6 Best WordPress Job Board Themes For 2023 (Comparison)
If you’re preparing to launch a WordPress based job board, you’re in luck. There are plenty of great job board themes available and with just a little research, you’ll be able to pick the one that is just right for your project.
One thing you’ll find helpful when it comes to selecting a job board theme is to write out a list of requirements before you start your selection process.
Separating your desired features into “must have” and “would like” categories can make what would otherwise be a difficult choice much easier.
Differences between the themes covered in this post can be subtle. However, one area where you’ll need to give careful consideration is weighing out the self-contained themes against those that rely on the WP Job Manager Plugin.
Although not every theme is compatible with this plugin, it’s prevalent enough that we should spend a minute or two to bring you up to speed.
WP Job Manager plugin
If you spent any time at all researching job board themes, you’ve no doubt run across WP Job Manager. It’s the leading job board plugin from Mike Jolley and Automattic with over 60,000 active installs and a solid 4.8-star average rating. Thanks to its popularity, there have been plenty of themes introduced that are tightly integrated with the plugin and its suite of add-ons.
While WP Job Manager provides the functionality, it’s up to the individual themes to focus on providing a great looking and easy to navigate website. But choosing the best theme can be a time-consuming and sometimes confusing process — especially if you’re not yet sure about which features you want to offer.
WP Job Manager provides great core functionality but where it really shines is in its ability to be expanded via a series of add-ons. Everything from paid listings via WooCommerce to allowing candidates to apply for jobs with their Facebook profile become possible. Here a small list of some of the included and add-on functions available with this powerful plugin:
- Easily categorize and manage job listings
- Add listings to your pages with shortcodes
- Allowing companies to register and post listing as well as edit and update
- Candidates can apply for jobs online (Add-on)
- Paid listings via WooCommerce (Add-on)
- Allow candidates to receive job posting alerts (Add-on)
- Over 27+ more add-ons
Before we jump into the themes, it’s important to remind you that not every theme is compatible with this plugin. So, before you decide on a particular theme, make sure it has the features you want. Let’s take a closer look at the themes.
The best WordPress job board themes
1. WorkScout
WorkScout is, in my opinion, one of the better looking job board themes on the market. It seems to find an ideal balance between a convenient layout, plenty of whitespace and splashes of color that draw your attention to what’s important. WorkScout provides the ability to start searching right from the homepage — something all these themes should be doing. Requiring someone to click through to another search page is inconvenient.
As with the other WP Job Manager based themes, WorkScout makes submitting jobs easy for employers. Applying for available positions is just as easy for candidates with the ability to upload a resume, bookmark a jobs and be alerted to new listings. As with most of the WP Job Manager compatible themes, you’re best available option is to purchase the Core Bundle at a nicely discounted price — allowing you to add the most popular functions at a steep discount.
WorkScout comes packaged with a few free plugins including Revolution Slider, Visual Composer as well as several free options. We recently completed a more in-depth review of WorkScout which you’ll be able to find here.
WP Job Manager Compatible: YES
Price: $69
2. Jobify
Jobify is one of the most popular job board themes available for WordPress.
Aesthetically, Jobify is very similar to other themes on this list, with a full-width slider as well as recent and featured job listings. If you want to change the homepage layout it fully customizable.
Because Jobify relies on the WP Job Manager plugin, it comes packed with lots of features like the ability to live search and filter available jobs. With a few simple add-ons, you can also charge for listings while retaining the ability to approve everything prior to it go live.
And finally, Jobify makes the process of getting your site up and running relatively simple with the use of Sidekick. If you’re new to WordPress this feature could be a determining factor. It provides real-time interactive walkthroughs that will get your site live in record time.
WP Job Manager Compatible: YES
Price: $69
Check out our review of Jobify here.
3. Jobmonster
Jobmonster’s primary selling point is that you won’t need to add a full suite of plugins to get access to the functionality you’re looking for. It’s a great looking theme that’s easy to look at thanks to plenty of whitespace. As would be expected, it’s also mobile responsive and retina friendly. With an average rating of 4.6 stars and just under 1000 sales, it’s a solid option.
Jobmonster offers three home page variations that include the ability to search a map, a database a jobs or a database of resumes. Once registered, employers and candidates can post and edit their listings and resumes directly from the front-end. Of course, all job postings and resumes can be reviewed by an admin before going public as well.
Other important features built-in to Jobmonster include:
- WooCommerce and paid listings (including pricing plans)
- Separate front-end dashboards for both employers and applicants
- Employers can manage multiple jobs and applicants
- The ability for candidates to bookmark jobs, set-up alerts and apply using varied mediums (online, uploading a resume, and LlinkedIn)
WP Job Manager Compatible: NO
Price: $55
4. Jobseek
Jobseek is an elegant looking and fully responsive theme that comes packed with all the features you’d expect. The homepage is well laid out and it’s easy to find what you’re looking for. One thing that appears to be missing from the homepage is the ability to search for either jobs or candidates. The visitor needs to click through to another page, which although not a huge issue, isn’t quite as user-friendly as some of the other options.
Because Jobseek relies on WP Job Manager, it has all of the functionality you’d expect. This includes the ability for employers and candidates to manage their information from relevant admin screens as well as set-up paid listings, bookmarks, alerts and more — although some of these will require purchasing add-ons.
Jobseek also comes prepackaged with several plugins including:
- Visual Composer
- Slider Revolution
- Front-end Membership Modules
WP Job Manager Compatible: YES
Price: $39
5. JobsDirectory
JobsDirectory is one of the stand-alone job board themes but with a twist. Although the theme doesn’t rely on the WP Job Manager plugin, it’s still easy to customize. JobsDirectory is a theme that provides plenty of layout options. Take the homepage for example. Not only is it customizable, but it includes:
- A full-width homepage with map
- A homepage with city banner
- A full-width image slider
- A widgetized homepage
- A homepage that simple list available jobs
One thing that’s nice about this theme is the fact that there is a search bar right underneath the header. No matter which layout you choose, visitors will find it easy to begin the search process.
JobsDirectory is compatible with many of the top plugins — from Contact Form 7 to WooCommerce to Profile Builder — making it easy to build a highly-customized site. In addition, Templatic also has a wide variety of extensions available that let you add all kinds of unique features that won’t be easy to find on other job boards.
WP Job Manager Compatible: NO
Price: $59
6. WPJobus
WPJobus is a standalone job board theme from Themes Dojo that was nominated for “Best Job Board WordPress Theme”. It’s a great looking theme with awesome typography. As well, it just had a recent update (version 2.0) that added a variety of new features including:
- Separate accounts for employers and candidates
- A new front-page registration box
- The ability to add new jobs to a list of favorites
- Ninja and Gravity Forms compatible
Although WPJobus is primarily a directory theme, it can also double as a personal resume site and a company profile website. Despite these options, being a job board is what Jobus does best. Visitors can filter and refine searches for both jobs and resumes. Speaking of jobs, Jobus boasts the most detailed job listing page available with 100+ available fields.
If monetization is on your mind, Jobus is setup to work with stripe — something that’s an add-on for many other themes. In addition, the other features you expect are also built into the theme including:
- A front-end admin menu for businesses and applicants
- The ability to sign up for email subscriptions and alerts
- Pre-made page templates
- Extensively detailed company, resume and job description pages
WP Job Manager Compatible: NO
Price: $59
Finding the best WordPress job board theme for you
If you’re searching for a job board theme, the good news is that there are plenty of great options to pick from. Whether you want a standalone theme or something that relies on the WP Job Manager Plugin every option in this roundup is capable of meeting your needs.
The bad news it that these themes are so consistent in their offerings that the decision is not an easy one. It’s a competitive marketplace and there is a constant game of cat and mouse going on between the theme developers. If any one theme fails to keep up with the expected set of features, you can be sure they’ll be left behind the pack.
That said, our top pick has to be Jobify. It looks great, integrates with WP Job Manager and has the functionality you need for a job board.
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. This means we may make a small commission if you make a purchase.
