The Placement Experience Archives - Higher Ed Career Coach

Higher Education Job Boards To Bookmark Today

by sean@higheredcareercoach.com | Nov 12, 2025 | Job Boards, Job Search, Job Search, job search tools, Student Affairs, The Placement Experience

Finding the right job in higher education requires a strategic approach, focus, and access to the best platforms. Whether you are a faculty member, administrator, or student affairs professional, knowing where to look is half the battle. Here’s a curated list of highly effective higher education job boards, complete with links, target audiences, features, and publishers.

Pro Tip: Bookmark the boards most aligned with your career goals and set up job alerts to never miss a posting.

General Higher Education Job Boards

These boards cover a wide range of positions across faculty, administrative, and executive roles.

HERC Jobs
URL: hercjobs.org
Publisher: Higher Education Recruitment Consortium (HERC)
Audience: Faculty, administrators, and executives with a focus on diversity and inclusive hiring.
Features: Faculty, staff, and executive listings; dual-career support; resources for inclusive hiring.

HigherEdJobs
URL: higheredjobs.com
Publisher: HigherEdJobs, Inc.
Audience: Job seekers at all levels, from adjuncts to senior administrators.
Features: Comprehensive listings, resume upload, and career advice.

Inside Higher Ed – Careers
URL: careers.insidehighered.com
Publisher: Inside Higher Ed
Audience: Faculty, administrators, and student affairs staff.
Features: Job listings combined with news, commentary, and research on hiring institutions.

UniversityJobs.com
URL: universityjobs.com
Publisher: JobTarget, Inc.
Audience: Academics, researchers, and administrators worldwide.
Features: Faculty, post-doc, staff, and administrative positions with international listings.

AcademicKeys
URL: academickeys.com
Publisher: AcademicKeys, Inc.
Audience: Discipline-specific faculty and research professionals.
Features: Job listings by discipline; research, post-doc, and faculty opportunities.

HigherEd360
URL: highered360.com
Publisher: HigherEd360
Audience: Faculty, staff, PhD candidates, and post-docs exploring academic careers.
Features: Job listings, institutional directories (2,600+ colleges/universities), CV/resume resources, and career advice.

Specialized and Niche Boards

These boards are ideal for targeting specific audiences, such as diversity hires, international educators, or discipline-specific roles.

HigherEd-Diversity – highered-diversity.com
Publisher: HigherEd-Diversity, Inc.
Audience: Underrepresented faculty and administrators.
Features: Diversity-focused postings, unlimited posting plans for institutions.

AAHHE Job Board – aahhe.mcjobboard.net
Publisher: Association of American Hispanics in Higher Education (AAHHE)
Audience: Hispanic/Latino higher-ed professionals.
Features: Filterable faculty and administrative positions; job alerts.

HERS Network Job Board – hersnetwork.org
Publisher: HERS Institute
Audience: Women and gender-diverse professionals in senior leadership.
Features: Leadership and executive positions; career development resources.

AHEPPP Job Board – aheppp.memberclicks.net
Publisher: Association of Higher Education Parent/Family Programs & Personnel (AHEPPP)
Audience: Student affairs, family/parent programs, enrollment, and alumni relations professionals.
Features: Parent/family engagement, orientation, enrollment, and alumni roles.

NACUBO Career HQ – careerhq.nacubo.org
Publisher: National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO)
Audience: Business, finance, and administrative professionals.
Features: Campus business officer roles; resume submission; mid- to senior-level positions.

AERA Online Job Board – careers.aera.net
Publisher: American Educational Research Association (AERA)
Audience: Education researchers, policy scholars, and doctoral/post-doc candidates.
Features: Academic research positions with resume upload and job alerts.

CommunityCollegeJobs.com – communitycollegejobs.com
Publisher: CommunityCollegeJobs.com
Audience: Two-year college faculty, staff, administrators, and executives.
Features: State-by-state search; faculty and administrative postings.

AdjunctWorld – adjunctworld.com
Publisher: AdjunctWorld, Inc.
Audience: Online adjunct instructors and remote teaching professionals.
Features: Curated online teaching jobs and certificate courses to strengthen applications.

Student Affairs Job Boards

Student affairs professionals need specialized resources for leadership, engagement, and student support roles.

The Placement Exchange – https://www.theplacementexchange.org/
Publisher: NASPA (Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education) and ACUHO-I (Association of College and University Housing Officers – International).
Audience: Early to mid-career student affairs professionals.
Features: Job board, resources for job seekers and employers, communication, and interview scheduling features.

ACPA Career Center – careers.myacpa.org
Publisher: American College Personnel Association (ACPA)
Audience: Campus life and student development staff.
Features: Student affairs, counseling, diversity, inclusion, and engagement roles.

StudentAffairs.Com Job Board – https://www.studentaffairs.com/jobs/
Publisher: StudentAffairs.Com
Audience: Residence life, orientation, student engagement, and other Student Affairs job seekers
Features: Student Affairs job postings, Free Resume Posting Service

SEO & Engagement Tips

Bookmark your favorites: Focus on the boards that align most closely with your career goals.
Set up job alerts: Don’t wait—get notified instantly when relevant positions post.
Network within associations: Many boards (NASPA, ACPA, AAHHE, NACUBO) offer exclusive career development and networking opportunities.
Keep your CV current: Tailor it for faculty, administrative, or student affairs roles depending on the board.

Next Step:
Create accounts on 3–5 of these boards today and subscribe to email alerts.
You’ll be ahead of other candidates in landing your next higher education role.

Download a version of this information in an Excel Workbook (contains hyperlinks).

Copy of Higher Ed Job Boards (Read Only)Download

More on Hiring Cycles: Planning Your Student Affairs Job Search

by sean@higheredcareercoach.com | Nov 4, 2025 | Career Transitions, Higher Education, Interview Tips, interviews, Job Search, Resumes and CVs, Student Affairs, The Placement Experience

Earlier this month, we covered the importance of understanding typical academic hiring cycles when searching for faculty roles. It’s equally important while searching for a job in Student Affairs, but the rhythm of the year is a bit different.

As noted in the previous article, academia operates on a relatively predictable schedule, and job postings are tied closely to the academic calendar. Most institutions plan their staffing needs well in advance of the upcoming academic year.

Open Season: The Job Hunt Begins! Late Winter to Early Spring (January – May)

While fall is the peak season for faculty jobs, late winter to early spring (January through May) is the busiest hiring period for employment in Student Affairs. Most institutions examine their staffing needs between the end of one year and the beginning of the next, and plan to fill vacancies by late summer and early fall.

Job seekers can expect to start seeing job postings for the next academic year by January or February. Working backward, this means that individuals seeking a new role should refine their resumes and LinkedIn profiles, line up their references, and begin planning and budgeting in late fall or early winter (October through December) for a busy interview season, which typically picks up in March and April. Professional Associations like NASPA and ACPA hold their annual conferences, providing opportunities for networking. Some regional associations also post career resources and events on their websites, for those with geographic preferences.

TPE, The Placement Exchange, a joint venture of NASPA and ACUHO-I, is a virtual platform where job seekers can research opportunities, apply for vacancies, and have multiple interviews. Marketed as a resource for graduate students and early-to-mid-career professionals, TPE enables employers to set up virtual career booths and offer recruiting information, videos, documents, and links to institution-specific resources, including their institution’s job posting site and benefits information. Employers can post open jobs, receive applications, view applicants, message them, and schedule and conduct interviews through the TPE platform.

Candidates participating in TPE can attend a virtual career fair, schedule interviews during a designated scheduling week, and participate in interviews during a dedicated interview week. Registration for 2026 Virtual Placement begins on December 1, and TPE Virtual Placement dates are February 13 and February 23-27, 2026. For more information, visit the Virtual Placement page on the TPE website.

Phase 2: Interview Season
(March and April)

The next phase of the annual Student Affairs hiring cycle begins in March and April. By this time, many institutions have conducted initial screening interviews and started inviting candidates for second-round interviews. The way interviews unfold during this phase varies. For some positions, particularly early-career roles, the second interview may be the final interview. For more specialized roles and senior positions, the interview process may include different stages and include meetings with various campus stakeholders, including senior management. If an employer doesn’t provide clear explanations of the interview process and hiring timeline, candidates should request this information so they can plan their travel and work around other interview opportunities.

Phase 3: Offers and Acceptances (May through June)

For candidates, the next phase begins and (hopefully) rewards them for all their hard work. By May and June, many employers extend offers, especially for roles that start onboarding and staff training in July. This is common for Residence Life and other areas that welcome students to campus and support student activities and events that take place early in the academic year, such as Orientation, Student Activities, and Greek Life.

The Second Wave:
July Through October

What happens next? A second wave occurs in response to the departure of staff who accepted new opportunities. Many universities begin their fiscal years on July 1^st and some do not advertise positions until the new fiscal year starts. Institutions will continue to post new vacancies in late summer through early fall (July through October).

In July and August, “Just-in-Time” hiring takes place to fill positions created by last-minute resignations or newly approved roles before the start of the fall semester. When I worked in Residence Life, I referred to this stage as the time we had a “warm body problem”: we needed to start the year strong, and (facetiously) this meant that we would hire any “warm body” to fill the vacancy. This is an oversimplification. Res Life folks often use sardonic comments to survive the challenges of the professional staff training-student staff training- orientation leader training-residence hall opening-welcome-week-and-everything-else season that ramps up in July and ends in exhaustion (or at some point in October).

Anyway, we wouldn’t take just any “warm body.” We would, however, consider less experienced candidates who showed promise, seemed trainable, and were ready and raring to go. Many of my best staff members joined the department during this time. If you end up being a “second wave” hire, don’t beat yourself up. You weren’t hired late because you weren’t competitive. You were hired late because you had the endurance to keep going.

The End

At the end of this phase, in September and October, there are fewer job postings, many of which are for specialized roles or unexpected vacancies. The academic year gathers steam, and eventually, the hiring cycle for the following year’s vacancies begins. If you are still looking for a job, know that being the best available option is a good thing. Keep the faith, and your opportunity will come. You’ll know your final destination when you get to the “end of the line.”

Some Final Thoughts

Be prepared for a long process. Due to committee approvals, university bureaucracy, and the need to coordinate multiple schedules, the timeline from application to an offer can take 4 to 6 weeks or longer.

October through December: Prepare your resume and optimize your LinkedIn profile. Line up your references. Plan your budget to be prepared for networking, placement events, and travel.

Begin your active search in January and prioritize high-volume application submissions and conference attendance through May to hit the primary cycle

If you can afford to attend conferences early in the year, use them as opportunities to meet other professionals, support other job seekers, and network. New connections can lead to new opportunities.

Participate in TPE. It is a structured, high-volume environment where candidates can complete multiple screening interviews with institutions in just a few days.

Be on the lookout for regional placement events or conferences. Smaller events may offer you opportunities to stand out in a smaller crowd. This is especially important if you are regionally bound.

If you are interested in a specific institution, visit their hiring page frequently in late Spring and early Summer. Many universities begin their fiscal years on July 1 and typically do not advertise positions until the new fiscal year starts.

March Madness of a Different Kind: Placement Exchanges And the Higher Ed Hiring Season

by sean@higheredcareercoach.com | Mar 3, 2011 | Job Search, The Placement Experience

Go time! March is finally here, and we all know what that means. It’s time for March Madness!

For most Americans, “March Madness” signifies basketball games on television, betting pools with friends and colleagues, and the mind-numbing fun that comes with working through your brackets, watching early contenders fall, and ending with an overhyped contest, resulting in the emergence of one champion.

When you work in higher education, “March Madness” means something different: the great kickoff of hiring season. Candidates practice their pitches, don their uniforms, and put their game faces on. But the reward that comes at the end of this contest is not a trophy, but a job.

If there are any significant tournaments during the hiring season, they are the placement conferences, both regional and national. The largest of these is the Placement Exchange. TPE, as it is often abbreviated, is the “300 pound gorilla” of placement conferences for higher ed administrators. The Placement Exchange is a partnership of NASPA, ACUHO-I, NACA, NODA, ASCA, AFA, and HigherEdJobs. This event is expected to draw over 1200 candidates and has 463 positions already posted.

If you have never been to a placement conference, it can be a bewildering and confusing experience. But with a little preparation, some context, and the right attitude, attending a placement exchange can be a great experience.

This Friday at 11 AM, I will have the pleasure of hosting Nathan Victoria, Assistant Director of Educational Programs and Social Media for NASPA on my BlogTalkRadio show, when he will answer some common questions about the placement experience and offer some practical tips and encouragement for job seekers attending TPE this year.

If you would like the opportunity to hear more about the Placement Exchange experience or ask questions or offer your perspectives and advice for candidates attending a placement conference this year, please join us!

To listen to the show go to http://tobtr.com/s/1610677 or click on the BlogTalkRadio player below. During the show, you may call in your questions to (347) 989-0055 or connect to the show via Skype by clicking on the Skype click to talk “S” logo once the show is on the air. If you cannot join us at 11 AM Eastern time this Friday, you are welcome to submit your questions and comments in advance by e-mailing Sean@higheredcareercoach.com or sending a tweet to Sean at @hiedcareercoach. The show will also be available for download and streaming after the show concludes.

Listen to internet radio with Sean Cook on Blog Talk Radio

Creating a Killer Resume: Webinar Replay, Part 3

by sean@higheredcareercoach.com | Feb 10, 2011 | Career Skills, Coaching, Higher Education, Job Search, Student Affairs, The Placement Experience

This is part 3 of my recent “Creating a Killer Résumé” webinar, where I did a sample coaching session for a second-step job seeker in Student Affairs. If you find it informative, please share, like and re-tweet the link, and “like” it on YouTube.

More segments are coming next week.

Also, please consider joining my mailing list, where you will get periodic “insider only” content, and special offers. Subscribers also get, for a limited time, access to my auto-responder e-course “Planning Your Career in Higher Ed” for free.

Last-Minute Gifts for The Higher Ed Job Seeker

by sean@higheredcareercoach.com | Dec 21, 2010 | Career Skills, Coaching, Higher Education, Job Search, Student Affairs, The Placement Experience

Every year, I start the holiday season with good intentions…making lists, coming up with the perfect ideas for each person on my list, and taking some time to get a good head-start on things.

And like many, I fall short.

I began writing this post the night of the 19th. At that point, I hadn’t begun my Christmas shopping. Yesterday morning I was going to go out, but all the sudden it was nearly 2 p.m. before I was finally heading out the door to do some shopping. I still have a few more things on my list, but they will have to wait. Today is my daughter Susie’s 2nd birthday and we are eating cake, opening presents, and (undoubtedly, because we do this every day) watching Team UmiZoomi about 20 times.

My wife, Sarah, is one of those people who buys ahead and finds all the great deals. So she and I periodically talk about ideas and she buys many of our children’s gifts early. And my siblings, parents and the other adults in our family have moved on to doing a “country gift exchange,” so I don’t really have all that many people to shop for, but the ones I do are pretty important to me.

If you are a last-minute gifter, and you have a higher ed job seeker on your list (or you are one, and hope to give yourself the gift of a new job in the coming year), here are a few ideas for last-minute gifts:

Buy the person a website to set up a job-seeker blog. If possible, register a .com address and use the person’s name, so they can stake out a “home base” for their personal brand. You can find plenty of good web hosts out there, and it’s really easy on most to set up a blog using WordPress. I use FatCow, which has a lot of nice features and add-ons, and a really affordable annual rate, with unlimited storage and bandwidth, as well as e-mail addresses for your domain. They are running a $4.67/month hosting special right now, which you can get by clicking on the link above or on the ad in the right-hand column. The deal includes hosting for one year, one domain, and a lot of easy-to-use tools. For example, easy set-up of a WordPress.Org blog like this one, photo galleries, forums, Moodle and Joomla sites, even an online store. Users also get ad credits on Google AdWords, Facebook, and Yahoo, which your job-seeker could use to place personal “Job Wanted” Ads.
If you self-host a WordPress blog, you can install a standard template or get a little fancy. My blogs run the Thesis theme framework, which has some built-in features that help with Search Engine Optimization. You need to have some confidence with technology to get it installed and set up, but once you do, the dashboard is pretty easy to master, and you will enjoy better search results without having to get a certificate in internet marketing.
Buy your job-seeker some assistance with writing and editing their job search materials (or if your job-seeker is going back to school, with admissions essays). I offer these services as part of my 1-on-1 coaching packages, and would be glad to speak to you or your job-seeker about what I can offer, but I also recently became an affiliate for ResumeEdge and EssayEdge, the leading resume and essay editing and assistance services on the internet, so please check them out as well.
Screen grab of Module 3 of the Placement Partner Program Moodle Course

Give the gift of coaching. I am opening a job seeker group for spring. I am offering first spots to people on my mailing lists, so sign up here to get information. There will be a limited number of spots for this program, because I want to offer members a quality experience and to give them personal attention, so list members get first crack. If there are available spaces in January, they will be opened up to the general public.There will be three levels of participation:
- Value Edition: Online group with self-paced activities and forum discussions ($180 for 6 months access. You must register for this option to be offered the opportunity to upgrade to either of the other levels. The first five modules of this 26-module program are now live and available for those who are ready to get started with their exploration and planning over the holiday break. The rest will go live in sometime in early January.)
- Standard Edition: Online group, plus free access to webinars and 2 1-on-1 meetings for resume assistance and mock interview practice, and e-mail coaching through the duration of your enrollment($300-with the option of paying for the upgrade all at once or in 6 monthly installments.)
- Personalized Edition: All of the above, plus 6 additional coaching sessions. ($500-with the option to pay for the upgrade all at once or in 6 monthly installments.)

If you are looking just for 1-on-1 coaching, my rates for one-on-one coaching are reasonable, and depend on the length of the session. If you’re interested in 1-on-1 coaching, visit my public calendar to schedule a free initial consultation. There is no obligation to purchase anything. We’ll talk about what you are looking for in a coach. I will tell you a bit about my coaching methods and business practices, and we’ll discuss the going rates for the services that interest you. If you like, I will even give you a couple of other resources to check out. Every job seeker has different needs and the “fit” between coach and client is just as important as “fit” is to landing the right job. So the consultation will be an opportunity for both of us to assess whether we might be able to work together on your job search.
Or you can buy a gift certificate (that can be used at my webstore toward any of the programs above, or 1-on-1 coaching, or other products and services to be offered soon, including e-books, webinars, and job-seeker tools and resources.

Whatever you end up getting your friends, your loved ones, or yourself, I wish you the best this holiday season, and good luck in your job search!

Sean Cook Higher Ed Career Coach

Sean Cook is a certified Life Purpose and Career Coach based in Athens, GA, and owner of Cook Coaching & Consulting, the publisher of HigherEdCareerCoach.Com and HigherEdLifeCoach.Com.

Through his practice, Cook assists higher education professionals and persons looking to transition into administrative and faculty positions in academia. He also coaches college students and their parents through the difficult transitions that come with college.

BreakDrink Conference Today and Tomorrow! Plus, information on the "Placement Partner" program

by sean@higheredcareercoach.com | Nov 29, 2010 | Career Skills, Coaching, Job Search, Student Affairs, The Placement Experience

I am glad to be presenting on Monday at 1 pm CST/2 pm EST at the BreakDrink free fall conference. The topic will be “Mastering the Job Interview,” and it’s about getting in the right mindset to prepare for your job interview. An extended version of this presentation (and others like it) will be part of the Placement Partner hybrid coaching program that I am opening up shortly and that will continue through May.

This program is a “hybrid” mini-course for higher ed job seekers. Split into 25 sections, this program begins in December and goes through May, the traditional season for academic hiring for the upcoming academic year. There are self-paced activities that you can go through on your own on a Moodle group, and a forum where you can share your questions and ideas with other higher ed job seekers. You can add on webinars, resume coaching and assistance, e-mail coaching and one-on-one coaching.

There are three levels of participation:

Value edition-Moodle activities, plus occasional free online chats and call-in group coaching.
Standard edition-Everything in the Value edition, plus free admission to some webinars on job search and career-planning topics. (Value edition members can pay for those webinars they would like to attend.) Plus 2 sessions of online resume coaching and assistance, and e-mail coaching. ($300 for 180 days of access)
Personalized edition: Includes everything in the standard package, plus 6 sessions of 1-on-1 coaching between enrollment and the end of May. ($500 for 180 days of access.)

The Moodle group is shared between all levels of seekers, and the “Value Edition” is offered at the base price ($180). Users get access to the site for 180 days ($1/day).

To upgrade to the standard edition or personalized edition, participants will be given the options to add these on after registering for the Value edition. Just go to the “Overview of the Placement Partner Coaching Program” and subscribe using the PayPal buttons for the other editions. For upgrades, you have the choice to pay the entire amount, or to spread it out over 6 installments.

Tickets to the webinars will be issued as they are scheduled to participants in the Standard and Personalized editions, and members of the value edition will be offered the opportunity to purchase tickets to the webinars before sales are opened to the general public.

Please contact me at sean@higheredcareercoach.com if you have any questions.