Internet Search Is Hot: Three Cool Tools
By Kevin Wheeler – Published Mar 18, 2005
©2001–2008 Global Learning Resources, Inc.
Internet search is hot again, and that's good for recruiters. For years now, recruiters have had to figure out how to search the Internet on their own. AIRS has offered the most well-known training on Internet searching, and thousands of sourcers and recruiters have completed their excellent program. But there hasn't been much in the way of tools that automate the process or make it simple for either job seekers or recruiters to find the kinds of jobs or people they are seeking.
A few years back a company called FlipDog pioneered a recruiting search tool that scraped the Internet for jobs. It was purchased by Monster and still exists as a decent tool to show a candidate the availability of jobs (and to show recruiters, conversely, people and skill demand) by zip code, state, or even region.
In addition to FlipDog there are two other tools, Indeed and WorkZoo, that offer the job seeker a chance to explore what openings there are in a specific zip code, city, region, or state. These tools use a simple Google-like interface to initiate the search and offer more advanced search capabilities in other menus, just as Google does. It is amazing to see how ubiquitous the Google look and feel has become.
A third tool, Eliyon, is aimed directly at recruiters and offers a powerful set of search capabilities.
Indeed
Indeed, still in beta mode, offers candidates a simple way to search for jobs aggregated from job boards, newspapers, corporate recruiting sites, and Craigslist. Indeed also presents searchers with a job-postings-per-capita graphic map. This is a useful tool for recruiters, showing which job markets are growing and competitive and which are cooling. For example, the current map shows that there are 22.1 jobs per 1,000 people in San Jose, the second highest after Boston, with 24 jobs per 1,000 people. On the other hand, Detroit, Rochester, San Antonio, and New Orleans all show 4.5 or fewer jobs per capita. If I were an active recruiter, I would understand that fewer jobs are available in those cities or areas and that there might be candidates who would be willing to move.
Indeed also includes a link to a blog discussing the job search space. Blogs are a common feature on the websites we are discussing today; they add information, discussion, and explanations from a variety of perspectives. Recruiters can pick up insight into upcoming demographic and job trends and stay abreast of press releases and other information on the job market. By linking to other sources of information, these blogs provide you with a quick education in search technology and trends.
I ran a simple search for a "recruiting manager" position in Seattle, Washington, on both Indeed and WorkZoo. The screen shot of the initial results page from Indeed shows that it found a total of 538 positions in the Seattle area.
Figure 1: Indeed search results
WorkZoo is an aggregator of jobs scraped off of a fixed number of job boards, rather than a complete Internet search tool. Based in San Diego, WorkZoo offers a similar Google-like interface as Indeed. It also features an interactive map of the U.S. with green dots indicating where jobs are clustered. By clicking on a dot, you can see what's available in that area. It also will keep your search on file and email you when new similar positions are posted.
Both Indeed and WorkZoo offer lists of cities showing either the number of job postings or the number of job postings per capita. WorkZoo's map changes dynamically to show a 28-day change. Cool.
WorkZoo also has a more in-depth site than Indeed, with information about its technology and how it works, as well as a well-written blog.
Figure 2: WorkZoo search results
Even though the searches used the same criteria, WorkZoo returned a third as many jobs as WorkZoo. This is because WorkZoo searches only a fixed number of job boards, while Indeed also includes corporate websites and Craigslist.
Eliyon
While both Indeed and WorkZoo are free to job seekers, the third tool, Eliyon, is only available on a paid subscription basis to recruiters. Eliyon has been around for a few years now and has become a good friend to many sourcing experts and recruiters, particularly those who understand it and focus on using it well.
Rather than helping job seekers find open or posted positions, Eliyon helps recruiters find people who have a presence on the Internet. It scrapes thousands of corporate and public websites to build an aggregated database of information about a particular person. When a search is run, it finds everyone it has indexed who meet the search criteria and presents the recruiter with a list of people, usually with phone numbers and email addresses, so that they can be contacted immediately.
The screen shot below is a sample of a search I ran for human resources executives with recruiting in their title. As you will see, Eliyon located several ERE authors! It provides as much detail as is available on the web which usually means you can quickly get in touch with any of these people. The one and only limitation of Eliyon is that the person must have some sort of web presence — either on a corporate or personal website, or on some other academic or professional site.
Figure 3: Eliyon search results
All of these tools are powerful and are increasingly going to be part of both the job seeker's experience and the recruiter's daily life.