Job Search Engines: Learning to Explore and Control the Results

Job Search Engines: Learning to Explore and Control the Results

Nelson Russom

WRT 205

Madeline Yonker

April 28, 2008

The internet has made its way into nearly every aspect of our daily lives. We can now find our daily newspapers online. We can also use the internet to shop for everything from cars to rare vases which are native to isolated parts of the world. The internet in some aspects makes the world more intimate, allowing the previously unattainable to be had by any who wish. In a matter of seconds, people around the world can play a live game of chess against one another, discuss a new movie via a blog, or apply for a job via a job site, at the click of a button.

The internet has drastically changed the way society as a whole now views the job search process. The search is no longer restricted to news papers, field specific journals, and sometimes even telephone poles. Job search engines bring all of the wanted ads to you in a personalized manner. Users can search for specific job titles and locations and have the results come to them.

The selection of which job site to utilize is a usually overlooked, however greatly important part of the job hunt. An article any job candidates choose to use a major search engine like CareerBuilder, which has recently advertised in larger forms of media, Monster which has always been synonymous with internet job search engines, and HotJobs which has been called “The Best Large Job Site” (ConsumerSearch, 2008). CareerBuilder has 1.5 million jobs posted and Monster has 1.1 million. The challenge is that users frequently complain about the quality of jobs that are posted on the three major websites and the uncertainty that comes from the large amount of redundant job posting (ConsumerSearch, 2008). Susan Joyce published an article on Job-Hunt.org that brings to light the expense that some websites charge employers to post jobs on the site and how this price tag may affect companies’ willingness to use the website.

During a conversation with Ernest Russom, an Executive Recruiter for Accounts For You, Russom commented on the internet’s affect on increasing the efficiency of job search. Russom holds a Masters of Business Administration from Temple University and is a former Director of an accounting firm, where he was responsible for business development and recruiting. He suggested that I explore the attributes of various job sites in order to get a better understanding of what they do and the way they provide their services. Russom suggested that Indeed.com is the best place to start my analysis.

Indeed.com is, as Russom put it, a “super search engine” that looks at and compiles the results of other job boards and their many posted jobs. Indeed’s webpage is simple in appearance. After the user supplies two pieces of information, the results of a basic search begin to appear. The information required to conduct a search are Job Title, Keywords, or Company Name and City, State, or Area Code. Upon providing two search qualifying characteristics, the user has the option to further refine these search results.

Graphic 1. Indeed.com main screen.

Note. . Indeed’s webpage is simple in appearance. After the user supplies two pieces of information the results of a basic search begins to appear. From Indeed. Retrieved March 3, 2008, from http://www.indeed.com/.

All search refinements are listed on the left of the page, where with the click of the mouse the results can be reorganized. The specifications of results are ordered by Position, Title, Company, Location, Job Type, and Employer or Recruiter, in any order the user wishes. Another option within Indeed, which is common to many search engines, is the ability to refine the search by distance from a particular city or zip code. With each of these refinement options it is easy to see why Indeed is popular among the job search community.

The third order of Indeed.com exceeds the physical limitations of other job sites by allowing the results to be specific for each of their users. When compared to other job search engines like Monster.com and CareerBuilder.com, Indeed most resembles CareerBuilder in the amount of information needed to begin the search. However, there are some differences, Indeed is the only website that chooses to display advertisements after the user enters their information. Indeed’s “super search engine” status becomes apparent in a feature that names the source of each job listing. It is not until further examination of the “From,” feature that we recognize that Indeed also gets its information from individual company’s job listing webpages. In a recent search on Indeed for “Estimator, within 25 miles of zip code 19082,” results came “From” specific companies but also from other job search engines big and small and its competition Monster, CareerBuilder and HotJobs.

Graphic 2. Search results from Indeed.

Note. . In a recent search on Indeed for “Estimator, within 25 miles of zip code 19082,” results came “From” specific companies but also from other job search engines big and small and its competition Monster, CareerBuilder and HotJobs. From Indeed. Retrieved March 3, 2008, from http://www.indeed.com/.

According to Bob Tedeschi’s article “Online Searchers for Job Seekers,” which was published in the New York Times in 2005, some websites decide to display only advertisements specific to the region that is being searched (2005). Allowing for advertisements on their web space is a secure source of income for many websites. As a result of this, Indeed decides to advertise after the user inputs their information. By knowing the area in which the user is searching for a job, Indeed is able to target advertisements so that they are most applicable to the given user. Monster.com on the other hand, has advertisements throughout their webpage. There does not seem to be any strategic or target marketing with Monster’s placement of advertisements.

Each website does advertising differently. After a little digging on Indeed, I found that they offer two different kinds of advertising, Sponsor Your Ads and Keyword Ads. The Sponsored Ads are the actual job listings that show up during a search. This uses a pay-per-click method of payment, where the advertiser pays a specific amount every time a user clicks on the sponsored job to find out more. This provides for maximum exposure at a minimal fee to the advertiser. The online account each employer must set up in order to place a Sponsored Ad on Indeed allows the employer to track and fine-tune their campaign. Using their account employers can learn who is finding out more about their advertised job. According to ConsumerSearch.com, other websites like Monster, CareerBuilder, and HotJobs, charge a flat rate of up to $460 for 30 days of posting time for each job. Almost all of these websites offer discounts when multiple jobs are posted by the same employer.

Indeed’s other form of advertising, Keyword Ads are shown on the same page as the job search results. The payment method is the same for the Keyword Ads as with the Sponsor Ads, the pay-per-click method. Indeed offers location targeting to its advertisers, where their ad appears only when users search for jobs in an area specified by the advertiser. Indeed also allows its advertisers to choose the page where their advertisement appears. Other websites like Monster, CareerBuilder and HotJobs, all require either contacting the company or joining the website to retrieve any information comparable to that which Indeed gave. Monster, CareerBuilder and HotJobs boasted about the popularity of their website. CareerBuilder and Monster showed user demographics and user behavior, but still required membership to obtain any critical information.

The advertisements on Monster appear to assist users in accomplishing tasks that are thought to be unrelated to job hunting. But this characteristic does not make Monster less efficient than Indeed. Monster has many links at the bottom of their main page which immediately refine each search to the user’s purpose for using the website. The apparent key to the online search is mass curb appeal to new users.

Graphic 3. Advertising on Monster.com.

Note. The advertisements on Monster may assist users in accomplishing tasks thought to be unrelated to job hunting. From Monster. Retrieved April 28, 2008, from http://www.monster.com/.

The more appealing the website is in ease of use and overall appearance, the higher the chance the short time user will come back and use the website again.

However, a website’s first impression on a user is not the only factor that goes into consideration for a job seeker. The purpose of the job search engines is to help seekers effectively discover and respond to a job posting while the job is still available, whether it is while he is unemployed or still employed. Russom used the phrase “time is of the essence” countless times during our conversation. He spoke of his experience calling numerous companies about the status of various job opportunities, only to find that the company had recently made an offer or just hired someone for the position. Many websites do not fully disclose the actual time a job opportunity has been posted “That’s the great thing about Indeed.com, it shows you when each job was posted to its respective website,” Russom explained. It makes sense to consider the old adage “the early bird catches the worm,” holds his statement true. The first to see a newly posted job posting has the advantage of having the opportunity to be the first to contact the company with their interest in the position.

Among Indeed’s lesser known but very important features is the last piece information given for each job shown on the list of search results. This option comes just before options to “Save Job,” “Block,” and “Email;” let’s call this feature “Time Posted.” The “Time Posted” feature shows users when this job was posted. This information gives users a better idea of the likelihood of the offer remaining. When I searched “Civil Engineer, within 25 miles of 19082” at 10:05 PM on March 31, 2008, I could see that 46 minutes ago a job was posted for a Sr. Civil/Environmental Engineer in Exton, Pennsylvania. The results page explicitly showed 5 newly posted jobs on a line by itself, and the last shown result was posted 29 days ago (Indeed, 2008). On Monster, there were no such notifications as to when the jobs were posted. CareerBuilder was not as specific as to the day, hour or minute the job was posted like Indeed, only showing that the jobs were posted today, 2 days and 3 weeks ago (CareerBuilder, 2008). Knowing when jobs were posted to generic job search engines allows users who do not use profession or location specific search engines to get a better idea of the likelihood that the job listed is still being available.

There are other websites on the web that only show results specific to certain criteria. Job Bank Information was a website that ceased operation in July of 2007. The webpage was sponsored by the US Department of Labor and now acts as a literal map for users to search for jobs based in each of the 50 states and a few provinces. Job Bank Information enables users to select the state in which they search and are connected directly to that state’s job exchange webpage (CareerOneStop, 2008).

Graphic 4. Map found on Job Bank Information

Note. It now acts as a literal map for users to search for jobs based in each of the 50 states and a few provinces. Job Bank Information enables users to select the state in which they search and are connected directly to that state’s job exchange webpage. From CareerOneStop. Retrieved March 3, 2008, from http://www.jobbankinfo.com/.

Some states require more information than others to begin the search. Pennsylvania, for example, asks users to register with the website before revealing search results. Those who are already members must login. New York, on the other hand, has no such registration requirement to view job search results. There is a membership option which is not mandatory. When searching in New York, just two clicks of the mouse after specifying type of job, users can view comprehensive job details for each place of employment. I attempted to fill out the necessary information to see the job results in my home state of Pennsylvania, but it was extremely time consuming. The amount of effort needed to fill out all of the required information for the state of Pennsylvania was incomparable to anything I have ever encountered on the internet. Other websites allow users to search for jobs without registering or submitting an email address but also have more features available to members, like Monster, Indeed and CareerBuilder.

After viewing ads promoting Monster.com for many years now and more recently for CareerBuilder.com which purported the simplicity of use of both websites, I decided to register with Monster. Upon registering I was immediately offered a resume writing service that came with my free membership. Once a member, I learned of other features that Monster offered. Monster keeps track of all applications that are created through the site. There is also a quick apply feature that allows each user to select a previously used resume and coversheet. In addition, this feature allows the user to inform the employer of a five other pieces of information about the applicant that Monster has deemed “important.” The five categories include ethnicity, gender, veteran and disability status and whether the person is a “Diversity Candidate” (Monster, 2008). The “Diversity Candidate,” is seemingly a person who is a minority, either within society or their respected field of employment. Each of these categories comes with the option to “Decline to Identify,” but this puts the submitter in a hard place. How will the employers who check the applicants to their job post interpret the fact that thirty people have included the “important” information and one has not? Who says that this information is actually important? This information is intended to assist the employers in their selection process. It also allows the employer to see statistics of who views and submits resumes to their job postings.

In addition, Monster offers financial advice to its members. There are pages dedicated to paying taxes online, managing money, retirement planning, resolving credit, insurance, and even real estate. I believe these features alone make it worthwhile to belong to Monster. Along with the capabilities of informing its users of local job fairs, and career advice, the website also enables its members to multitask and shorten previously time-consuming tasks. Monster is a great resource for new members of the job search community, especially the new members who may not have the time or know how to find the types of information available to users.

It is not advisable to jump head first into a new venture like the job market. There may be better options than to simply do what the big powers of the internet job search community say to do. According to an article by Susan Joyce on Job-Hunt.org entitled, “Strategies for Starting Your Online Job Search,” there are three stages of the job search. The first stage is preparation, where the foundation for an effective and efficient job search is formed (2002). The second is implementation, the actual searching for a job. The third and final step of the job search process is “suspension/maintenance.” In this stage of the job search your efforts are suspended but not shut down completely. This idle state makes it easier to start from where you left off rather than beginning from scratch again. Maintaining the job search is an often overlooked step in a successful job hunt. The job search process is not simply a means to an end.

Searching for a job is comparable to a refined art form. This art form while perfected by some, has also availed the opportunity to take advantage of others. Job-Hunt explicitly tells its users to use multiple job sites, to be careful of which sites they use, and to be aware of what the user puts on the internet. The leading issue facing internet job searchers is identity theft. Joyce offers another article on Job-Hunt entitled “The Dirty Dozen Online Job Search Mistakes,” that describes twelve key issues facing job site users. According to the FBI, the top form of internet fraud is identity theft (Joyce, 2008). Identity theft is made easy with all of the personal information supplied on resumes, such as; Name, Address, Home Phone Number, etc.

Emails are also cited as a source of vulnerability because of the false sense of comfort they establish. There are varying levels of formality that we bounce between depending upon who we are communicating with. We are less formal with our family then we are with our co-workers and we are less formal with our co-workers then we are with our boss. It is often difficult to consistently maintain a desired level of professionalism when drafting emails, especially in the current age of chain emails and forwarding of humorous websites. I can not count the amount of emails I have received from relatives and friends which included pictures of people doing ridiculous things in the snow or videos of cats surviving near death experiences. These informal emails along with the close relationships that develop in the workplace frequently foster a sense of comfort when communicating with coworkers. It is easy for people to forget to maintain a professional image when using emails to communicate with potential employers.

The selection of email account also matters when searching for a new place of employment. Another point made by Job-Hunt is to be sure to use a personal email address during the job search. Using an address through a current employer is a sure step toward losing a job. Despite this fact, email is a great tool. Email allows for professional communication to happen within a fraction of a second, allowing for documents to be sent around the world at virtually no price at all. However there is no guarantee that it will be read or even opened once it reaches an employer. There is technology currently available to track and see the viewing status of the email. Everyday billions of people delete junk “spam” emails. In 2005, nearly 75% of all email sent that year was marked as spam (Joyce, 2008). In order to avoid having an email to a prospective employer marked spam, Job-Hunt suggests following up emails with phone calls or even calling the company beforehand to notify them of your intent so that you are not marked as spam.

“The Dirty Dozen Online Job Search Mistakes,” talked about posting resumes onto job boards as being a danger in disguise. It puts large amounts of personal information on the internet for anyone to view. As stated earlier, this information can be used to take advantage of a person but it can also jeopardize their current employment. In our interview, Russom said “Having your name on a job site is a great way to get noticed by recruiters, but it also can be detrimental to your reputation. It increases the probability of your current employer seeing your name and becoming suspicious of your actions.” As a child, the only thing worse than getting caught with your hand in the cookie jar, was getting caught thinking about putting your hand in the cookie jar. Having a current employer finding your name on an active search for a new job is much like being caught thinking about those cookies in that jar. This shows the current employer an almost complete disregard for their place of employment. There will probably be differential treatment towards the person who is actively searching for a new job while still at their place of employment. Depending on the line of work, their superiors may give them less important tasks or in the most drastic of circumstances, fire the person.

Almost all professions have specified job search engines that curtail to them alone. They represent a smaller but always important segment of the job search community online. Websites like TheLadders.com, iHireEnvironmental.com, HealthJobsUSA.com, and EngineeringDesignJobs.com, all are specified to capture a specified audience. The Ladders only advertises job listings with salaries of $100k or higher. With their clear identification as the best place to find jobs with high starting salaries, the sight will attract a certain “crowd.” The case is similar for iHireEnvironmental.com, where you can find only ads for environmentally related jobs most of which are in the consulting sector. The same is true for Health Jobs USA and Engineering Design Jobs. These websites already eliminate the unnecessary ads that would only clutter the results when searching for jobs that are specific in field or salary range.

The development of the internet job search has made its way into the college environment. Erin White had her article “Theory & Practice: Employers Are Putting New Face on Web Recruiting,” printed in a 2007 issue of The Wall Street Journal. Erin White discussed Ernst &Young LLP’s decision to use the social networking medium Facebook to recruit college students to more than 5,500 internships and entry-level jobs in North America (2007). Ernst & Young paid Facebook an undisclosed amount to build a page on the social interface that informed members of internships and enabled members to discuss the company. The Ernst & Young sponsored page was the first of its kind to be aimed at recruiting. Colleges and universities across the nation have seen the increase of the internet’s effect on the job hunt. Here at Syracuse University we have a Career Services Network website that directs students to various websites where they can find internships and job listings in addition to help with their resumes..

There are unlimited amounts of resources available on the internet to aid in the job search process. Everything from where to start, to how to accept a job offer, is available after a few keystrokes thanks to the vast knowledge that is constantly updated on the internet. Now doctors do not have to be bothered by engineering positions being shown as results because both professions now have their own search engines. Thousands of people will keep their identity safe by not submitting a resume to a fake website because they will know what to lookout for and when to be cautious.

The internet has greatly impacted how job searches are conducted. Granted there will always be a nostalgic feel of sitting at the kitchen table using the second order to circle the appealing wanted ads in the newspaper, but the day when that is a thing of the past is rapidly approaching. With the opposite side of the world is only a click away, there is no telling when we will see advertisements for jobs in other countries littering our web pages. There is one thing that has made itself clear, our ability to connect with each other has established no boundaries and with none in the foreseeable future, our world is definitely getting smaller.

References

CareerBuilder. (2008). The largest job search, employment & careers site. CareerBuilder.com. Retrieved March 3, 2008, from http://www.careerbuilder.com/

CareerOneStop. (2008). America’s job bank transition. Job Bank Information. Retrieved March 3, 2008, from http://www.jobbankinfo.org/

ConsumerSearch. (2008, January). Best job sites: reviews. ConsumerSearch. Retrieved March 15, 2008, from http://www.consumersearch.com/www/internet/job-sites/

Indeed. (2008), Job search. Indeed. Retrieved March 3, 2008, from http://www.indeed.com/

Joyce, S. P. (2002). Strategies for starting your online job search. Job-Hunt.org. Retrieved March 15, 2008, form http://www.job-hunt.org/starting.shtml

Joyce, S. P (2008). The dirty dozen online job search mistakes. Job-Hunt.org. Retrieved March 15, 2008, form http://www.job-hunt.org/jobsearchmistakes.shtml

Monster. (2008). Find jobs. Build a better career. Find your calling. Monster.com. Retrieved March 3, 2008, from http://www.monster.com/

Tedeschi, B. (2005, March 28). Online searcher for job seekers. New York Times. Retrieved March 18, 2008, from http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/28/technology/28ecom.html

White, E. (2007, January 8). Theory & practice: employers are putting new face on web recruiting. Wall Street Journal. Retrieved April 21, 2008, from Proquest Database.