What HR needs to know about Google For Jobs

Google For Jobs has finally arrived in the UK. Here’s everything that HR needs to know about this new tool for job seekers

After launching in the US last summer, Google For Jobs has finally arrived in the UK. Here is an essential guide for HR and recruitment professionals to the new job-seeking tool that is set to be a major player in the hiring market.

What is Google For Jobs?

It’s essentially a new way for jobseekers to find and browse jobs in their chosen area, sector and specialist.

Job seekers simply need to search via Google as they would for anything else to see the Google For Jobs listings.

People can use filters such as category, title, location, date posted, contract type, company type, and employer name to refine their results (shown below). For each job, users will see the full advert and description, as well as when the advert was posted, salary band and comparison, Glassdoor rating and sometimes even the commute time from their home address.

For each job, Google will display ever application route it can find, so for a single job there may be multiple application links, such as to LinkedIn, Reed, and the employer’s own website.

Users can also set up email alerts so they are notified each time a new vacancy that meets their criteria is added.

Does the tool index every job that’s online?

Google For Jobs has signed agreements with a number of large and small job aggregator websites, including household names such as Reed, Guardian Jobs, CV-Library, and Totaljobs, as well as sites such as LinkedIn and Glassdoor.

But there’s one major player missing at the moment: behemoth Indeed, which claims to be the world’s most popular jobs website with more than 200 million unique visitors a month.

“At this time, Indeed has decided not to partner because we feel that’s the best decision for jobseekers,” Indeed’s SVP of marketing Paul D’Arcy told the BBC. “Moving forward, we will continue to evaluate this and other partnerships.”

 For the meantime, this decision not to partner with Google For Jobs means jobs advertised on Indeed appear further down Google’s search results listings. Savvy recruiters and employers may want to take this into account when choose where to list their future vacancies.

How do I get my vacancy indexed by Google?

If you’re already posting vacancies using an applicant tracking system (ATS) or via a job board aggregator, chances are that they will be automatically indexed by Google For Jobs.

If they aren’t, Google offers step-by-step advice for getting your jobs listed on their website.

Are jobs indexed by Google for free?

Yes, currently jobs are automatically listed in Google For Jobs search results free of charge. But it doesn’t take a lot of imagination to foresee a future where Google charges for premium listings, just as it does for search results. Watch this space.

What difference will Google For Jobs make to the applications I receive?

Google says that because applicants will be more easily able to filter roles by factors such as type and location, employers will benefit from more motivated and engaged candidates who are applying only for jobs that most closely fit their desired criteria. Google also claims that the enhanced listings will increase employers chance of being discovered by potential applicants, and increase the percentage of people who view and then apply for a vacancy.

Mark Rhodes, the director of marketing at Reed, which has partnered with Google For Jobs, told the Daily Mirror: “Jobseekers arriving at Reed.co.uk via this new search experience are application-ready, with a high level of intent, so we anticipate seeing a positive impact on the quality and volume of applications we supply to our recruitment clients.”

Google also says that its ‘search smarts’ will mean that candidates won’t have to search multiple terms to find similar vacancies that have all been listed with different job titles – it’ll automatically display similar roles that have different titles. For example, a candidate searching for ‘programmer’ roles would also see ‘software engineer’ and ‘developer’ jobs.

Because the Google listings show candidates all application avenues, you may start to see a change in the route that delivers the highest number of relevant applications. Keep an eye on if your job board listings are worth the money and effort, or if a listing on your organisation’s own website or LinkedIn profile is sufficient.

And, because organisations’ Glassdoor ratings are displayed against vacancies, expect these to more heavily influence people’s decisions to apply for a post – or not.