Where to advertise jobs to reach a more diverse pool of candidates

When people ask where to advertise jobs to reach diverse candidates, the instinct is often to look for a niche platform. Boards marketing themselves specifically to Black candidates, women, LGBTQ+ candidates, or other underrepresented groups have built entire businesses on this premise. In practice, they rarely move the needle.

Why would a candidate search by ethnicity?

Ask the question plainly: why would a candidate search for jobs based on their ethnicity? A software developer who happens to be from an ethnic minority background is looking for software developer roles, in the same places, using the same search terms, as every other software developer. They are not typing their ethnicity into a job board search bar, and they are not checking a separate platform on the assumption that mainstream boards aren’t for them.

The premise of an ethnicity-specific job board assumes candidates want to be sorted by identity before they look for work. Most don’t. They want the same access to the same roles as everyone else, advertised in the same places.

Gender works differently, and content matters more than channel

For gender, the channel is rarely the problem. The bigger issue is what the advert actually says. Job descriptions loaded with masculine-coded language (competitive, dominant, ambitious used repeatedly, aggressive targets) can discourage women from applying, regardless of where the advert is placed. Fixing this means auditing and rewriting the copy itself, not sourcing a “women in tech” board, something we go into in more depth in our guide on writing gender-neutral job descriptions.

This is really the wider point: content does more work than channel. A well-written, genuinely gender-neutral advert on a mainstream, high-reach job board will reach more of the right candidates than a narrowly targeted board with a mediocre advert.

The practical approach: reach first, then content

Rather than hunting for niche platforms, the more effective strategy for advertising jobs to reach diverse candidates is:

1. Identify the job boards and platforms with the largest genuine reach for the specific role and sector
2. Invest the effort saved from chasing niche boards into making the advert itself strong, clear, and free of exclusionary language
3. Treat broad reach as the mechanism for diversity, not a barrier to it. The widest possible audience includes the widest possible range of candidates by default

This is the same thinking behind our diverse and inclusion recruitment strategy work: building relationships with the platforms where underrepresented talent actually looks, rather than assuming a niche board will do the work for you.

The exception: disability

Disability recruitment platforms are the one genuine exception, but even here, caution is needed. Some platforms market themselves as disability-positive without the accessibility to back it up. A board claiming to serve disabled candidates is only useful if it is actually navigable by screen readers, keyboard-only navigation, and other assistive technology. Before relying on any disability-focused platform, test it directly: does the site work with a screen reader? Is the application process achievable without a mouse? Does it meet basic WCAG accessibility standards?

This isn’t just a job board issue either, the same test applies to your own application process, which we cover in why one application process doesn’t work for every role. Marketing claims and lived accessibility are often two different things, whether that’s a third-party board or your own careers site.