With the much-anticipated Google for Jobs launching in the UK to much fanfare and success, the recruitment industry as a whole took some getting used to with this disruptive new force in the marketplace.
We saw some backlash from large aggregator sites, with Indeed.com looking to improve its offering by removing RPOs and agencies from its listings. This has affected many smaller recruitment agencies, and many were scrambling to become Google for Jobs compliant.
With all the disruptive power that Google now has over the recruitment market, what changes could be in the pipeline to this service that recruiters have to deal with next? We’ve compiled a short list and gone through the implications of what Google might be planning next.
1.Formatting change
Bear with us, as we are going to get a bit technical with this one.
Currently, Google for Jobs has tight controls on how each job posting is formatted on its platform, stripping all formatting, video, images and even bold or italicised text out of a job description. This helps Google collect information from multiple sources easily but stops you from making your job postings stand out to candidates.
Those of you that have been job hunting recently will be very familiar with this screen!
The first thing Google can do to improve the candidate experience is to allow for some level of customization to make job postings more interesting and enticing. This will mean more stringent SEO guidelines from Google meaning recruiters will need a solid understanding of Google criteria and the technical experience necessary to adapt to it.
2. Video content
The next change we may see on the platform is the addition of video content. And it’s easy to see why. According to Enhance Media’s research, video content is 12 times more likely to be shared than links and text combined. Video content is king, and an increasing number of recruiters and employers are taking advantage of this by creating video job descriptions, often to great effect.
Whilst Google may look at first to implement just videos from YouTube, as owning YouTube will make getting the technical aspects of video postings to work that much easier, it’s not a stretch to imagine this service extending to other video platforms.
3. GFJ becomes the number one candidate search tool
88% of candidates already used Google’s search engine as part of their job search, but currently quickly leave again to use aggregators they find in search results. However, it’s hard to imagine a scenario where GFJ isn’t amongst the top candidate search tools in the coming years now they are pushing their own aggregator higher in results than these competitors.
The biggest obstacle is the recruitment industries’ slowness to react to this change. Our data shows that careers sites optimized for GFJ have gained 20% more organic traffic, whereas those that aren’t have lost up to 40%. Unfortunately, this dwindling number of non-adopters will soon find themselves either squeezed out of business, or rushing to catch up with early-adopters.
A map showing the areas where Google for Jobs is either live or planned for release
How likely are these changes?
Although it’s impossible to exactly predict the scale of future changes, Google has recently hinted at the possible direction it could take its services in. Radu Stoian, Enhance Media’s Technical Director, said this on the latest update;
“Google just marked their 20th anniversary by hinting at their plans for the following 20 years. We believe this places services such as Google for Jobs in a transitional period, and we expect to see further enhancements for this product, especially since one of Google’s three fundamental shifts is based on providing a more visual way of finding information.”
So how do you stay ahead of the competition on a service that is constantly evolving? One way would be to consult a company that had years of experience in optimising its clients for Google and its services, and has a proven track record of adapting to a changing online environment.
Enhance Media is such a company, and is currently offering a comprehensive GFJ audit. If you would like more information on our services, please take a look at our Google for Jobs page here