Google has done it again. They saw an opportunity to flex their authority as the number one purveyors of all things search, and are taking the talent acquisition world by storm. Earlier this year they unveiled Google for Jobs. A one-stop shop for all job postings that may be relevant to a user’s search query.
It’s Candidate Focused
If there is one winner in this major power shift, it would be the candidate. Previously, candidates were forced to search on various career boards to find listings and potentially feel compelled to purchase memberships. Now all they need to do is type “sales jobs near me” in the Google search query, and Google will aggregate every posting available from select career board leaders in addition to individual career sites. Google also provides user-friendly filters for the candidate to screen for things like geographical distance and job title. Google has taken optimizing the posting for the candidate further by automatically tying in information from sites like Glassdoor about the potential employer.
SEO Power Shift
Historically, how a job positing was ranked on Google came down to a simple formula of how well it was indexed for SEO. This basic formula has been the secret to Indeed’s success, as they mastered the art organically pushing their listings to the top of search. Google for Jobs has officially taken that older model of ranking, crumpled it up, and thrown it out the window. Now, job postings will be ranked by how much information they provide, promoting transparency in job descriptions, and eliminating distracting duplicate postings. This can provide a major leg up to the average company career site which may not have the best optimization in place.
Partnerships & Indeed Stand-Off
In their last public statement, Google maintained the position that they are not trying to directly compete with the Indeed’s, CareerBuilder, and ZipRecruiter’s of the world, but rather work in tandem to push and pull search traffic. With this message of goodwill all major players except for Indeed have become partners. Indeed has decided to stand apart, relying on the value of their brand, not willing to have their direct relationship with the job seeker disrupted. With Indeed the lone standoff — and arguably the largest of the main three — Google has still maintained its stance of not harming the job boards — but for how long?
Where could this go next?
With a company like Google steering the ship their next step could be just about anything. Currently, Google for jobs doesn’t allow for direct job postings, but that could change overnight. This platform also doesn’t have a networking function, but with Google having previously stepped into the social networking fray with Google+, it does make you wonder what they could do next. WIth the ability to run in any direction they choose Google for Jobs should be something in the back of mind when it comes to future investments.
What do you think Google’s next step deeper into talent acquisition will be? Has the introduction of Google for Jobs changed the way you’ve listed jobs on Indeed, Monster, or CareerBuilder?
There is really no way to tell why Google launched Google for Jobs and without talking to the product team it’s’ hard to understand their motive behind this goodwill gesture to job seekers. Only time will tell.