Think the job board is dead? Don’t tell that to Google and Madgex.

When doing an online search, where do you go when you are looking for a dentist? What search site do you use when looking for a new restaurant to try? Where do you go when you are looking for a new job?

In answering the first two questions, my guess is that you use Google for your search. When looking for a job, most people reply with one of the big three job boards – Indeed, CareerBuilder and Monster.

Well, today and for years to come, when looking for a job, Google wants you to Google it. “Just like when you ask for movie show times …when you look for jobs we … organize the information on the Web about jobs and show it to you directly,” says Google product manager Nick Zakrasek. And with their recent partnership with Madgex, searching for jobs just got easier.

What is a Madgex?

You may have never heard of Madgex before, but you have heard of their customers — organizations like The Guardian, The Washington Post, and The New England Journal of Medicine. In fact, Madgex may be the largest job board technology company in the world. They’re the force behind the job boards for over 500 brands.

But of course, Google is a search engine and not a job site, so why the partnership?

Google really wants to get in the jobs business. This year, Google launched “Google for Jobs.”  Google scours the web, pulling from a broad cross-section of job listings, including from Glassdoor, Facebook, LinkedIn, and ZipRecruiter. They are hoping to “increase the efficiency of job matching,” said Nick Zakrasek. All of this after announcing the Google Jobs Cloud API:

This move? Plain and simple, it’s all about the data.  Both Google and Madgex have been collecting the data. More specifically, Madgex has collected job seeker info from all of those job sites for over 15 years now. And these are huge numbers. Why would Google reinvent the wheel Madgex CEO Tom Ricca-McCarthy was quoted in 2015 saying, “Audiences may be changing, growing and shifting. The technology they use may be changing, growing and shifting. Job boards will therefore change, grow and shift. But they won’t be going away. We are excited about our future. We are busy; we have many, many ideas for our customers to change and grow over the next five years.”

WIIFM?

With this new search feature on Google, people in the U.S. will see at-a-glance details about the posting, such as the job title, location, whether it’s full-time, part-time or an internship, as well as the opportunity to access detailed information about each job. They can even see the how long it would take to commute to the job from their home with the power of Google Maps. One search will now bring up multiple jobs from multiple sources. It’s only when the person clicks the “Apply” button that they will go to the appropriate job board.

The bottom line is this: Job seekers will be able to look for jobs in a way they are accustomed to. If candidates can find jobs that they are better suited for, they will apply more. And if more candidates apply, we can get people to work faster. Yes, this is a good thing.

For all of those job board owners out there, there’s no need for FOMO. Madgex is also finalizing a guide for job board owners on how to take advantage of Google’s new job feature. You can register to receive this free guide at info.madgex.com/googleforjobs .

By Jackye Clayton

Jackye Clayton, with acclaimed expertise in diversity and inclusion, recruitment technology and a global network of non-profit, human resource and recruiting professionals, Jackye Clayton is a servant leader, uniquely inspirational speaker, and a revered thought leader. Jackye was named one of the 9 Powerful Women in Business You Should Know by SDHR Consulting, one of the 15 Women in HR Tech to Follow in 2019 by VidCruiter, 2019 Top 100 list of Human Resources Influencers by Human Resource Executive Magazine and one of the Top Recruitment Thought Leaders that you must follow in 2019 by interviewMocha Magazine. Currently, Jackye is the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Strategist at SeekOut. You can find her on Twitter @jackyeclayton and LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/jackyeclayton