that offers the benefits and features that are important to you. Good luck in your search!