While Indeed once had a near monopoly on the job-hunting industry, its days as the main pipeline for talent are over.
Due to the inundation of postings and job seekers, Indeed was overloaded with openings, causing many people to miss the needle while sorting through the haystack. This same issue followed other Indeed alternatives on job search engines like Monster, ZipRecruiter and CareerBuilder.
The solution?
Multiple job platforms with nuanced focuses. Now, employers can post open positions on niche job boards where their ideal candidates are more likely to see them.
Rather than searching through thousands of potential “matches,” candidates with specific skills, like Black tech professionals, can look for work tailored to their abilities. With fewer applicants, they get their resumes noticed more easily than they would within a sea of less-qualified candidates.
If you’re a Black tech professional trying to find an employer looking for your unique talents and traits, these 5 Indeed alternatives can help you reach your goal faster.
1. Obsidi®
One of the best job search sites for Black tech professionals, Obsidi®, partners with businesses to improve their DEI (diversity, ethnicity, inclusion) initiatives.
Launched by the Black Professionals in Tech Network (BPTN), Obsidi®’s all-in-one networking platform was designed to provide Black professionals a way to level up in the tech industry. This platform connects Black career seekers and growers with Silicon Valley corporate executives and beyond.
The goal? To support, hire, and retain Black talent in a substantially underrepresented industry.
Benefits of Using Obsidi®
Job seekers in the tech community often struggle to be seen above the competition. Connecting with Obsidi®’s pipeline gives you a greater chance to connect and be seen with high-peer networking.
The platform includes services created with the Black tech professional in mind, such as:
- A job board with the latest relevant open positions, including a search function and salary ranges when applicable
- Career development resources
- A resume database to store uploads
- A strong peer network to connect like-minded community members looking for a new job, seeking career advice to move forward, and asking other questions about the tech job market
- The latest industry news
- Connections to Black tech professional events, including BFUTR (the largest global Black tech summit)
- Mentorship opportunities
- Executive sponsorship opportunities
- Skills building
- On-point customer support
Obsidi® partners with companies that actively hire Black professionals and connects skilled workers to open positions and mentors using innovative recruiting software and old-fashioned connections.
Obsidi® Academy offers successful graduates a full-time job at one of the Obsidi® Academy partner companies (contingent on passing criminal and financial background checks).
2. LinkedIn Employee Resource Groups
LinkedIn, the social media platform for professionals, has become a place for job seekers to find work. This platform connects like-minded people and opens a network where community members and allies can feel included.
The secret to successfully standing out on a platform used by hundreds of thousands of people?
Join an employee resource group (ERG), download the mobile app, and respond to relevant notifications.
Benefits of Using LinkedIn ERGs
Job seekers joining one of LinkedIn’s inclusive ERGs can communicate with teammates in a strong community of leaders and allies. Expressly, ERGs are set up with the intent to create spaces where members feel included. This sense of belonging is fostered by shared support from other members and allies.
The benefits job seekers achieve depend in part on the ERG they join and their participation in the group. Examples include:
- Black Inclusion Group (BIG), where Black employees connect with hiring tech businesses to close the opportunity gap
- EnableIn, a group designed to generate awareness and drive inclusive and accessible engagement for those with disabilities or invisible illnesses
- Embrace, an organization that embraces everyone, regardless of culture, nationality, or ethnicity, in a focused approach to overcome unconscious bias
LinkedIn’s ERGs include opportunities for other underrepresented job seekers to safely engage in professional communities. From Hispanic and Latin tech workers to LGBTQIA people, there’s an employee resource group designed to help you reach your career goals.
3. Slack Channels
Slack is a common platform that businesses and schools use to enhance team or parent/teacher communication. It’s a tool known primarily as a professional texting platform, but its abilities go beyond being a means of talking to others.
Like LinkedIn, Slack offers “channels,” or groups where those with similar skills and interests can connect. Public communities providing support for nearly any experience you can think of are available, and this leads you to a system to help you as a Black tech professional.
Benefits of Using Slack Channels
Slack communities are collaborative places where like-minded people can network, but they’re not easily found. You’ll need to join the user-friendly Slofile Slack community database to learn where to send join requests, or check out the AI-powered Slackbot Standuply and search for the best groups and communities there.
Alternatively, you can view industry-specific online lists if you know any particular experts in your field.
Examples of tech-focused Slack communities designed to help Black job seekers navigate professional networking options include:
- Path for Progress, a community gathered around startups, medium, and small businesses seeking inclusive and diverse teams in their workplace
- Blacks in Technology, a tech-focused organization building connections and growing highly skilled, diverse workers, with a focus on “Stomping the Divide”
- ChiTechDiversity, a group that supports tech workers from any underrepresented community. Everyone is welcome, but the group is actively anti-discrimination and harassment of any kind.
- The Brave Space, where DEI practitioners in tech can explore difficult conversations about all things diversity, ethnicity, and inclusion. Rather than avoiding controversy, complex topics are deliberately approached to learn healthier perspectives and give up previous views.
- CoDiv, a place where those who in the tech space care about diversity and inclusion can support, learn, and share information, insights, and experiences. Conversations about difficult topics are okay but must be free from discrimination or harassment.
Within Slack’s many public communities lies the group where online job seekers in tech like you can network with, learn, and mentor others.
4. Brightwing
Designed to be a recruiting agency for every industry, Brightwing isn’t as nuanced in diversity as other job platform pipelines. However, this professional agency has been open since 1973, successfully connecting jobs to the right candidates.
Named Great Recruiters Certified in 2021 and 2022 by Great Recruiters, Brightwing is a reliable and effective platform for job seekers and recruiters. The company has brick-and-mortar locations in Metro Detroit, Dallas-Fort Worth, and South Florida.
Benefits of Using Brightwing
Brightwing’s raison d’etre is to understand its candidates and help them find the correct job placement rather than shoehorning them into available positions. This approach resonates with job seekers looking to find the perfect trifecta of career, company culture, and benefits.
Previous candidates of Brightwing recruiters are happy with the platform’s personalization, such as:
- Communication between recruiters and job seekers
- Detail-oriented recruitment process
- Feedback from hiring employers regarding unsuccessful interviews to pinpoint opportunities for growth and strong areas to highlight
- Tailored resume advice
- Interview prep services
- Assistance through every aspect of the hiring process
- Open roles for full and part-time positions as well as remote jobs
Although Brightwing’s recruiters focus on all industries, they can provide personalized service to help potential candidates get a foot in the tech door.
5. HBCU Connect
If you graduated from a Historically Black College or University (HBCU), you may qualify for new opportunities at HBCU Connect. This job search engine connects potential employers with graduates from HBCUs and hosts job fairs where you can connect with talent acquisition recruiters.
From job postings to understanding the general hiring process, the community of HBCU Connect leaders is supportive, knowledgeable, and ready to help you find your next position in the tech industry.
Benefits of Using HBCU Connect
As the largest network of students and alumni from Historically Black Colleges and Universities, HBCU Connect’s platform is packed with helpful information for its members and legitimate job ads.
The board isn’t a customizable hiring platform like the job search websites on this list, but once you sign up, you can access the Alumni and Students pages, the Job and Internship database with detailed job descriptions in healthcare, tech, and more, and the HBCU News and Blogs.
While the features change regularly, common benefits for members include:
- Up-to-date minority scholarship lists
- The latest job fairs and hiring events
- Forums where members learn about crucial parts of finding jobs in today’s interview process, such as applicant tracking systems, making it through AI scan bots, and dealing with challenging hiring managers
- Regularly updated job listings, including salary information about a specific job
Finding peers to connect with often starts with learning your common ground. At HBCU Connect, this factor is already done for you.
Everyone you meet online or at an HBCU Connect event is a current student or alumni of a Historically Black College, and the employer partners are actively seeking a talent pool of diverse candidates for their open positions.
Conclusion
When you’re ready to streamline your Black tech professional career journey and skip the scam interviews and overloaded job sites, these 5 best Indeed alternatives are where you can confidently get started. Join one or all platforms, as they each have something unique to offer and could have a connection to your next job.
Whether you’re at entry-level or a seasoned worker, Obsidi® specializes in matching talented minds with job opportunities for Black tech professionals career growth. The employer brand, company reviews, and cutting-edge information ensure Obsidi® members stand out in a competitive tech job candidate pool.
Serious about excelling in the tech industry? Start your strategic career search path by signing up with Obsidi® today.
