As part of my quest to highlight niche job boards across the globe here is a local one that focuses on hiring teachers and educators in New Jersey. The owner is Todd Lawrence and he answered my questions over email.
1. When did you start your job board?
NJSchoolJobs.com was created/launched in July 1999. As of July 2024, we have been in business for 25 years.
2. What’s the origin story?
For years, including during the 1990s, the standard for finding a teaching job in NJ was to buy the Sunday newspaper, the Newark Star-Ledger, and scroll through the Education section to find a position of interest. Large school districts had the funds to afford large display ads, while small schools could only afford a smaller or text-based two-line advertisement.
In late 1998 and early 1999, I had just finished an Internship with the Orange Bowl in Media Relations as part of my Master’s Degree from Temple University. However, finding that internship at the time was difficult, but I discovered a job board that featured sports opportunities that was developed by CBS SportsLine. They charged $14.95 per month to access jobs in the sports industry, so I subscribed and found the opportunity in Miami.
Fast forward to the spring of 1999, when my friend and colleague discussed ways to make money to supplement our teaching salary. Itwasthe.com era of the 1990s, and everyone was making a lot of money creating a business with a .com. Since we were familiar with education and my experience at the Orange Bowl obtaining that internship, we researched and found that there were no websites specifically dedicated to education jobs in New Jersey at the time. That said, we decided to consult with a few superintendents we knew personally to find out how much money they spent on print advertising. Once we got their feedback, we then offered a more affordable solution while reaching people through the World Wide Web by advertising with NJSchoolJobs.com.
3. What niche do you serve?
We serve the educational advertising needs of Public, Private, Charter, & Parochial Schools throughout New Jersey.
4. How long did it take to get your first paying client?
We were fortunate to have a pre-existing relationship with a school Superintendent who consulted us on our idea and was willing to be our first customer when we started.
5. What is your pricing/revenue model?
We specifically generate revenue by charging for individual job postings and for annual subscriptions to our platform. We also offer self-featured or premium job postings for additional exposure on the site, personalized Facebook ads, and have used Google ads On the site in the past.
6. Do you sell other products beyond job postings?
Within the last few years, we have also generated additional income by hosting annual virtual job fairs for school districts state-wide. What started out as a necessity due to COVID is now our annual revenue producer. One of our Spring job fairs had over 80 school districts participating, while over 700 candidates attended. We could never host an in-person event like this because we wouldn’t have a facility large enough to accommodate everyone.
7. Is this a side gig or your full-time job?
For 23 years, I worked this as a side gig while holding a full-time teaching job. However, in 2021, I was able to retire early from teaching to focus solely on operating my job board.
8. Is there anything else we should know?
Like many entrepreneurs, we have made many mistakes over the years and learned valuable lessons from them. However, we’ve always stayed focused on our mission to connect educators and school districts with candidates from around New Jersey and around the world.
Learn more at https://www.njschooljobs.com/
