Recruiters must keep up with the latest online jobseeking trends to avoid being left behind, according to the head of careers at Google.
Speaking at the Onrec.com Online Recruitment Conference in London on Tuesday, Google’s Luke Mckend said: "As recruiters, the onus is on us to keep up with the candidates, as they are one step ahead and have moved the needle to the point that we are struggling to keep up with them.”
In particular, McKend pointed to the latest trend in personal branding, in which jobseekers build their own websites to promote themselves in order to get a job. "We don’t just need Twitter to get media hype these days," he remarked. "Things have changed phenomenally. Candidates are communicating in fundamentally different ways and we must make sure we keep up with these trends."
Recent Google statistics show that 51% of recruitment searches include a location; however 34% don’t specify a location or a job type, which highlights that many jobseekers are still using very broad terms when searching for a job.
Every search on Google is an opportunity to engage potential candidates, added Mckend. "Only 3% of search terms have a company name associated with them, which presents the potential for organisations to go online and build their employer brands."
Mckend advised delegates to put themselves in the shoes of the jobseeker, engage users with relevant innovation, and measure the success of what they do to make sure the site is working as efficiently as possible, because every user is critical.
