Finally getting off the couch and putting on a tie, Yahoo! has gone out in search of work. Yahoo’s HotJobs recently added a new feature that indexes and retrieves job listings from across the internet. This could be great news for those frustrated with finding employment, and equally great news for corporate sites with job postings. Search engine optimization may become useful for more than standard marketing. So, let’s see how this service works.
Yahoo! used to only display HotJobs (hotjobs.yahoo.com) sponsored listings in their job searches. Job posters pay between $39 and $275 to put their openings on the site, depending on the job type and location. Only a few months ago, Yahoo! adjusted HotJobs’ search features to be more convenient. Originally, all the search controls were on one page; to change the search criteria, users had to perform a whole new search. Now the search engine is also indexing jobs all over the internet, which can be good news to a properly optimizing corporate site.
The new search simplifies how users change search criteria, allowing users to change certain properties without starting all over. A bar down the left side of the page has a number of links and information. The top links are really cool. They list all the search criteria you have used and let you undo any of them. Underneath, links let you choose to see postings from today, 7, 60, or 90 days ago, or ones from anytime. Below that, Yahoo! does a good job of listing your state followed by the major cities with job postings; next to the city is the number of jobs within it that matches your current criteria. Under that, you can control the jobs displayed based on category, type of hiring agency, experience required, and company.
Yahoo! Search Refinement
The top bar also allows a whole new search to be started quickly. There likely isn’t a better interface format; this one requires one clicks and little work to change most things. The interface makes job hunting much faster than many others.
Still, the site was limited to the database of employers that paid to appear. Other sites like Monster.com have more job hunting resources. So what could help fill Yahoo!’s job index and get people to use HotJobs?
Search Engine News 
