Why niche job boards make sense for SLP hiring

How are Indeed and LinkedIn working out for you right now? Is it affordable? Are you getting enough candidates, and the right candidates? If yes to all of these, you may not need us. Carry on!

But we highly doubt that's what's happening. Most employers we've talked to have significant pain points with these job boards, and hiring SLPs in general. Some have written off job boards entirely (prematurely), assuming no job board—and no version of inbound hiring—works. But inbound hiring isn't broken. It's just been done poorly in the past.

Niche job boards do better because they put the right eyes on your job post faster, and they keep costs much lower than large aggregate boards that prioritize volume over quality.

And there's another factor: in a shortage profession like speech–language pathology, a job board with no quality control means candidates get swarmed with piles of junk jobs. For SLP hiring, the opportunity lies in going where SLPs actually are, giving them the information they want, and letting an intermediary (like us) block the junk—for both SLPs and employers.

Niche job boards are fairly common—and work

Niche job boards aren't new — most fields have a few. The ones that succeed (HigherEdJobs for academia, Dice for tech) do so because they offer candidates or employers something the aggregators can't. That's exactly what we're doing at Informed Jobs.

Here’s why a niche job board with quality standards works well for SLP hiring:

• The SLP field is small, so it’s easier to pre-qualify your audience. A niche SLP board that only serves SLPs (not teachers, PTs, or other similar professions) means almost every single visitor is an SLP or SLP student. It’s also easier for the people who run the board (us) to target a single audience that’s already quite small, at fewer than 180,000 US-based SLPs, and with an audience we already have.
• With us, you're competing with a handful of listings, not hundreds. On LinkedIn and Indeed, there’s typically > 100 SLP jobs within a 20 mile radius (more for cities, less for rural areas—obviously), and in peak hiring season that number doubles or triples. On our jobs board, it’s typically 10 or fewer. Part of our low volume is because we only launched in 2025. But even once we reach full capacity, our job board will never have the volume large boards do, and that’s on purpose. It’s because a) we have quality criteria that block the worst jobs for SLPs, and b) we don’t allow ghost jobs. Far fewer jobs is good for you, because it lowers your competition to be seen, and good for SLPs because we’re filtering junk for them, so it’s a quick (and high-quality) stop to shop.
• Casual browsers matter in a shortage profession. SLPs are in high demand, and many of the best candidates aren't actively job hunting. Instead, they're passive candidates who browse in locations they already are (like here, while they’re doing monthly continuing ed). Those same people don’t casually browse Indeed.

• Quality beats quantity. Employers need 5 quality applicants, not 25 people who are barely interested in their position and don’t pan out. Because general aggregators optimize clicks and application counts, not quality or successful matches, you get more junk. A niche board like ours delivers fewer applications, but dramatically fewer unqualified ones, which saves you or your hiring team time and headache.

   

   

What we’re doing differently at Informed Jobs

We’re doing what SLPs want. Simple as that, really! That includes:

• Asking employers for the right information upfront. It makes no sense to tell SLPs the details they want to know in the interview process, when instead you could just disclose it upfront! Many employers don’t know what matters most to SLPs. We do, and we ask you about it. The information in our job posts is standardized as well, so that SLPs can easily compare jobs to each other and quickly find what they’re looking for.
• Then, blocking employers who won’t disclose. Most of the information in our job posts, including pay, caseload and productivity, location, schedule are required. By requiring job details, it helps us easily block ghost jobs as well.
• And blocking jobs that don’t meet our quality standards. Pay has to be > the 10^th percentile, and productivity requirements have to be < 85%. That along with required disclosures, and the job is approved! All other jobs are rejected.

• Finally, you get personal support from real SLPs when you post with us. Our team of SLP hiring experts is personally available to help—whether you're structuring a competitive offer or figuring out why a role isn't attracting applicants. We know SLP contracts, and what SLPs want, because this profession is all we do.

   

The results

Just like Indeed and LinkedIn can’t guarantee to fill your SLP job, we can’t either. Hiring SLPs is difficult because of the shortage. However, we can promise to not take advantage of your budget and get your job in front of as many SLPs as we possibly can. Here is a link to our 2025–2026 metrics. One private practice owner filled her position within 17 days and called it "the best experience for posting a job” (more employer reviews here).

Our mission

SLP hiring belongs in the field. Ours is a small, tightly networked profession—employers shouldn't have to spend tens of thousands of dollars with outside agencies to find a clinician. We're here to fix that system, not profit from its problems.

We launched Informed Jobs in 2025, but The Informed SLP has been earning clinicians' trust since 2016. Today, over 48,000 SLPs—roughly 1 in 4 in the profession—are active members, and more than 100,000 follow us on social media.

That trust is why our job board requires radical transparency: pay, setting, caseload, productivity, and schedule disclosed upfront. Jobs posted here reach the field's most engaged clinicians—and start from a place of credibility.

The bottom line

General job boards make sense when you're hiring for roles that any large audience might fill. SLP hiring isn't that. Instead, it's a shortage profession with discerning candidates who have options— and who gravitate toward employers who meet them with transparency and respect.

A niche board puts your job in front of a pre-qualified, engaged audience, wraps it in a layer of trust you'd otherwise spend years building, and gets it filled faster. That's how inbound hiring is supposed to work.

Ready to connect with qualified SLP candidates? Sign up as an employer at theinformedslp.com, or reach out with questions at jobs@theinformedslp.com. We're here, and happy to help.