It was an ugly, painful year. I haven’t talked to a single job board owner – not one – who saw revenue declines of less than 35 to 70 percent. Many had to lay off employees, cut benefits, or otherwise pull back. They weren’t alone, of course – almost every aspect of our economy (Goldman Sachs excepted) has suffered.

So, we’re agreed – 2009 sucked. But surely we learned a few things, right? Hmmm….

  1. Bailouts are for banks, not job boards (unless you’re Monster in Ohio, that is!).
  2. Ignore social media at your peril.
  3. Niche (and micro-niche) is where it’s at.
  4. Job boards aren’t dying – they’re evolving (but the ones that don’t evolve probably will die).
  5. People who write about “job boards dying” get great Twitter traction (say that 5 times fast!).
  6. Applicant tracking systems are still the bane of job boarders everywhere.
  7. It’s easier than ever to start a job board – and hard than ever to make money with one.
  8. The ‘Big 3′ are still the Big 3 (and aren’t you glad we have them to kick around?).
  9. Job aggregators are everywhere (haven’t I seen that job somewhere before?).
  10. Cheezhead’s snarky commentary made the recruiting world more enjoyable – we miss it!

What did you learn this year?