Vacature

Site's statement

Jobboard Finder’s opinion

Summary:  Created in 1996 by Marijke Van Impe, Vacature is definitely one of the older job boards around and yet it looks so young thanks to its attractive design. A generalist job board, it is only focused on the Dutch part of Belgium (which is clear when you look through their key figures and when you consider the name of the job board). It attracts about 609 530 views a month and keeps (most of) its social media pages updated. There are 269 followers on Instagram, 2 794 on LinkedIn, 48 336 on Facebook and 8 247 on Twitter (but nothing new since 2017). The transparency on the website and the access to salary information, audience numbers and the large variety of packages are just some of the things to love about Vacature.

Design: The search engine is just for keywords with example keywords that actively write and rewrite themselves. The rest of the homepage is made up of blocks: a few leading to top job offers and then the rest of them create a decorative montage of information (salary tools, articles on CV writing and so on). Once in the job listing, large logos but not publication dates keep candidates the first image of the companies. Once opened, most job offers are broken down into clear sections and most include contact details. Jobs, which other candidates also visited, appear on the right-hand side. The filters (function, region, sector, diploma, experience, type of contract, type of hours) remain under the search engine. Unfortunately, the filters weren’t working when we tested the site.

The job board objective: Vacature (which means “job offer”) focuses on a specific region (all the while being open to international offers) to ensure recruiters and jobseekers find each other.

Recruiter observations: Recruiters can easily create an account, but a VAT number is required and a brief description of the company. You can choose your language (Dutch, French, English) and foreign companies can create an account. You can post anonymous job offers. You must provide an expiry date.

Jobseeker observations: As a jobseeker, it’s easy to create an account and apply to job offers. Furthermore, the website confirms your application by e-mail.

The job offers: There are 5 014 job offers. Since the filters weren’t working, it’s not possible to provide any other information.

Reactivity: The team answers very quickly on chat support.

Special features: The magazine (which you can download or read online); the CV templates; salary calculator; salary comparator (with an impressive comparative study); notice template and other information on quitting; personality test: profession matching test; chat support; photos of the team; the detailed facts and figures; the list of top employers; the different packages.

Verdict: Downloading everything is a bit annoying, especially since you receive it in a PDF and the language becomes a huge barrier. That said, the information is interesting and the chat support is handy. Vacature knows how to move with the times.

Written by Ali Neill

As the job board tester and blog editor for the Jobboard Finder, Ali works on job boards from all around the world and keeps a close eye on the recruitment trends thanks to a number of sources, including the website's social media pages.