Google Revs Up Some New Search Features

One of the next Rubicon's for search to traverse is the boundaries of structured versus unstructured search. It is much easier to get answers from databases where everything is organised, labeled, stamped and categories correctly. As the avalanche of data being added to the web keeps growing, keyword searching keeps getting closer to breaking point. Introducing this needed structure to the web is something that has been on the mind of some of the world's most famous search engine development departments for some time now. Google started to look at this topic recently with their dipping of toes into "universal search" e.g. embedding You Tube into the search results. However, they are now starting to tackle this with their own Google Squared initiative that has just come out of Google labs. Google Squared extracts data from Web pages and presents them in search results as squares in an online spreadsheet. See video below.

Understanding how search engines work - not just the big 3 - but those that allow "semantic search" and meta search is imperative to understanding how to mine properly. Understanding spidering, indexing, flipping, x-raying, syntax, operators, modifiers and search engine optimisation (SEO)in all its guises and forms is essential to become a modern day smart internet savvy recruiter. Understanding what cross linking is, organic search ranking, meta-tagging, tagging and cross pollination is important if you are to understand how to search in all the various types of informational systems both light, heavy, and the deep web that recruiters currently have for free at their disposal when traditional recruitment techniques have failed. I'll be showing some of the search engines, outside of the "big 3" that recruiters should be aware of, as well as some tools and techniques, they should also begin to investigate more, in order to get better at recruiting at the Future of Recruitment conference on the 3rd of June.

But back to Google for a moment.

There are dozens of semantic search start-ups trying to impose structure on the Web to perform similar tricks as Google Squared. Another high profile start up, which I have covered before on this blog, that is launching this Monday is Wolfram Alpha. This takes a slightly different approach to Google in that it simply ingests massive amounts of information into its own databases where it can query it to its heart’s delight. There seems to be rivalry between both of the companies already. The big,big difference between the both is size. Wolfram's databases will never match what is available on the web. They currently hold 10 terabytes which is a very small number compared to the size of the web.

Google squared is a very experimental, early, step at trying to organise the worlds data on the web in a far more intuitive format that we have today. Looking at the video below where I believe this may apply to recruitment is we will be able to find candidate CVs, bio's conversations, etc in a much more structured format. We may possibly be able in the future run a search that provide focused results that are pushed back in web format in a database layout that can be converted into .csv and then imported into your own ATS for review and dissemination. I'll be watching to see what comes out of this initiative in the future and how it can be applied to making searching for passive candidates more efficient.

Irish Recruiters Conference Update - Mini Recruiters Job Fair

Adding to my recent post on unemployed recruiters attending the conference I would like to say that from 4pm to 4.30pm during the break session in the presentations I am going to set up an area where unemployed recruiters can informally meet companies or recruitment agencies that are trying to hire recruiters. So far I have 3 unemployed recruiters and 1 recruitment agency that said they would like to avail of this. It's a small start but it would be great if it could turn into a tiny job fair which hopefully gets some recruiters back to work. Please spread the word.

For those thinking of developing a iPhone job app what about a Nokia job app as well?

The Nokia 5800 has been selling really well and is Nokia's first clear response to Apple's iphone. It also is a touchscreen handset and is firmly aimed at the mass market. I really like it and I think Nokia are making some great strides on the market of late. With the launch of the Nokia Ovi appstore coming soon we might see more developers begin to roll out products focused on specific nokia handsets as a way of targeting the big nokia market whilst avoiding the problem of trying to serve every single Nokia/ Symbian device.

Some of its impressive stats are:

• Three million 5800s sold globally since its launch in November 2008, and currently shipping more than one million units per month.
• the 5800 was Nokia’s number one revenue and gross margin generating product, and was the number one volume and value product in the UK in Q1 2009
•  UKs biggest selling portable music device - outselling the ipod

There are many but one of the really cool things I like about this device is that Nimbuzz the voip/ messaging mobile app has released a special version of its app for the 5800.

Expect the job apps to also follow suit very soon after Ovi launches. For those who are thinking of creating iPhone apps you may want to think how portabile your concept is over to the Nokia platform onces you get your hands on the developer kit.

Twitter founder set to start new company

Jack Dorsey sent out a tweet letting his followers know that he was, “Getting ready to embark on something new and entirely different. Excited!” The new company has been codenamed "Squirrel". From what I've scraped off the grid what I learnt so far is it's a service that allows anyone with an iPhone to become a seller. A bit like wireless credit card swipers you can see in most restaurents and shops on Grafton Street and anywhere else in Ireland, you can carry around your iPhone and take payments. From what I can gather so far it seems like a Mobile version of PayPal.  Squirrel will be a physical device that attaches easily to the smart device as well as an application you download from an app store.

Irish Recruiters Conferene Update - Unemployed Recruiter Participation

A big thank you for those who have so far confirmed their attendance at the Future of Recruitment: Part 1- The Road Ahead conference. In particular, I'm glad to see so many coming from outside of Dublin.

Last Friday I received some emails from unemployed recruiters who said they really wanted to attend but couldn't because of cost. As such I am now offering 20 tickets on a first come first served basis for 50 euros for all recruiters who currently find themselves unemployed. I hope it helps a little and look forward to seeing you there.

Do you want a free Application Tracking System?

SmartRecruiters.com offers a free ATS that is community driven, takes two minutes to set up and very easy to use. On their site they claim that 1,000 SMEs have switched over to their product in the last 7 months. This is a very cool open SaaS application based on an open source community. Check out the very interesting interview with Jerome Ternynck on the project, here

Tesco using mobile ads successfully to build on consumers loyalty

Tesco are the third biggest retailer in the world and when they start using mobile ads people should take note. They have decided to use the admob mobile advertisment platform to do so and they are using text and text + banner which asks users to click through for a specific action.

Here is a screenshot of an ad they are using to get you to use their mobile servies and gain free Tesco ClubCard points to do so. Clever combining of their points system and discount purchases for their mobile offering using mobile device platforms!

A bit like Software + Services and the new tactics that HMV and other music sellers are using to sell add ons to DVD and CD purchases there is some obvious club card and discount benefits that Tesco will deploy when they have mobile users visiting their mobile platform. Like cheap petrol and some cheap loss leader products to get customers in the door mobile ads will be another tactic they use to reach out to their customers in an innovative fashion.  Cleverly if you go to their mobile landing page here they are offering customers a number of very interesting offers including discount pricing for upgrades and extra ClubCard points for switch overs. I won't be suprised if we see one of the world's largest job boards joining forces with Tesco in the future or see them venture into world of recruitment themselves.

If you are interested in learning more about the future of recruitment and how mobile phones will have a part to play in the evolution of the industry maybe the Irish Recruiters Future of Recruitment conferene is the exact place you want to start your education and exploration on the subject, here.

Twitter CVs has arrived! It continues to get a lot more interesting!

It's hard to keep up with the flurry of apps coming out for Twitter but this one has definitely caught my attention as it is the first time I have seen a Twitter app that allows you post your CV to Twitter. Twtjobs allows you post your CV for free which is very cool and the creaters of it state there will be no cost or advertisment; they simply accept donations which is definitely worth making, even if it just a couple of euros, if you use the services.

Twitter has become a tool well worth investigating in if you have the time. It has some very clear maketing, networking, intelligence gathering and direct sourcing functionality that for me now can't be ignored. The challenges I see with it at present are "noise" and a lack of true "search" functionality. With the momentum now behind the technology realtime updates has got a lot more interesting and RSS almost feels like a thing of the past!

.Mobi

If you are thinking of getting into a mobile web recruitment strategy one of the considerations you may face is what domain to use for a possible landling site on your mobile campaign. Here's something that' helped with my thinking on the topic.

New interesting computational search engine arrives

It's early days for "computational knowledge engines" but one in particular from British-born physicist Stephen Wolfram has hit the information highway a lot this week. It will open to the public in May. Wolfram Alpha is a closed search engine that looks like an amazing hybrid between Wikipedia and Google's OneBox answers for simple, common search queries. The closeness will change soon and when it does I'm looking forward to searching about software development engineers in Ireland and Europe and the related information the index pulls up. Check out the video to make up your own mind.

Alpha will come in free and paid versions. The paid version will allow users download and upload data to the engine. They haven't disclosed pricing yet, but pro users will, for example, be able to not just see a graph, but also download the data behind this graph for use on their own machines or in Mathematica.

The engine is seems not just academic in design. Wolfram is clearly thinking about monetisation and will allows users to embed not just a Wolfram|Alpha search box on their own pages, but they will also be able to embed results and a custom Alpha portal on their own sites. Users will also be able to receive email alerts when a result changes. This is where some advertising may take place.

Microsoft Vine beta launched as of yesterday - Twitter and Facebook on steroids

Here at Microsoft we've been coming up with lots of ideas in the social media space in our labs. Here is one that was launched yesterday that not many people in Ireland are aware of - check out the demo and keep an eye out for future updates by singing up at the beta site, www.vine.net

As it says on the site "Use the dashboard to know what’s happening. Information associated with the places you have chosen will appear on your map, including articles from 20,000 news and public safety sources. Information from people you care about, such as alerts and reports, will appear on the dashboard too. Send and receive alerts. Organize people into groups - the sports team you coach, people who live nearby, family far away, special friends, and emergency contacts. Each person defines how they want to receive alerts – through e-mail, a text message, or on their computer. Reach them quickly using alerts. Post reports. You decide what you want to share with whom, and then the information is sent directly to their personal dashboard. Check in safe and well to let your family know you are okay, let trusted neighbors know you’re headed out of town, keep people informed of situations that matter, or share general information like the team practice schedule for the week."

Also, check out what some of the press have to say about it:


Twitter + Facebook on steroids

Microsoft Vine begins beta in Seattle

Will Monster go the way of Newspapers and Korn Ferry still on top

Very interesting blog post on Harvard Business Published discussing some of the threats that agegator companies like Indeed.com are having on Monster, here, make sure to read some of the comments.

Once again Korn Ferry are recognised again as world's largest executive search firm, here

Monster Worldwide Reports First Quarter 2009 Results

Monster Worldwide has just come out with their first quarter report and as expected it total revenue declined 31% to $254 million, compared with $366 million in the comparable quarter of 2008.

Timothy Yates, Monster’s CFO, during the quarter call, addressed operating expenses, including layoffs both here and in China since acquiring ChinaHR.com last year. “Excluding ChinaHR, we ended the first quarter with almost 400 fewer associates compared with the fourth quarter of 2008,” Yates said. “We also reduced headcount in China by nearly 300 full time associates and a significant number of temporary employees during the first quarter. As a result, total headcount declined 10 percent.”

Monster are also following suit with many other companies and are planning for much more rationalisation:

Sal Iannuzzi, chairman, commented that . “This quarter we’ve made decisions which impact the compensation of all our employees. Merit increases, 401K contributions, and cash incentive compensation have been suspended this year. Any incentive compensation for 2009 will only be paid in the form of four year vesting equity…these actions ensure that our employees will share in our growth as the economy recovers.”

He also talked about Trovix acquisition. “Last year we acquired Trovix to further ramp up our internal technology to provide seekers with more targeted searches. All indications are that Trovix will provide dramatic improvement in results. We are confident we will execute a full implementation by the end of the year with a customer beta roll-out in May.”

To get more financial detail on the accounts go here.

Irish Recruiters TV - Meet Ruadhri McGarry - CEO of MyNewCV.ie

I had the pleasure of meeting Ruadhri recently in a very noisey pub in the city centre to learn about his company MyNewCV.ie and a new concept called Enigma Search. We also talk about LinkedIn, Twitter and iPhone apps.

Jobs2Ireland.ie release new career site

Jobs2Ireland have released a new career site which includes job search, news about the Irish jobs market as well as career advice articles. The site has a lot of RSS functionality built into it which is always welcome and should make life easier for job seekers. Current offering start at €19 per month, unlimited job advertising and unlimited access to the jobseeker database. Check it out here.

Hudson Offering Free Candidates Consultancy Event

Hudson is running free candidate workshops to help candidates in this economic downturn to market themselves better to find a job. A recent survey they conducted on 500 cvs found that 92% would not pass the basic test of grammar, spelling and punctuation.

Now more than ever candidates need to prepare their CVs well and Hudson hope this event event will provide some tips to help those candidates eager to improve their chances in finding a job. The event will cover cv writing, interview tips routes of entry to the job market and networking. To learn more go here.

Irish Recruiters Conference Update

I'm delighted to announce that as part of the line up for the up and coming "Future of Recruitment Conference" Patrick Traynor, Sales Manager for Corporate Solutions at LinkedIn will be flying into Dublin to give the attendees a presentation on LinkedIn and its meteroic rise into social networking and recruitment. It's great to have LinkedIn taking part and I'm looking forward to hear Patrick's thoughts on the recession and the future.

This makes up the final member of the presentation panel which includes myself, Jane Lorigan (IrishJobs.ie), Anne Heraty (CPL) and Joe Ffrench (Microsoft).

A new member joining LinkedIn every second - listen to Reid Hoffman, CEO of LinkedIn talking about the recession and future functionality

Is LinkedIn becoming the Monster of passive candidates?

TwitterJobSearch adds Maps functionality

Here's what has come out from their latest press release:

"A new interactive feature launched by TwitterJobSearch gives visitors an immediate view of all vacancies posted onto the Twitter platform according to their location. Useful for those seeking employment in particular locations, the real-time visual map also proves just how fast professional use of the service is growing in different countries and cities around the globe. TwitterJobSearch’s JobMap allows people to drill down by continent, country or specific location, providing additional layers of detail as the map zooms in, with jobs signposted with a blue marker. The tool initially focuses on jobs posted by city, simply because that is the information most often used in job overviews, but any vacancies that provide more detailed address data in the original Tweet or destination url, such as postal or zip code, can be pinpointed exactly on the map. The total number of jobs posted in that location is displayed in a speech bubble with the option of clicking through for more information. www.TwitterJobSearch.com/map" 

Intel's new atom chip architecture and cloud recruitment

Anyone that is carefully watching the race for mobile internet dominance must have been very interested a year ago when Intel launched its amazing atom chips.

In less than a year there has been a revolution in netbook and mobile computing and this new generation of chip family is going to unleash an incredible array of new mobile internet devices in the very near future.

During the keynote at the Intel Developer Forum in Beijing last week titled "Mobility's Next Wave of Growth," Anand Chandrasekher, Intel senior vice president and general manager of the Ultra Mobility Group, introduced two new processors for Mobile Internet Devices (MIDs). He also demonstrated the first live demo of Intel's next-generation Atom-based MID platform, codenamed "Moorestown."  Read the news release here.

Job seekers are and will continue to get access to a wide range of new mobile internet devices on the market that will allow them use the power of the internet while away from the traditional desktop and access job related information far easier. Ireland still has a long way to go to catch up with Asia and the US in terms of broadband penetration in the office and on the road as well as affordable smart phone data packages but with the recent launch by Vodafone offering mobile internet packages for 9.99 per month and moves by the likes of BT now offering a whopping 24 mbps of internet broadband to its customers for as less as 39 euros a month (including VAT) were beginning to get wired up slowly but surely.

At the Irish Recruiters conference on the 3rd of June i'll be diving into this topic in a lot more detail. I'll be looking at the rise of mobile technologies and how these advancements in technology may be applied to give recruiters and job seekers a competitive advantage. I'll be explaining what cloud computing is and how understanding it can give recruiters a new way to contact new audiences using different delivery channels. I'll also be giving a lot of examples of a lot of the new products and services from around the world that I am tracking that can let recruiters react with the cloud.

Mobile technology is evolving at break beat speed to remind us of how far we've come watch the below video.

Irish Recruiters TV - Meet Jonhathan Campbell of Select People

As part of building out the Irish Recruiters Network I have decided to get the camcorder out, dust it off, wipe the lens and start meeting some people on the road to put some faces behind the names and learn about what products, services and innovation some of the members are offering. I also think that this is a great way to get people's opinions on the recession and how technology is so quickly providing a plethora of tools to allow recruiters get more efficient and effective at most elements of the recruitment process.

Forgive me for my poor light management, framing, audio balancing, post production editing and the terrible orangey tunsun lighting in the background but as time goes by I hope that the productions can become a little slicker.

First up is Jonathan Campbell from Select People Limited. Jonathan talks about some of his searching techniques as well as using Xing in Germany and cultural differences when recruitment across Europe. He also talks about the way recruitment is changing in the recession and the rise of the "smart candidate".

Don't forget to the hit the HD button on the bottom of the YouTube video to get a better visual.

RecruitIreland offers free job posting to Irish Employers.

Only a few months ago Monster USA announced a campaign called the "Keep America Working Tour" that has the company embarking on a tour of 140 cities this year to set up job clinics and assist the unemployed get back to work. So far feedback on the events have been positive.

Likewise, RecruitIreland are getting creative. When Dell was hit with its large set of redundancies in Limerick the company soon after offered free job postings to all Limerick employers. It has now gone one step further and offered free job postings to all employers in Ireland.

On their blog today they wrote:

"This week we launched a new campaign offering free advertising to employers in Ireland - the aim of this campaign is to provide support to businesses at a time when they most need it and also to be a "one stop shop" as such for jobseekers. We want to offer you a complete service whereby when you log onto the website you will find all vacancies in Ireland in the one place - we hope by offering free advertising to employers we will facilitate this."


This is a clever but controversial move by the company and one that should see the a lot of jobs that are live and offered by internet savy employers in the country being aggregated onto their board. It will makes sense for a signifigant amout of employers that they post their jobs on the site now that it is free and job seekers will be happier as they can view more jobs in one place. However I question if RecruitIreland will be denting future revenue streams in the future from the important recruitment agency companies that make up a signifigant chunk of their client base. I wonder is the offer open to all recruitment agencies as well? It wasn't obvious from reading the announcement on their site if it was or not.  If not, I wonder will agencies view this as an attenuation of their brands in the market?

Recently it has been more evident that a new set of outplacement and CV clinic services and products are entering the market with IrishJobs for example setting up  Horizon Outplacement As the recession moves on we will no doubt see more innovation in the market. I wonder when Tesco's will decide to enter the market. TescoJobs.ie could be an interesting move into the industry or I wonder will Michael O'Leary at some stage look at the similar technology behind his RyanAir web site model and also enter into the market with RyanAirJobs.ie. Probably long odds on both. You'd be best served putting your money on Ireland winning the next Eurovision. However, I'd be far more willing to bet on a lot more change and response in the coming months. Recruitment providers will work harder to build new and foster deeper relationships with job seekers and clients. RecruitIreland again, have seemed to grasp this concept well by introducing new functionality on their home site where they specifically call out a section called Web 2.0 and RecruitIreland.com which allows job seekers interact with their web site by offering them the option to follow them on Twitter, Bebo or by RSS. They also provide an option to download a simple App or join their group to use FaceBook to facilitate their search. I'm suprised that other job boards haven't followed suit already and I have no doubt more will in the future. It will be interesting to see which will be the first to offer a full mobile recruiting advertising campaign targetted to mobile smart phones. I'll be talking more about this topic and web 2.0 recruitment tactics at "The Future of Recruitment Conference" on the 3rd of June. I'm also looking forward to debating RecruitIreland's free

PS - Apologies about the illuminous links font that has mysteriously arrived on the blog today. Looks like there are some problems with Blogspot which Google will hopefully rectify soon.

Twitter killer has arrived - nano blogging :)

Careerbuilder expanding even more into Europe

Careerbuilder has announced several partnerships in Europe that marks a clear message of how serious they are about the market.

They've set up deals with: Amris, Bond, Broadbean, Bullhorn, Candidate Manager, ChangeWorkNow, First Advantage, iCIMS, Kenexa, MrTed, PeopleBank, Peopleclick, PCRecruiter, Profilsoft, and Webcruit (Kaonix). Job posting aggregators such as and eQuest and candidate sourcing tools such as TalentDrive, AIRS, Daxtra and infoGIST will also be partners.

The idea behind this seems to be integration and making sure recruiters can be more efficient. Smart move and another reason for recruiters to use their platform.

"CareerBuilder's goal is to provide our clients worldwide with an experience that makes connecting them with the right people efficient and cost effective," said Farhan Yasin, president of CareerBuilder Europe, Africa and the Middle East. "Significant advances in technology have paved a road for new process-improvement tools that can easily integrate with a variety of applicant tracking systems. By adding these partners, CareerBuilder is strengthening its commitment to improving the recruitment process for our corporate employers."

New iPhone 3.0 Operating System

iPhone OS 3.0 Software Sneak Peak part 2

iPhone OS 3.0 Software Sneak Peak part 3 

iPhone OS 3.0 Software Sneak Peak part 4

• Over 1,000 APIs!
• Meebo is gone native on the iPhone.
• Cut and Paste
• 3G Tethering
• New Multimedia Messaging (MMS)
• Remote Control for your accessories
  

Here's a great article that goes through all the main features and applications.

Chink in the light during tough times

Good synopsis on some of the new jobs coming into the economy from Louise McBride in the Independant.

Friday's top 6 - Google looks like buying Twitter

Some news items that caught my attention today.

[1] Saongroup.com, the international online recruitment company, has appointed Patrick Keenan to the position of Sales Director for RecruitGulf.com and Colm Reddy as Senior Account Manager. Read here.

[2]  Europe's unemployment up to 8.5%. and Ireland's up to 11% in March.

[3] iEmploy come out with fixed price model. The article goes on to say  

" iEmploy may be new arrivals on the online recruitment scene, but their founders have over 18 years of industry experience between them. With a sound backing and knowledge of what methods of service work, the iEmploy team have been able to cover recruitment advertising throughout all business sectors across the UK, Ireland and even internationally as is sometimes the case. Their unique selling point is an exceptional return for money spent, something that is extremely welcome in today's economy.

iEmploy's recruitment advertising packages are designed to suit businesses and employers of all sizes and calibre and are a mixture of traditional recruitment agency service as well as the effectiveness of job boards. All vacancies are posted on no less than 4 major job boards that have proven efficacy, and are seperately managed by personal account managers."

[4] Blow your trumpet to keep your jobs - James Caan fielding questions


[5] Online recruitment companies charge candidates. - I came across this practice when I was in Brazil over New Years. My sister in law was searching for work and had to pay 200 reis (65 euros) to get her CV allowed into a boutique retail job board's candidate database so that employers could see her details. Looks like UAE and Brazil have some similarities in the jobs market.
 
 [6] Looks like Google is about to get Twitter, here.

Kevin Costner becomes partner of Green Job Interview

Green Job Interview is the latest entrant into the virtual interview market.  Check it out here.

Also, ever wish you could highlight some text on a page, click a button, and tweet a text as a quote... well TweetThisText has answered your prayers!

Twitter Adding New Search Functionality

Twitter is now offering a way that you can go and search for other twits or twitters without leaving your own page without leaving the page they are on, as well as seeing what the most topical subjects being tweeted are.

Check out the update on the twitter blog, here.

Co founder Biz Stone stated that:

"We've added a few other features to this design. If there's a search you want to do on a regular basis, you can "save" the search. That will place the word or term permanently in your sidebar for easy access. So if you want to know what people are saying about the city you live in, the products you use, or just something weird, it becomes a link on your home page.

Twitter Search is an engine for discovering what is happening right now but it doesn't always have to be a box and a button. Trends are words or phrases being referenced with more frequency suggesting that something interesting might be happening. When you click on a trend link, you can read the tweets and find out what's up. Trends is in beta—but it has potential."

Google and Microsoft alliance to bring a new world of job matching

In an extremely rare partnership Google and Microsoft have decided to come together to create what looks like will be  the world's most sophisticated and successful job board!

Both 800 pound gorilla's have decided that the job board industry worth an estimates 6 billion dollars a year is now too good to ignore and they have jointly in an incredibly rare partnership agreement come together to form a new job board that will be based on a mixture of Microsoft's new algorithmic search engine called Kumo and Google's now already highly trafficked GoogleBase product. Open Source APIs will be offered using the new HR-XML consortium's CV distribution schemea to allow savvy job seekers to upload their CV for free and employers will have to bid to get access to candidates that match their search criteria. The new model will cleverly be a time-to-hire paradigm. The fresher the CV the higher the cost-per-click bidding starts at. So as an employer when you register the key parameters for your search e.g. Financial Accountant > Dublin district > 10+ years experience > ACCA > salary range 70 to 90k, etc - If the new database provides 8 candidates that match you can bid to see the CV the latest result being the most expensive. The idea being the latest candidates on the market are the most expensive to access. Employees can "turn on" or "turn off" their CV search at will. A set of guidelines and policies are in place to ensure that employees who have accepted a new job must "turn off" their CV before they can searching again for a new job.

The project is elegantly called called "FreeJobsForAll.com and has already been localised into 55 languages for launch. Both businesses are planning to integrate their Windows Mobile and Android platforms as well as their respective video hosting sites: YouTube and Soapbox to create a new world order in job matching and advertising. It looks like finding a job has got a lot more interesting. Happy April fools!