Remember the days before ride-sharing apps like Uber? Back when we hailed cabs or swore by public transit? Yes, times have changed, and that same kind of tsunami of change is on the horizon for job boards. With historically low unemployment and countless job openings, there are interesting changes ahead for the job boards space.
Hello AI & Social Media
Changes in the job boards landscape are driven by emerging trends and several groundbreaking innovations.
Innovative applications of artificial intelligence (AI) are helping to streamline the hiring process and refine the effectiveness of applicant tracking systems. By leveraging complex data analysis to identify, prioritize and target top-notch candidates and automating key screening, vetting and outreach tasks, AI is making specific staffing and recruiting functions easier and quicker.
Social media channels are beginning to make substantial inroads on the traditional turf of job boards. Surveys show that 84% of companies and organizations are currently using social media for recruitment, and an Aberdeen Group study found that found that 73% of millennials landed their last position through a social media platform. Further, a Morning Consult survey last year found that one in four people in the US had searched for or found a job on Facebook. Further blurring the line between personal and professional online lives, Facebook’s presence in many people’s lives makes it an easy platform for conducting a job search.
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Facebook and LinkedIn have changed the job boards paradigm. Here’s what we have had so far in the segment. Monster.com was sold off in 2016 for one-nineteenth of its peak historical value. Similarly, CareerBuilder was purchased by an investor group for far below its projected value. And DHI Group, which owns Dice, eFinancialCareers and ClearanceJobs, continues to sell its job boards one after another.
However, at the end of the day, it’s about finding qualified candidates. Employers, in today’s war for talent are looking for options that are fruitful and affordable.
Google for Jobs
I believe the recently-launched Google for Jobs, (full disclosure: I am the founder of a marketing platform specifically for Google for Jobs) is rewriting the rules for how job postings appear in search results. You can take put it down to founder’s zeal. But the days of using good ol’ SEO to have job postings ranked high in search are behind us.
Today, companies are catching on and taking steps to ensure their openings appear on Google, such as using Google-connected job boards and, as more tools become available to post directly, by going straight to Google for Jobs. Google knows that if they own the original job search, they’ll own the market – this is why they created Google for Jobs to get job seekers to spend more time directly with Google. The idea is that in time employers, can get their listings into Google for Jobs themselves for free.
Ripe for Disruption?
It’s no more about providing access to job seekers at scale – that is, you pay to post a job listing and applicants then apply in droves. In fact, earlier this year, Indeed implemented its new policy that eliminates free job postings by staffing and recruiting firms, a move that impacts as many as 13,000 staffing and recruiting agencies that use the site for publicizing job openings. Between social media sites and new entrants into the market like Uber and Google, you can expect disruption.
What that looks like will get more definition in 2019. Stay tuned.
