Technology For the Jobseeker

Much is written about Human Resources and Recruiting Technology (HR Tech) from the Employers’ perspective.  This makes sense when you consider the investments made by corporations in their “Talent Management Infrastructure”.

But, what about technology for the jobseekers?  It’s generally understood that there has been an onslaught of innovation in the HR Tech space over the last five years.  What are some of the advances in technology that have most changed how we find a job, and why?

Even with the number of unemployed, in the US alone, sitting between 12 and 13 million, the number of open positions is still approaching 4 million (recent US Bureau of Labor Statistics).  If nothing else, this underscores how Employers still struggle with finding the employee with the right fit for the job, as much as jobseekers struggle to find the right opportunities.  As a result, we’ve seen many new approaches to the job search emerge.

Five of the most impactful job search technologies follow…  (In no particular order)

Vertical Search, or Job Aggregation

The mid-2000s saw the rise in popularity of the Vertical Search Engine for everything from shopping to travel, and “job search” was no exception.  Prior to the emergence of sites like SimplyHired or Indeed, jobseekers were left sifting through search engine results, combing over employer career pages, or browsing job-sites like Monster.com or HotJobs, one at a time.  Having one interface that consolidates these sources into a tool for the jobseeker was an incredible gain for those looking for work via the web.

Social Networking and Communities

The leading Social Networks were introduced in the early 2000s (LinkedIn launched its site in 2003.  Facebook was founded in 2004.)  At launch, the promise of these sites for the jobseeker were still not fully understood.  As these social “Platforms” have extended their capabilities, it gets easier for the jobseeker to find opportunities, not just by searching for open positions, but just via their connections to colleagues or friends.  The jobseeker using LinkedIn need do no more than look at a friend’s profile who works for Google to see relevant positions for them at Google, all queued up based on the info and listed in the seeker’s profile.  There are a slew of apps that leverage Facebook connections to identify “friends” that have open positions within your network. And Facebook’s announcement today regarding their launch of Social Graph Search – Just imagine the immense possibilities in a network comprised of over 1 Billion members.

Semantic Search

Possibly the best example of a technology that has made the leap from the hiring companies’ HR Tech to the jobseeker’s toolkit is Semantic Search.  Semantic Search is a technology which boils complex search algorithms into an easy-to-use interface.  It has been leveraged by Corporate HR to sift through large databases of resumes, and in the last few years has found its way into job board interfaces for candidates at sites like Jobsite.com and Monster.  Semantic Search makes searching for a job more effective and ranks search results in a more meaningful and intuitive way.

Twitter and Social Media Management

Jobseekers who are proficient in using Twitter or Social Media Management tools like Hootsuite or Tweetdeck have the ability to monitor “streams” of jobs that have been assigned #hashtags.  They also now have the ability to monitor recruiting content put out by corporations and third-party recruiters who are trying to get their jobs noticed first via social media.   For jobseekers looking for positions in smaller corporate environments, investing the time to monitor social media for relevant jobs may be a good investment where smaller firms competing with larger brands view social media as a more “level playing field” while competing for talent.

Mobile

It’s hard to believe that the first iPhone was released to the market in just mid-2007.   With the resulting rise of the smart phone, it wasn’t long before technology was developed to deliver jobs to people in the palm of their hands.  While there is much debate over whether people are finding jobs on their phones, no one debates that when it comes to a job search, timing can be everything.  Most of the other technologies listed in this post will automatically notify the jobseeker when messages are received, or new search results exist, via text or a pushed messaging to an app on their smart phone of choice.  These messages give the jobseeker the opportunity to apply for a position in an instant.  As I look to the immediate future, I expect mobile to continue to be an area of rapid innovation for jobseekers.

by George LaRocque

George LaRocque was the guest on Jobsite Talk Listen in to “Technology for the Jobseeker” and, of course,  the impact of Facebook Graph Search.

George LaRocque is the leading Strategist & GoToMarket Consultant for HR-related technology and the Human Capital Management (HCM) Marketplace. George has personally launched market-leading HR Technology brands to profitability, funding, or both. The President of LAROCQUE, a GoToMarket consultancy & the publisher of #hrwins reports on Innovation in HR Technology. Building on 19+ years of general management, marketing, sales, & sales management experience. George writes about technology for all of Human Resources at www.larocqueinc.com & is a regular contributor to the Jobsite.com Blog.