Job boards and company Web sites work hand-in-hand when attracting job applicants.

A survey released today by CareerJournal.com and CareerXroads, a publisher of job-site directories based in Kendall Park, N.J., reveals job sites are among the primary drivers of traffic to employers' career pages. The survey found that a majority (92%) of the job hunters polled say after seeing a company's job opening on a job-posting board, they are likely or very likely to go to the company's Web site. Most (94%) say they look through the company's other online job postings once they get there. More than two-thirds apply for jobs without returning to the job board. The survey polled 634 CareerJournal.com readers, who tend to be executives job hunting actively or just looking around.

Although some human-resources managers assume that job boards may eventually become obsolete, this survey shows that job hunters will likely continue to visit them, says Mark Mehler, principal of CareerXroads.

Employers are getting more selective about where they post their job ads, says Margaret Riley Dikel, author of "The Guide to Internet Job Searching" (VGM Career Horizons, 2004). Instead of plastering every major job board and every applicable niche board, companies now choose one big board and only a few specialty sites.

Companies are trying to escape the barrage of resumes, many from unqualified candidates, that results from advertising too widely, Ms. Dikel adds. This means job seekers are seeing less redundancy in job postings.

"If the advertising is more focused, you can be more focused," she says.

If you don't hear back after applying for a job online, you're not alone. The job seekers surveyed say they rarely hear back after they submit their resumes, whether on a corporate site or a job board.

Mr. Mehler calls it: "Lazy recruiting 101. Companies should at least respond electronically to say, 'Thanks for your resume.' "