News and Analysis

Will The Job Search Site Die Off?

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Will the job search engine die off?

This question comes up occasionally, fueled by two things – the changes in job search technology and the fact that the importance of networking, which is often hammered on in good times, is pretty much repeated constantly in this economy.  Add in the fact some job search engines aren't quite what they used to be, and I think it's a legitimate question.

The short answer is "no" in my mind.  But WHAT search engines and tools survive is a different factor.

  1. Some general sites will survive on their merits.  Craigslist, for instance is a tool I know most everyone uses.
  2. Specialty sites will do well.  Dice.com is an excellent search site but is technically-biased, obviously.  Some regional job search tools seem good, if varying in quality for obvious reasons.
  3. Companies will continue to post jobs online because its easy, cheap, and because many people target specific companies in their job searches.  Also it lets aggregators like www.indeed.com and www.simplyhired.com get ahold of the posts.
  4. Building on #3, I think job search aggregators will be a big thing in the future – yanking data from many sites and sources.
  5. There is going to be a lot of experimentation in job search sites to make better tools to produce better connections.  Having seen a few experimental sites, I haven't been too impressed with efforts so far (I come to look for jobs, not watch an arcane mathematical analysis).

There's a place for job search/posting tools out there – its simple, fast, and expected, and companies cannot count on networking to fill every position.  But I think it's going to change into a mix of specialty sites, aggregators, and maybe some odd new tools.

For you, the careerist, you want to locate good job search sites, and review them reguarly to see if they're still useful.  Make a project out of it and try out new ones reguarly just to stay on top.

– Steven Savage

Social Media, Life, and prominence

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We hear constantly about Social Media these days until many of us are sick of it (I'm getting a bit tired of hearing about it myself).  In all the discussions, analysis, articles, witty twitters, and so on, one thing gets missed. I'd like to discuss it since social media is both a geeky life tool, a geeky career tool, and a geeky career destination.

And that fact is that Social Media offers nothing new.

Blasphemy, many will say, but it's the truth.  Social Media is completely unoriginal, and that's why it works.

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Week In Review 5/30/2009 – And More

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This is going to be our last week in review done in text format – instead we're going to be doing weekly shows every Saturday reviewing the geeky career news and discussing progeek issues at Fan To Pro on BlogTalkRadio!  We haven't set an exact time, but we plan to shortly.

So, let's get to reviewing the news of the week for career geeks!

Lots of Google news.  Google makes it easier on people to use special widgets on the web, further cementing their presence and mindshare.  Big news however was their mega-collboration-communication tool in the works, Google Wave, which has open source elements, and a Twitter integrator.  I'm guessing this is google's big push post-android to shore up web presence and, as I mentioned, dilute the chance for others to dominate in various areas.

Facebook got a huge $200 million investment.  That's a lot of money, but really only a 2% ownership of the company.  Still that's a giant amount of cash to get, and good for Facebook.  As a side note, it seems we've got more Russian investment in social media (remember Livejournal?).  Interestingly Facebook may have peaked among users 55 and older.   Facebook is facing a number of challenges and advantages.

(Also, don't forget the advice you have a social media backup plan).

Hulu took on Boxee, launching it's own desktop (and I suspect making a play for X-box installation).  Boxee of course offers to work with them.  Hulu, for all it's dominance, seems surprisingly insecure, and i want to watch what they do – it could be something self-defeating.

For gaming, the sad note high reviews are no guarantee of sales.

My big takes this week are Hulu, Google, and Facebook.  Hulu seems to be wanting to expand fast and furious, Google already is (and let's face it, a clash involving YouTube is coming.  Again), and Facebook is working to expand.  Those are the 3 to keep an eye on this week.

– Steven Savage