Google for Jobs is a job aggregator. The functionality of searching, filtering and applying is less advanced than on job boards. Jobs generally become available in GfJ by a robot of Google which examines websites. This process is called spidering. Whenever the robot sees the specific codes that GfJ needs, a job is recognized and imported into GfJ.
GfJ became available in the Netherlands from August 2020. Originally only jobs near your location triggered inline job results on a Google results page. Now in 2023 you can search for jobs anywhere, even in other countries. The big advantage for an applicant for using GfJ is that, compared to other job aggregators/boards, the results can not be bought. Many job boards will put the jobs of paying employers and recruitment agencies higher in the results. If this pushing would be done wisely and without greed it would be a win/win. But the reality is that the applicant often drowns in less suited jobs.
When GfJ was introduced in the US in 2017 one of the promises was the deduplication of jobs. The same job, for one applicant, can result in countless vacancies. Recruitment agencies e.g. try to hide the origin of the job. So each recruitment agency will add one or more copy. Job boards then pay to have their jobs higher in other job boards. Aggregrators do the same. In the end everybody copies jobs to everybody. What Google tried to do with the deduplication was commendable. In 2023 they aren’t there yet. Copies still exist among the search results. But Google has come a long way.
From the view of the applicant, I wish GfJ would offer more filter options. Currently in the Netherlands these are available:
- Distance
- Job posting age
- Language of job posting
- Job type (fulltime, parttime, internship and contracting work)
- Employer / recruitment agency name
What would make Google for Jobs for me a job board killer is when the following would change:
- Filter for branche and/or sector
- More complete database of jobs
- An option to publish your job directly to GfJ
The search results of GfJ in the US show promise. Here in the Netherlands the text of a job within GfJ can be formatted so badly that it is hard to read. A job shown in GfJ US is often formatted uniformly with benefits e.g. on one side and requirements on the other. When you look at the text of the original vacancy, the benefits and requirements can be all over the page. GfJ succeeds in picking the relevant pieces of texts and re-arranges them into something highly readable.
