JOB LISTINGS
Commercial Job Boards
Commercial Job Boards Employer Job Boards Subscription Based Services Social Media Job Boards
Sections
Commercial job boards charge recruiters to advertise each open position - and job-seekers don’t need to buy a subscription or make any other payment to view & apply for jobs. (We cover subscription services separately elsewhere.)
Although there are countless job boards, only a few of them are worth your attention. The best sites are those which apply some sort of quality control over the listings to ensure they’re genuine. The most basic form of quality control is simply charging for listings: this eliminates the worst scammers and time wasters who focus on sites they can use for free.
In general, there are two types of commercial job-board – ‘niche’ sites which focus on specific industries or locations, and ‘general’ sites which cover everything and which may include a few roles in our sectors.
These ‘general’ job boards are problematic since they reach the world (often literally) and your excellent application may be totally swamped by others from across the world – most not even having read the job description. You will have to hope the advertiser has the patience to review the mass of all applications to arrive at yours. The latest trend is to use AI tools to narrow the field and prepare short-lists – although this will soon become ineffective as people learn to ‘game’ the AI algorithms.
Also beware of so-called ‘aggregators’ job-boards which indiscriminately and automatically collect whatever job listings they find on the internet and repost them.
Our recommended starting point are the ‘niche’ boards which focus exclusively on our sectors.
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Now Incorporating jobs from Broadcastjobs.com
The market-leading niche job board is grapevinejobs, which was launched in 2001 and has grown through word of mouth since then. Candidates and advertisers appreciate the site’s continued focus on Quality vs quantity (only genuine roles are listed, and indiscriminate applications are controlled).
Some roles require registering to apply – but that simply requires your name, email and password.
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Originally a free-to-use business ‘networking’ site, LinkedIn was acquired by Microsoft some years ago and its focus is now firmly on revenue generation – and specifically paid job listings.
With a truly world-wide reach, it attracts applicants in vast numbers. Its powerful Sales team has succeeded in making it the job board of choice for many international companies.
LinkedIn is more likely to list senior executive roles than most other sites.
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An offshoot of The Guardian newspaper, this job board is highly regarded in the media sector even though it represents only a small faction [ <5%] of jobs on the site. It has less international reach than some other sites, so your application is more likely to be seen.
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Primarily focused on freelance roles, Talent Manager offers subscriptions - however, it is possible to view and apply for jobs on the site without paying, although registration is required for which you will need to supply a significant amount of personal and professional detail
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Indeed started as a free-to-use ‘aggregator’ job board with jobs sourced using its advanced ‘scraping’ technology.
It now mixes free and paid-for listings, while its sales team concentrates on getting recruiters to ‘upgrade’ their listings.
It has built a large audience and produces high response levels. As a result, many companies allow Indeed to take roles from their own employment sites (although they then struggle to process the applications).
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Employer Job Boards
In theory, the first place companies should look to list open positions is on their own website – and most companies have a capability to do this. Unfortunately, results can be highly mixed. HR departments are usually overworked, under-staffed and the job listing section of their websites is often not user-friendly. So there can be delays listing new jobs – and removing those which are no longer open.
Also, applicants are frequently required to complete an extended application process (so their details can go straight onto the employer’s database) This would be fine if applicants were confident their applications would be reviewed and they would receive an appropriate response; but this may not be the case.
Many employers are aware of the above and have improved their applicant experience; and if you’re job-hunting you really can’t afford to ignore the many Employer job boards.
We have listed all those we have found with no judgement on any of them.
Subscription Services
A sad fact of the media sector is that it remains in high demand amongst job seekers, and there just aren’t enough jobs to satisfy demand. Some entrepreneurs seek to exploit this by offering paid-for services which could lead to employment.
As it’s illegal to charge candidates for directly finding work, these various services are varied in nature – but they all use the lure of Jobs to attract users, and then direct them towards payment.
Despite this, the services are popular amongst employers who are able to advertise free of charge – while subscribing job-seekers can find their expectations of employment are not met.
To give you a better idea of what to expect, we have user-tested several of these services – to the point of signing up and even paying a subscription. You can read the results below, and this might help you decide whether or not to invest in a subscription.
Note that the appearance of a subscription site below does NOT in itself represent an endorsement by us.
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What does the site promise, at first glance
- A Linkedin-Like hub that branches into job posting, training and resource Hub.
To companies, it promises to ‘help creative companies find, track and develop diverse talent’.
However, the tag line on the Jobs tab is ‘Matching the best people with the best jobs’.
Is there any advance indication of cost? If so, what is the cost?
-While it’s possible to apply for jobs without paying, the site doesn’t hold back on the advantages of paid subscriptions. There are two different levels: Pro at £14.99/month (or £99.60 annually, including VAT) or Premium at £19.99/month (£114 annual, inc. VAT).
Compared to others, Talent Manager is relatively up-front about the potential cost of the site. Companies also have to pay to list jobs.
What is the sign up process like?
Very long, with a lot of detail required including an 11-part section with personal information including sexuality, gender identity, religion and disability.
It’s not possible to access or use the site without responding to all 11 parts (even if your answer to every question is going to be ‘prefer not to say’).
What can you achieve (if anything) without paying, any changes between the regular and the premium version ?
The benefits at the Pro/Premium level include extra resources to make your profile more prominent (e.g., by adding videos / images). You also rank higher than ‘free’ users and have the ability to make direct contact with employers
Main sentiment on online reviews.
Talent has a majority of good opinions despite having some negative opinions but in general the main sentiment is positive.
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What does the site promise, at first glance
Apart from the great name, it advertised itself as a private filmmaking community, with resources and job posting. Like a paid facebook group.
Is there any advance indication of cost? If so, what is the cost?
After you create your profile you will be notified of the subscription cost, which is £9,99 per month or £39,99 a year.
What can you achieve (if anything) without paying, any changes between the regular and the premium version ?
Without premium, you will only be able to access the news and blog section. Everything else is behind the paywall, including the job boards.
Main sentiment on online reviews.
There are not many other reviews online about the service, so it might either mean that it is not relevant enough or that their customers are happy with it.
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What does the site promise, at first glance?
It defines itself as a purpose-built crewing platform, connecting freelancers and companies working in TV, film, and branded content across the UK.
Is there any advance indication of cost? If so, what is the cost?
The website is not forward with the fact that there is a paid subscription as it only comes up as you try to apply to certain jobs.
What is the sign up process like?
Registration process was the fastest as it only needed to input name, surname, email and password.
What can you achieve (if anything) without paying, any changes between the regular and the premium version ?
Might be the subscription service with the least amount of content behind the paywall, and in the end is a regular job board with focus on freelancers. Even with not much premium content, Though the cost is low (£10 a month or £60 a year), the jobs advertised seem a bit too amateur and focused on freelancer jobs
Main Sentiment Online
Unfortunately, no relevant feedback at all found online.
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At the time of writing, after a couple of weeks of applying to sign up to the website we haven’t received a reply from The Call Sheet.
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What does the site promise, at first glance
The Mandy network claims to be the #1 job platform for cast crew and creative professionals with 3.4m members in six different countries / markets. Mandy covers 10 different areas of creative activity including theatre, dancers, child actors – and there is a section for film & TV production.
The claim is that Netflix, HBO and Disney (and 180,825 other employers and casting directors) all use Mandy to find talent.
Is there any advance indication of cost? If so, what is the cost?
There’s no advance indication that this is a paid service and you need to advance a long way down the ‘Join Now’ process before the cost becomes apparent. When the cost is finally revealed, it’s currently £17 / month (or £120 if billed yearly).
What is the sign up process like?
The signing process is fairly straightforward, just the usual basic information, uploading CV and then manually writing the CV information.
What can you achieve (if anything) without paying, any changes between the regular and the premium version ?
Nothing – except a number of the jobs listed behind the paywall are in the public domain and you may be able to find them by searching the internet for key words. Other ads are for what seem like amateur and student projects roles with very low pay.
Main sentiment on online reviews.
Main online sentiment is that the website is too overloaded with candidates to be able to find any job. People complain that with time it has gone worse and worse especially on the actoral side. Fair to say that there a few reviews that are happy with the service.
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What does the site promise, at first glance.
It advertises the usual job boards but with an emphasis on international jobs.
Is there any advance indication of cost? If so, what is the cost?
No mention at first of the fact that there is a paid subscription. The monthly cost is £19,99 (or £149,99 a year) and gives you access to everything on the website.
What is the sign up process like?
Registration is very easy and short, just email and password and for your profile you will just need to upload your CV and Cover letter.
What can you achieve (if anything) without paying, any changes between the regular and the premium version ?
With the free option you can apply to up to 5 jobs a day and not all the jobs are available to apply with that option.
Main Sentiment Online
Main sentiment is that the jobs that you can access when getting a premium are low paid and not really worth it. Some people seem to be happy with the website and mention that they landed good jobs thanks to it. Seems to be good if you are lucky but only for an odd temporary job.
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What does the site promise, at first glance?
Where the best freelance talent and production companies connect.
Is there any advance indication of cost? If so, what is the cost?
The website is not clear about the need for the membership until you try to apply for a job. From £3.33 per month. It mentions that there is a annual subscription but doesn’t state the price anywhere.
What is the sign up process like?
The registration process was extremely easy by only needing to enter your name, email and password.
What can you achieve (if anything) without paying, any changes between the regular and the premium version ?
There seems to be nothing to be able to achieve if not sign up for the premium membership
Main Sentiment Online
There are some reviews online about unhappy members because of the low return in the membership, stating that it is not worth it.
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What does the site promise, at first glance?
Aesthetically pleasing website that offers courses and resources to find a job in the media industry
Is there any advance indication of cost? If so, what is the cost?
As usual with these types of websites, the paid membership is presented once you try to apply for a job and this case, all the jobs are behind a the pro membership that costs £19,99 a month.
What is the sign up process like?
The registration process is simple and easy, name, email and password.
What can you achieve (if anything) without paying, any changes between the regular and the premium version ?
All the job boards are locked behind a paywall and give very little details about the job that you apply for.
Main Sentiment Online
Online reviews for this service are heavily polarised, but people hating it and people loving it, thought the positive side seems to acknowledge that they have been lucky with successfully landing a job.
Despite the early hype, social media has failed to make an impact in the recruitment process. There are only two areas where any of the social media sites might be of interest:
Company feeds; Some companies do post open roles on their social media feeds – but either don’t have a ‘jobs’ section on their website – or it’s there but no one knows how to post to it.
Social media
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Finding a job in the media industry through Facebook groups can be effective if you take a strategic approach and we have compiled a shortlist of the best Facebook groups for the task:
FREE resource for UK TV and FILM employers to post paid jobs and for experienced like minded TV, film and video professionals to connect and advance their careers. Part of the UK's largest Facebook tv/film/video jobs network.
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With 135k followers, they frequently advertise positions available for film and TV productions.
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They claim that they are the largest UK only film/TV/drama/commercials pre post and production Facebook jobs group. A FREE resource for employers to find crew and for freelancers and contractors to find paid work.
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They explain that they are a group for posts that are paid job offers for the TV and Film Industry. They also remove any request for volunteers.
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A group to connect people looking for work and offering it.
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Finding a job in the media industry through Instagram involves leveraging its visual and networking strengths. Here's how:
Optimize Your Profile:
Use a professional profile photo and bio.
Highlight your skills and link your portfolio or website.
Follow Industry Accounts:
Track media companies, recruiters, and industry influencers.
Engage with their posts to stay visible.
Search Job-Related Hashtags:
Use hashtags like #MediaJobs, #FilmJobs, #ContentCreator, or location-based tags like #MediaJobsUK.
Network:
DM industry professionals for advice or opportunities.
Collaborate on projects to build connections.
Post Your Work:
Share your portfolio, projects, or behind-the-scenes content.
Use relevant hashtags to increase visibility.
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In a similar way that with Instagram, the use of Hashtags and having a strong portfolio on your profile will help immensly
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