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We’ve picked some of our favourite sites in the recruitment industry for search UX design. See how these big players create job search, pick your favourite features, and create your perfect site. When comparing the searches we’ve used an engineering role across the board, so that they can be compared easily. Be sure to check out our blog on 10 site search solutions that will drive conversions too.
As a social network, Linkedin has a data advantage because information gathered from user’s profiles can be used to make an educated guess on the type of job they’ll be looking for next. It means employers can advertise and target jobs, whilst searchers shave time off their search due to data shortcuts. They’ve chosen to give users 2 ways of finding their perfect job: search and recommendations.
In their search box, Linkedin users begin by entering any content to guide the search, giving them flexibility to enter their desired job titles, keywords or company name.
Results can be organised by relevance as well as the date the job was listed, allowing users to display the most recent results at the top. Each result displays the title, company, location and date posted. It also allows the user to enter more information using the filters down the side and more using advanced search.
Linkedin’s business model means that advanced filters such as salary are only available for job seekers that pay for the service. Other filters give users the opportunity to browse through Linkedin’s categories, including pre-determined functions (e.g. manufacturing) industries (e.g. civil engineering) or skills (e.g. electrical engineering).
Linkedin recommendations use data from user’s profiles to guide any job suggestions given. It also gives users the option to change their recommendation preferences – just in case they fancy a career change. Preferences are filtered by location, company size and industry. The one hurdle here is that for engineering (e.g. a petrochemical engineer) the industry preference isn’t obvious.
Indeed
Indeed’s no-nonsense front page asks only two questions: what and where?
After receiving this information, the site delivers all relevant roles falling within a 25-mile radius of the location provided, covering a huge area as shown in our London example below.
All sponsored jobs appear at the top of the page, with other jobs below. Each result includes a review star rating, based on employee reviews made on the company. It also includes a short description of the role, which highlights the main points of the description. Each role can be saved to the user’s account, emailed to the user’s personal email or a friend as well as further options to see other jobs available in the area or company listed.
Monster
Monster gives users the option to select from two views. Their standard search is similar to Indeed and Linkedin by using a keyword search as well as asking for a location preference. The second option, semantic search, breaks down keywords by asking users to select a job title and skills.
The Monster team give the indecisive job seeker an opportunity to narrow their job search using browse tools. Once users have selected one of these options within the categories, a summary is provided to give the user more decision-making information. For the engineering category, it explains the type of work, job requirements and salaries. This information is not provided when in the search view.
The Monster team give the indecisive job seeker an opportunity to narrow their job search using browse tools. Once users have selected one of these options within the categories, a summary is provided to give the user more decision-making information. For the engineering category, it explains the type of work, job requirements and salaries. This information is not provided when in the search view.
Monster provides a much more condensed results page than the other two, listing the job title and company in a list. They also cut their location-based search zone to 20 miles radius as standard.
Jobsite
Jobsite expands on the standard ‘what’ and ‘where’ format used on recruitment sites. Their location search cuts time, allowing the customer to use their device’s (mobile or desktop) location to search around that area. It also gives searchers the option of narrowing or widening the search area from the get-go.
Jobsite provides even more information on the results page than their competitors, including the job title, a short job description, salary and benefits, location and date.
Jobsite provide an additional app that allows users to search for jobs by commute time rather than distance, giving users the opportunity to specify their preferred mode of transport. The results page then shows jobs by commute time on each role.
Reed
Reed has a few different features to the other sites. Firstly it allows the searcher to specify if the keyword entered must be present in the job title itself, or just within the description. It also combines the results page and search page within 1 interface. The results give searchers the ability to narrow their location area through a slider, shortlist results and see how many others have applied through the site.
To find out more about how we can advise on location-based search UX contact us or download our site search e-book below.