Yahoo! Looks for a New Job - Simply Hired, the Model of Job Search

Simply Hired (simplyhired.com) seems to be by far the best looking and most functional job search so far. It uses “keywords” and “location” instead of “what” and “where,” but it does not look like a Google knockoff. And like the previous two, it lets you track job searches by an RSS feed. It doesn’t have any Google ads (or any ads for that matter) like the others.

Its indexes look very balanced. WorkZoo shows results from only a few sources, and although Indeed indexes tons of sites, its top results were from many of the same sites (probably because there is such a large quantity of jobs on Monster and a few other sites). But the top results on Simply Hired are diverse listings from corporate sites and job boards everywhere.

Simply Hired has 1100 unique sources, so it and Indeed are pretty much a match. The same software engineer search from earlier returned 2200 jobs in this case. It has slightly more sources, though slightly fewer results for this one particular search. Battling closely, true test between Indeed and Simply Hired (and eventually Yahoo!) will be their ability to drill through job listings and present them in a helpful and meaningful way. 

Simply Hired Result

Personally, I think this job result is a lot more informative and easier to look at than any of the earlier ones. The other sites were too Google and too minimalist. This one includes more description, something you can't do without when job hunting. Indeed and others skimped on this. The description also highlights keywords. You can see it found the listing on two sites, both linked clearly toward the bottom.

The buttons on the bottom are simple but nice. “Who do I know” appears to be a service to see how related you are to the company. “Job-a-friend” emails the posting to yourself or a buddy, and “apply now” obviously skips all the formalities and throws you onto an application form when available.

The greatest thing about the site is off to the right, the rate it area. Rating a job posting doesn’t rank it for other people, it saves the job posting for yourself. You keep your own database of jobs on this site, rather than having to bookmark every job posting you like, as you have to do on the other sites. Once saved, the site lets you add comments next to the job posting. This makes the website a true job portal, and it lets you track your applications and follow up on them very easily.

 
Simply Hired Search Refinement

The navigation is also similar to the improved Yahoo! in that it has many options on a sidebar to refine your search without beginning a new one. Just like Yahoo!, it shows how many jobs are in each category as well. I highly recommend Simply Hired for job hunters. And the site says it’s not even out of its beta stage yet.

As you’ve seen, these tools can be extraordinarily helpful for both those looking for new employment and those seeking new employees. With the trend being picked up by Yahoo!, it's likely that it will only explode after HotJobs is more refined.

This will be great. Job hunters can use one web portal to job search everything available on the internet, rather than bouncing between many different and moderately helpful sites.

It’s also in the best interest of any actively hiring company to post their job openings in an easily spidered format on their corporate site. Posting in directories doesn’t hurt either. Any SEO would be well informed to keep this in mind when speaking of the advantages of optimization to clients. Proper optimization may become as effective in recruiting as paying for a Monster ad. Or you may even find new clients through these services.