Expired Job Handling

What is expired job handling?

Expired job handling is how a job board manages listings after positions are filled or deadlines pass. Good handling protects SEO by avoiding dead pages and crawl waste, while bad handling creates dead ends that hurt user trust and search rankings.

Job boards constantly create and expire content. How you handle expired jobs affects your SEO and user experience.

The expired job problem

Unlike blog posts that live forever, job listings have a lifecycle:

1. Posted: Job goes live, gets indexed
2. Active: Appears in search results, drives traffic
3. Expired: Position filled or deadline passed
4. Challenge: What happens to the URL?

Getting this wrong creates problems:

• Dead ends: Users land on "job not found" pages
• Crawl waste: Google spends time on pages with no value
• Trust issues: Too many dead links hurts credibility
• Index bloat: Old pages dilute your site's quality signals

How Cavuno handles expired jobs

Automatic expiry

When a job reaches its expiry date:

1. Removed from listings: No longer appears in job searches
2. Removed from sitemap: Google stops crawling it
3. Page handled gracefully: No jarring error pages

User experience

When someone visits an expired job URL:

• They see a clear message that the job has expired
• Suggested similar jobs are displayed
• Easy navigation to find other opportunities
• No confusing error pages

SEO considerations

Cavuno balances user experience with SEO best practices:

• Soft 404 signals: Tells Google the content is gone
• Redirect candidates: High-traffic expired pages can redirect to similar jobs
• Crawl efficiency: Expired jobs removed from sitemap quickly

Best practices for job expiry

Set appropriate expiry dates

When posting jobs:

• Standard roles: 30 days (default)
• Hard-to-fill positions: 60-90 days
• Urgent hiring: 14-21 days
• Evergreen roles: 60+ days, but refresh regularly

Avoid long expiry dates

Don't set jobs to expire years in the future:

• Stale listings hurt credibility
• Job seekers distrust old postings
• Google may penalize sites with outdated content

Refresh rather than extend

Instead of extending expiry indefinitely:

1. Let the job expire
2. Repost with fresh content
3. Update any changed requirements
4. Get a new "date posted" signal

This shows Google your content is current.

Monitoring expired job impact

In Google Search Console

Watch for issues in Search Console:

1. Coverage report: Check for excluded pages
2. Crawl stats: Monitor crawl efficiency
3. 404 errors: Ensure no broken internal links

Signs your handling is working

• Indexed page count stays relatively stable
• No spike in crawl errors
• User engagement metrics remain strong
• Bounce rate on expired pages is acceptable

The backfill advantage

If you use backfill, expired jobs are automatically replaced:

1. External job expires or is filled
2. Cavuno removes it from your board
3. New matching jobs are imported
4. Your board stays fresh automatically

This creates a self-refreshing content cycle that search engines reward.