Career advice · Updated November 2026
Where to Advertise Jobs in Kenya: Free and Paid Options Compared
Where to advertise jobs in Kenya depends on the role and your budget. For most private employers, the strongest mix is your own careers page and social channels (free), a free LinkedIn job post for professional roles, and a paid featured listing on a Kenyan job board for reach among active job seekers. Public bodies are different: national government ministries, state corporations and public universities place adverts through the Government Advertising Agency and its weekly MyGov publication, and county governments use their public service board portals. This guide compares the main free and paid options, what each actually costs and the traps to avoid.
Checked on 12 November 2026 against LinkedIn’s help page on free job posts, the Government Advertising Agency FAQs and JobInKenya’s published rate card. Prices on other job boards change often, so confirm them on each site’s own rate card before you pay.
Quick comparison: where to advertise jobs in Kenya
| Channel | Cost | Best for | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Your careers page, website and social media | Free | Every role; builds your employer brand | Reach is limited to people who already follow you |
| Referrals from staff and networks | Free (or a referral bonus) | Hard-to-fill and trusted roles | Can narrow diversity; still assess fairly |
| LinkedIn free job post | Free, with limits | Professional and managerial roles | One free post at a time, paused after 14 days, applicant cap of about 10 to 30 |
| LinkedIn promoted job | Budget you set (daily or total) | Senior or specialist roles needing reach | Costs add up quickly without a total budget |
| Kenyan job boards (featured listing) | Paid; on JobInKenya KES 1,500 for 30 days | Volume roles, graduate, sales, admin, technical | Check the board screens adverts and does not charge applicants |
| College career offices and NITA’s attachment portal | Free | Interns, attachés and graduate trainees | Follow the institution’s timelines |
| Recruitment agency | Fee paid by the employer | Senior hires, bulk hiring, overseas hiring | Agency must be properly licensed; applicants must not pay |
| Newspapers and MyGov | Paid print space; MyGov for public bodies | Public sector and roles needing formal public notice | Expensive for private employers |
Free options that work
Your own careers page. Publish every vacancy on your website first, with the full job description, salary range if you can share it, deadline and a clear way to apply. Search engines index these pages, and a dated, detailed advert reassures applicants that the job is real. Our guide on how to write a job advert that attracts qualified applicants includes a template and a discrimination check.
Social media and WhatsApp. Share a short version with a link back to the full advert on your site. Avoid image-only adverts with no link: job seekers have learned that many fake vacancies circulate as WhatsApp images, and genuine applicants may ignore yours.
LinkedIn free job posts. According to LinkedIn’s help centre, you can have one free job post active at a time and a limited number of free posts in a 30-day period. A free post stays active for up to 14 days, after which it is paused until you promote or close it; if not promoted, it closes automatically after 30 days. Free posts also have an application limit that typically ranges from 10 to 30 applications depending on the role, and they must be linked to your company’s LinkedIn Page. LinkedIn also blocks reposting the same job title for free within seven days. That makes the free tier fine for a single professional role, but not for bulk hiring.
Colleges and attachment portals. For interns and attachés, contact the industrial liaison or career office at universities and TVET colleges near you. Students also apply for attachment through the National Industrial Training Authority’s online portal, and levy-paying employers can be reimbursed by NITA for offering attachment places. See our guides to NITA industrial attachment and the NITA levy.
Paid options and what they cost
Job boards. Kenyan job boards put your vacancy in front of people who are actively looking. On JobInKenya, a featured job post costs KES 1,500 for 30 days, pinned above regular listings in its category and mentioned in the daily WhatsApp jobs digest, or KES 5,999 for five 30-day featured posts. Paid listings are labelled Featured, and every vacancy is checked before it goes live. You can pay with M-Pesa or card on the post a job page, and the full rate card lists employer profiles and sponsorships. Other boards publish their own packages; compare the price per day of visibility and whether applications come to your inbox or stay on the platform.
LinkedIn promoted jobs. Promoting a job lifts the applicant cap and places it higher in search. You set a daily or total budget. LinkedIn’s own example is a US$10 daily budget over 30 days costing up to US$300, so set a total budget if you want a hard ceiling.
Recruitment agencies. Agencies earn their fee on senior, specialist or bulk hires where screening takes time. The employer pays; a licensed agency must not charge job seekers. Our comparison of recruitment agency vs direct hiring covers fees and licensing, and Business Radar explains the legal caps on recruitment agency fees.
Print and broadcast. Newspaper job pages still reach older and rural readers, but they are the most expensive option per applicant for most private employers. Business Radar’s overview of advertising options and costs in Kenya gives context if you are weighing print against digital.
Rules for public-sector employers
The Government Advertising Agency (GAA) was set up in 2015 through National Treasury Circular No. 09/2015 to centralise public sector advertising. Its FAQs say the public sector advertising policy applies to all government advertising by ministries, state corporations, universities and semi-autonomous agencies under the national government. Placement requests go through GAA’s online system, and job adverts appear in MyGov, a free weekly publication released every Tuesday in print and PDF, and on GAA’s job adverts page. County governments recruit through their county public service boards, most of which run their own online portals. Our guide on how to apply for government jobs shows the process from the applicant’s side.
Legal points to get right in any job advert
- No discrimination. The Employment Act bars discrimination in recruitment on grounds such as sex, ethnic origin, religion, disability, pregnancy and HIV status. Advertise for the skills the job needs, not a preferred age, gender or ethnicity.
- Never charge applicants. Asking candidates to pay an application, interview or medical fee is a classic sign of fraud, and serious job boards remove such adverts. Our fake job advert checker lists the warning signs applicants look for.
- Handle CVs lawfully. CVs contain personal data. Collect only what you need, say how long you will keep it, and follow the Data Protection Act when you check references. See our guide to reference checks and data protection.
- Know your full cost before you advertise the pay. Employer NSSF, the housing levy and the NITA levy add to the gross salary. Our breakdown of the cost of hiring an employee in Kenya and Business Radar’s guide to hiring your first employee help you budget.
A simple plan for most small employers
- Write one strong advert and publish it on your website with a closing date.
- Share the link on your social pages and ask staff for referrals.
- Post it free on LinkedIn if the role is professional.
- Buy one featured listing on a Kenyan job board for volume and reach.
- Shortlist with a written scorecard so every applicant is judged on the same criteria. Our interview scorecard template is free to copy.
More guides for hiring managers are on the JobInKenya employers hub, including employer branding for firms that want applicants to come to them.
Frequently asked questions
Can I advertise a job for free in Kenya?
Yes. You can post on your own website and social pages, ask for referrals, contact college career offices, and use a free LinkedIn job post, which allows one active free post at a time with an applicant cap of about 10 to 30.
How much does it cost to advertise a job on JobInKenya?
A featured job post costs KES 1,500 for 30 days, or KES 5,999 for five 30-day featured posts. You can pay with M-Pesa or card on the post a job page.
Where do government bodies advertise jobs in Kenya?
National government ministries, state corporations and public universities advertise through the Government Advertising Agency, including its free weekly MyGov publication. County governments use their county public service board portals.
Can an employer charge applicants to apply for a job?
No genuine employer should. Application, interview or medical fees paid by M-Pesa are a common sign of job fraud, and licensed recruitment agencies must not charge job seekers.