Whither Job Boards?

Looking for a job? Have you used employment web sites? Of course you have. The amazing thing is that 10 years ago, this was hardly an option. Even 5 years ago, job boards were a niche, mainly used by "techies" looking for IT jobs. It's quite remarkable how quickly employment Web sites became mainstream! Being a new industry, though, it's anything but clear how employment web sites are supposed to work. Jobster, Indeed, Monster and Craigslist, for example, are based on four radically different models. Moreover, predictions of where the industry is headed are all over the place. One prediction is that job seekers will "eliminate the middleman" (employment web sites like Monster) and increasingly use corporate employment web sites. A different vision predicts that web users will look for jobs not on employment web sites, but on other sites not at all related to employment, based on common interests. For example, let's say you live in Minneapolis and you're visiting a community web site, which features a link that says "looking for jobs in Minneapolis"? Or you're a nurse, visiting a site that features news and information for nurses, and you see a link that says "nursing jobs." Or what if instead of links, these common interest web sites feature "widgets," which let you search for relevant jobs without even leaving the site you're on? Interesting stuff. Then there are RSS feeds and social networks. Whether you're a job seeker or work in an employment-related field, I'm curious what your vision is. How will the web evolve to better meet your needs as job seekers? Submit your comments!

Comments

[Chris]

I'd like to know what people think about RSS feeds. I subscribe to more than 40 different feeds (it's about all I can handle) about a variety of topics from my interest in all things Peanuts and Dilbert and sports to the professional, job seeking-related articles that I use in my professional role as a college career counselor (I subscribe to Career Hub via RSS feed). One notion I've had in using these feeds is that someday most employers will make their corporate job listings available via RSS, and all seekers will need to do is subscribe to whichever companies/organizations they are interested in. I would love it if an RSS feed collecor could absorb entry-level jobs directly from the source (employers) and put them in our jobs directory so I wouldn't have to review, type and approve them for our students! Has anyone else considered this as a viable possibility? Or is it already being done and I'm just not aware of it (a distinct possibility)?

[Rosie]

Interesting ideas! Personally, I don't see widget as that much better except that it's pretty novel. I think I'd find it annoying if the widget was too small and can't read all the information you want to easily. For web developers and corporate sites, maybe because of SEO, they might want to keep the links on there instead of a widget? I'm not sure. As for Chris' question, I'm pretty sure that some sites DO have the RSS feeds like that. I'm not sure how they are set up though and some ATS systems are very finicky and don't play well with others so RSS might not be an option for those who have certain ATS systems.