70% of job searches begin with Google. Now that the search giant has put their job search algorithm into the hands of candidates, will they end there, too?

Following last summer’s release of the employer-focused Google for jobs (GJ), as part of the Cloud Jobs API, Google has now made GJ, complete with AI matching technology to surface job postings on every board they’re advertised, available to American job seekers.

With GJ, candidates can enter a search query like “jobs near me”, or “retail jobs”, and filter the results by location, specialty, company rating, or working hours – with more filters to come for ultra-personalized results. Think Google Flights, but for jobs.

It’s a big deal for both job boards and employers, for very different reasons. Job boards will have to rethink their value proposition to businesses and candidates, and while employers don’t really care whether job boards live or die, but missing out on GJ would mean missing out on candidates…

For candidates, GJ’s appeal is obvious: job boards are usually little different than their newspaper classified predecessors, as in broad, hard to search, and riddled with expired ads. Now, Google’s powerful creepy crawlies aggregate job data from around the internet to make sure posts are both relevant and up to date.

GJ does this by evolving matching technology. The idea being that enormous banks of data surface smarter matches through algorithms powered by AI and machine learning, thus eliminating the hassle of inconsistent job titling from company to company that has plagued candidates in the past.

“If I were Indeed, I would be scared; if I were an ATS that focuses on small- to medium-sized businesses, I would be scared,” says Jonathan Kestenbaum, recruiting tech expert and managing director for Talent Tech Labs. “If I were a Talent Acquisition enthusiast, I would be excited that such a large organization is taking interest in helping innovate within the space.”

Indeed has chosen not to make their jobs crawlable by Google. Rather, they are relying on the strength of their own brand, and the fact that, unlike most job boards, they are already using AI in their matching algorithms. Plus, for now, GJ with the added AI is only up and running in one country, the US, and in one language, English.

Photo Credit: Google Blog

Google may have the advantage of controlling the search engine where 70 percent of job hunts begin, But there’s still the matter of trust to consider. Facebook ran into trouble recently with their job advertising algorithm, when it was found to favor men. (Read why here) The candidate needs to know the AI underlying the search results is not so much a Harry Potter sorting hat, but more a summoning charm.

An accounting recruiter with over a decade of experience, Adam Karpiak says it may be a while before GJ really changes anything. “To the average candidate, job postings are job postings are job postings. These platforms actually make the recruiters look better because we specialize in people, NOT job postings. I’m sure GJ will be [a leg up], for the one percent of companies that understand what’s going on. It’ll take so long to trickle down to most companies, the ones that jump on it will definitely have an advantage.”

Google staunchly insists their new tech isn’t a replacement for job boards. The data giant is, in fact, partnering with LinkedIn, Monster, WayUp, DirectEmployers, CareerBuilder, Glassdoor and Facebook, to surface the best opportunities tailored to candidate specifications, hoping their foray into recruiting will push the industry forward in terms of tech innovation.

With more opportunities coming their way, job seekers are going to expect a quick and seamless process. So, recruiters, how can you make sure Google sees, and likes you? First off, make sure your job ad is compatible with Google search – you can check that by clicking here! – and be sure to follow this easy checklist, making sure your ad is:

1. Mobile friendly: Make sure your career site and job posting are easy to navigate on mobile devices, so you don’t miss the casual scrollers!
2. Informative: Adding details like office location, work hours, and flexible work options will make it easy for candidates to surface your job posting.
3. Well Branded: Reviews and content about your company will be more visible than ever, so it’s a great time to make sure everything is up to date. You may even consider branching into new media, like making that career video you’ve been dreaming of.
4. One-click–Apply Ready: Lowers candidate drop out rates, and strengthens your brand in the digital age.
5. Efficient: The influx of candidates means that process becomes extremely important. Make sure your ATS is supporting quick and organized communication for your team, so candidates have a great experience.

Read more about SmartRecruiters Google Job Search functionalities here!

Find out what un-conferences are all about, as SmartRecruiters’ head of DACH sales development navigates one for the first time.

First off, let me explain the concept. An “un-conference” is not quite the opposite of a conference, it’s more like a free-spirited sibling. In both instances you go to learn, it’s just two different ways of going about it. Un-conferences are typically intimate gatherings which ask a lot of the attendees in terms of engagement – one does not attend an un-conference, one participates.

I arrived at HR Bar Camp a bundle of nerves, as I knew the first activity of the day would be picking our schedule. And not just selecting sessions. Participants would be creating our agenda in a whirlwind pitching session.

Nine am and 200 eager participants are ready to get started. After a quick introduction from our hosts Jannis Tsalikis, VP of HR for VICE DACH, and Christoph Athanas, managing director and senior consultant at Meta HR management consultancy GmbH, the pitching begins and anyone who has something they want to share, or burning HR questions they want to discuss can stand up, give their spiel, and hope their suggestion gets picked as one of the day’s sessions.

Being my first unconference, I figure I should go all in. Why miss an opportunity for an intriguing conversation? I juggle a few ideas around CRM, job-matching, chatbots… but after a few minutes I know it has to be recruiting AI. We HR people are still trying to get our heads around this new reality that, until recently, seemed like science fiction, so I knew people would have a lot of questions: Will I be replaced by a machine? Will AI help root out unconscious bias?  

The timing couldn’t be better actually. See, SmartRecruiters recently announced the first native AI Recruiting Assistant, and this new capability helps discover candidates and checks bias while saving recruiters time. I teamed up with my colleague Camila, and 30 minutes later we were throwing our names into the ring as potential session leaders. Ours was chosen and we rushed to prepare for what turned out to be a full house.

There is a lot to cover and only an hour to cram in all this information, so we begin with one of the topic’s basic premises: candidate selection. How does the process actually work in most organizations?  Research shows that recruiters spend an average of six seconds looking at a resume and it makes you wonder – How many well-earned call-backs never happen? How many good resumes are lost among stacks of paper?

Most of our participants agree that six seconds is not enough time to make an informed decision on an applicant. Some even wonder if it’s worth it to look at resumes at all, as long as they can’t take the proper amount of time with each one. But that leads us back to the problem of volume. There’s no way to take five minutes with each application when you receive 300 for every opening.

Of course, there’s matching technology, “but didn’t we try that already?” a participant accurately points out, which is how the conversation proceeds to the difference between keyword matching and AI. In the former, if a resume lacks a certain vocabulary, or “keywords”, the system fails to identify a match. While the latter technology uses an algorithm based on clustering concepts to imply skills that aren’t mentioned explicitly.

Most of our group works in large companies and receive hundreds of applications daily so this solution really speaks to them, the general consensus being that an AI assistant surfacing relevant applications will enable the recruiter to spend more time on other parts of their job, like working with hiring managers or expanding their networks.

Our conversation about finding the best candidates incorporates two sources routinely overlooked, though they are perhaps the best resource for finding qualified people who are interested in your company already: internal candidates and former applicants. A native AI assistant on your applicant tracking system will assure those valuable prospects don’t get overlooked. Another great thing about recruiting AI is that it cuts way down on bias, inherent or unintentional, by providing a list of qualified candidates without the judgments that are likely to creep in with only a six-second screening.

Looking back, did we end up answering all the questions about recruiting AI? To tell the truth, we probably only created more. And that was my biggest takeaway about unconferences: it’s all about asking questions, and by asking questions, you start new conversations.