6 ways to find old job postings

Finding a comprehensive historical list of jobs posted by a specific company can be challenging, as most job boards and company career pages don't maintain public archives indefinitely. However, here's a breakdown of methods you can try, ranging from the most accessible to more specialized options:

1. Internet Archive (Wayback Machine):

• How it works: The Internet Archive's Wayback Machine (archive.org/web) is a digital library that takes snapshots of websites over time. If the company's career page or specific job postings were publicly accessible and crawled by the Wayback Machine, you might find historical versions.
• Steps:
  1. Go to archive.org/web.
  2. Enter the URL of the company's career page (e.g., companyname.com/careers or jobs.companyname.com).
  3. Browse the available snapshots by date to see if you can find archived job listings.
• Limitations: This method relies on the page being crawled and archived, and it might not have every single job posting.

2. Direct Company Website/Career Page:

• How it works: Some companies, especially larger ones or those with a strong commitment to transparency, might maintain an "archive" or "past openings" section on their career page.
• Steps:
  1. Navigate to the company's official website.
  2. Look for sections like "Careers," "Jobs," "About Us," or "News."
  3. Within the careers section, search for "past openings," "job archives," "closed positions," or similar terms.
• Limitations: This is less common, and most companies remove expired listings to keep their career pages current.

3. Large Job Boards and Professional Networks:

• LinkedIn: While LinkedIn's public interface generally shows active jobs, some older posts might be indirectly accessible through profiles of people who previously held those roles and announced it on LinkedIn. For in-depth historical data, LinkedIn offers APIs and data services for businesses and researchers, but these are not publicly available for individual searches.
• Indeed, Glassdoor, etc.: These platforms are constantly updated, and expired listings are typically removed. However, some aggregate job posting data providers (see below) might draw from these sources.
• Specialized Job Boards: Certain industries or sectors may have niche job boards that are better at archiving past listings. For example, academic institutions or government agencies might maintain their own archives.

4. Advanced Google Searches:

• How it works: You can use specific search operators to try and find cached or older versions of job postings that Google might have indexed.
• Search terms to try:
  • site:companyname.com "job title"
  • site:companyname.com "careers" "previous openings"
  • "company name" "job title" + "archive"
  • "company name" "job title" + "expired"
  • You can also try adding a year range to your search (e.g., "company name" "software engineer" 2020..2022).
• Limitations: This might only return cached pages or mentions of the job, not a full list.

5. Job Posting Data Providers (for Researchers/Businesses):

• How it works: Companies like TheirStack, Revelio Labs, and Webspidermount specialize in collecting, parsing, and providing historical job posting data from various sources (company websites, major job boards, professional networks, etc.). This data is typically used for market analysis, competitive intelligence, talent mapping, and research.
• Availability: These services are usually subscription-based and geared towards businesses, researchers, or HR tech companies, not individual job seekers.
• Examples of data points they offer: Job title, description, seniority, salary ranges, skills required, location, and more.

6. Professional Associations and Industry Organizations:

• How it works: Some professional bodies or industry associations might maintain their own job boards or archives of past opportunities relevant to their members.
• Steps: Identify relevant professional organizations for the industry the company operates in and check their websites for career resources or archives.

Key Considerations:

• Privacy and Data Retention: Companies and job boards generally have policies on how long they retain job posting data. Once a position is filled or expires, the listing is often removed.
• Purpose of Your Search: If you're looking for general trends, a data provider might be necessary. If you're trying to prove a specific past job existed, the Wayback Machine or direct company archives (if they exist) are your best bet.

It's important to manage expectations, as a complete, easily accessible historical list of all jobs posted by a company is rarely available to the general public.