Job search engines- a one stop shop?

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The idea of a job search engine seems so simple, yet for it to be effective, like many things, it is highly complex. Our experts explain how they work and how they could be a perfect solution for some recruiters and jobseekers.

Gautam Godhwani, at Simply hired.com introduces the concept of job search engines, saying: ìThey allow job seekers to search jobs from thousands of sites across the web including job boards, staffing agencies, newspapers, employer websites, as well as government, association and non-profit sites. For example, Simply Hired indexes seven million jobs across several thousand sites, accessible from one simple search. Simply Hired indexes over 1 million new jobs in our database every week.î Julian Felstead, MD of 1Job.co.uk says that: ìAll vertical search engines attempt to overcome the problem that horizontal or generic search engines (Google, Yahoo etc) have. That is that even after entering quite restrictive search criteria they can return tens, or even hundreds of thousands, of results making it hard to identify relevant content. Successful vertical search engines in any sector add value by increasing the speed and relevancy of the search process to enable the users to find what they want fast. 1Job enables exactly that for job hunting candidates in the recruitment sector.î

Alison M. Engelsman, Senior Strategist at Shaker Recruitment Advertising & Communications says: ìJob search engines are vertical search engines whose focus is on employment listings. The advantage to using a vertical search engine is the results will be highly targeted to the exact context in which the user is searching. To illustrate: when a user initiates a search query for ìmarketing jobsî on a broad-based search engine, typical results will be job boards. The user then needs to select a site to perform more refined searches, thus matching the userís initial intentions - looking for employment listings. This is not to say that broad-based search engines have failed in delivering relevant results, but what about the user who is looking for all ìmarketing jobsî in a singular search? Job search engines fulfil this niche. On a job search engine, such as Indeed or Simply Hired, a search query for ìmarketing jobsî will result in employment listings. In a way, job search engines function as a one-stop shop, allowing job seekers to see what opportunities are available across the web without having to search multiple job boards.

However David Ray recruitment consultant, explains they arenít always a panacea for all recruitment needsÖ.. ìOn paper, the job search engine looks like a great offering for everyone in the recruitment market. However, the reality is somewhat more complicated.î For example, he says: ìFor a job search engine to live up to its promise, a jobseeker has to be confident it is finding vacancies from all the sites they expect to have relevant jobs. If key generalist or specialist sites ñ or even specific agency or employer sites - are absent from the results, the ëone port of callí appeal no longer exists. The user still needs to search around other sites to make sure they arenít missing out. For the jobboards, providing jobs to the jobs search engines makes sense ñ as a free traffic source ñ as long as they donít represent a threat However, should they start to feel like a threat, the main players wonít hesitate to stop their jobs content being used. Again, this removes a key user benefit. Also, the jobboards would find it relatively simple to launch their own versions of job search engines. One job search engine in a market could attract significant levels of jobseeker usage because it provides a unique service; two job search engines less so; ten or twenty and the model breaks down. The problem for a recruiter is that if job search engines donít deliver quality candidates, even with free advertising, they become expensive. This is because time and effort spent processing low quality applications constitute major sources of recruitment cost. For recruiters, as for jobhunters and jobboards, job search engines seem to offer simple and obvious benefits. The reality is not that straightforward.î

Search engines and marketing strategies

However, Julian Felstead is aware of the importance of quality candidates, saying: ìOur clients understand clearly that if candidate response rates achieved are poor, or the quality of the candidates is low, their sites will be failing their recruitment advertisers. We send literally thousands of candidates to our clients job adverts. A number of our clients receive over 100,000 relevant referrals to their adverts each month. Often at a fraction of the cost that they might pay for less relevant click-thrus say Google, Yahoo, MSN etc.î Paul Forster CEO and co-founder of Indeed explains how employers and recruiters can sponsor their jobs on Indeed to drive even more traffic to their jobs: ìSponsored jobs are given maximum visibility by appearing above our unpaid organic job results. Sponsored jobs are pay-per-click advertisements, so advertisers only pay each time a job seeker clicks on one of their ads.

- Itís easy: they don't have to post jobs, pick keywords or write ad copy.

- Itís flexible: advertising campaigns can be paused or restarted at any time.

- Itís cost effective: cost per applicant and cost per hire are significantly lower than alternative marketing channels.î

Alison M. Engelsman says nowadays a recruiterís marketing strategy needs to be dynamic: ìThe way in which jobs are found and filled has shifted in recent years, and is constantly evolving. Job search engines offer another solution for employers to broadcast their openings. Sites such as Indeed and Simply Hired are quickly growing and gaining users due to their expanding partnerships and clean platforms. As of January 2008, Indeed ranked 5th behind Careerbuilder, Hot Jobs, and Monster in top employment sites (Hitwise), and Simply Hired is seeing a surge in growth with their partnerships, including major social networking sites MySpace and LinkedIn.î She says her company has had clients use search engines with much success: ìFor one client, job search engine traffic now ranks in their top 5 referring sites for their career centre. We help our clients position their employment listings into the job search engines which aid in gaining free exposure, but we can allocate budgetary dollars so job listings stand out among their competitors and drive even more traffic to their web site. Either way, job search engines are a great and effective tool to help with recruitment advertising.î

Effective and successful search engines

James Saunders, MD of 4MAT says Job search engines are potentially the most overlooked aspects of a recruitment web site: ìIn the current market where webmasters and marketers are obsessing over periphery such blogs, podcasts, discussion forums as well integrations with social networking sites, few actually focus on the core tool which candidates use to search for a job. In short, the success or failure of a recruitment web site is dependant upon the accuracy and reliability of this tool.î He says using meaningful keyword search terminology and technology are vital in achieving the most successful searches. Simon Conroy of Madgex says an effective and successful search engine should be: ìOne that can interpret varying job titles intelligently, providing users with the most suitable results possible e.g. listing both Business Development Manager and New Business Sales Manager roles under the search term 'Sales Manager'. Good data-management is key, so that expired jobs are not appearing and broken links are corrected or removed. The most important factors are to have strong usability and to be content-heavy to create stickiness around the site and so that recruiters receive a good level of quality applications.î

Paul Forster says comprehensiveness and relevance are the two key ingredients for successful search engines: ìA job search engine aggregates jobs from thousands of different sources and needs to include all the jobs from each source in an accurate and timely manner. Because a search engine's index has millions of jobs, the key is to rank them so job seekers see the most relevant and freshest jobs. Indeed's algorithm does just that, surfacing the jobs that closely match users' queries and removing duplicates and spam. For employers and recruiters, this translates into highly targeted candidates being directed to their jobs.î Gautam Godhwani agrees that a comprehensive picture of the jobs available in the market, along with strong search and filtering features is needed to find that ëneedle in the haystackí ñ their dream job, saying: ìFor example, Simply Hired allows you to search 7 million jobs, but just as important, job seekers can filter jobs by commute distance, experience level, salary information, company size or revenues, and specialized characteristics like whether the company is ìdog-friendlyî or ìfamily-friendlyî.

Alison M. Engelsman says that: ìIn regards to all Web Sites, content is king; and at the end of the day the site with the most relevant content will succeed by generating repeated visits by interested inquirers. As long as search engines keep the site filled with relevant content, both by industry and geographic location, they will prove to be an effective tool for job seekers in their search. If they can accomplish this and continue to keep traffic coming to their site, they will offer value to employers as a place for advertising their position. The problem lies in how the vertical search engines continue their role in offering advertisers a solution, while providing job seekers with an efficient, expedient means of being linked to appropriate employment-related information.î

The future

So what will the future hold? All agree it will be improving searches and adding value to sites. Paul Forster says: ìSearch engines will continue to improve in comprehensiveness and relevance, becoming the starting point for everyone's job searches. Search engines will make it easier and easier to refine a job search, to drill down to exactly the right jobs. Job seekers will also look to search engines for related services, including salary and company information, job trends, discussion forums, news and recruitment videos.î Gautam Godhwani says there will also be: ìOngoing improvement in the search and filtering capabilities to help job seekers locate their perfect job within the job database. Conducting a successful job search has many aspects, and job search engines will help job seekers with additional areas of their job search, including help in the application process, and better tracking of their job search and career management efforts.î

Simon Conroy cautions that: ìAs the market contracts into niche job boards, job search engines will need to be at the top of their game to become a key player. They need to attract a high level of jobseekers across many industries and geographical locations, covering as many career levels within these industries as possible. If they don't, the jobseeker will simply rely on a niche job board to present them with their ideal roles.î Alison M. Engelsman predicts: ìJob search engines will probably mirror the development of other broad-based search engines. As more advanced technology is available, the job search engines will be able to offer more targeting options for advertisers who wish to have their ads only appear to certain users. The CPC model will eventually shift to a Pay-per-Action model. Search results will also start to include video profiles of companies and eventually video job descriptions. The fact is that search, as we know it, is changing. It is evolving with the web, technology and society. Search will always play an integral role in recruitment; after all, job seekers want to know what is out there. However, the format will most likely not be the same as we see today. I do think employers will start moving at a faster rate to utilize job search engines by adding their opportunities to the engines and advertising. However, the true test will be in the quality of applicants and conversions that can be delivered, similar to any recruitment advertising campaign.î

Job search engines therefore provide new possibilities for recruitment now and a springboard to future ones. Time will tell whether they can deliver everything to everyone in a fiercely competitive industry.