UK agencies post to multiple job boards simultaneously and expect applications to arrive automatically in their ATS. It is not that simple. The main UK job boards do not all give the same API access. A direct connection to each board is too much work, and that is why multi-posting tools exist. The usual faults are also well known. Applications go missing. The same candidate appears twice. Data arrives late. The right set-up stops most of them.
The main UK job boards each have different levels of technical integration capability:
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Both methods get jobs onto job boards. They differ in flexibility, stability, and setup requirements.
| Aspect | XML feed | REST/GraphQL API |
|---|---|---|
| Setup complexity | No engineering required: configure and submit | Developer setup required for authentication and endpoints |
| Update frequency | Typically every hour (batch) | Near real-time (Indeed Job Sync: 15 minutes) |
| Stability | High. XML schemas rarely change | Lower. API versioning can break integrations |
| Data fidelity | Standardised fields; less flexible | More granular: can include custom fields per board |
| Apply flow | Candidate applies on job board site | Indeed Apply: candidate applies within Indeed interface |
XML feeds use the Rightmove V3 BLM format as the UK standard. It came from the property portals. Job boards and estate agent software both accept it. For most agencies, an XML feed is enough, and more reliable than a direct API connection with every board independently.
Broadbean, Idibu, and LogicMelon exist because maintaining direct integrations with dozens of job boards individually is impractical for most agencies. They give you one screen from which a job is distributed to multiple boards simultaneously, with response aggregation back into the recruiter's dashboard.
Broadbean posts to 7,000+ job boards and channels. It includes internal and external CV searching, referral programme management, and social media publishing. It integrates with most major ATS platforms via API.
Idibu posts to 1,000+ job boards and social networks through standardised feeds and API support. It centralises job management across all boards from one interface.
LogicMelon focuses on ROI tracking by job board: which boards are producing applications, at what cost, and which sources lead to placements. For agencies paying per-posting fees across multiple boards, this visibility matters.
All three tools charge on a subscription basis and integrate with the major UK ATS platforms. The chain usually runs like this. The ATS posts the job. The multi-posting tool sends it to the boards you chose. Applications come back to that tool. It then puts them on the candidate record in the ATS. Each step is a potential failure point.
The failures that agencies report most consistently are:
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The duplicate above is worth looking at closely, because it is the whole problem in one place.
No system in the chain knows who a person is. The job board holds one record, the multi-posting tool holds another, and your ATS holds a third. Each one guesses at a match from an email address. A person with two email addresses becomes two people, and nobody can prove which is which.
On engage.re a candidate is a declared record type with a permanent identifier that never changes. Two systems that hold the same person hold the same identifier, so there is nothing to guess. An application from a board joins the record it belongs to, and the system logs it.
That is what interoperability means in practice, and it is why a feed stops being fragile. We explain it in what does an interoperable software market look like. We show how a whole sector builds on one foundation in bespoke software for a whole sector.
Some agencies post in their own way. Each division may post differently. A career page in the name of a client may feed the boards by itself. A screening step of your own may come before the recruiter sees anybody. A connection built for you can handle all of that. A multi-posting tool cannot. The same holds for an agency that built its own site for candidates. It needs to reach the job board APIs on its own terms, and not through another company.
The cost is development and maintenance time. Job board APIs change, authentication protocols update, and new boards enter the market. A bespoke integration needs ongoing technical maintenance in a way that a subscription to Broadbean does not. A system built to last expects an API to change. Its structure takes a new job board connection without a rebuild.
You can see this in a working system. The ESRE live recruitment demo opens with no login, and it shows the job board work in this guide. Sign in as consultant and post the job to boards direct, or as candidate and apply and see the status. It is a working system, not a screenshot.