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Totaljobs is one of the UK’s leading job boards, attracting 20 million
visits and over 4.3 million applications from qualified job seekers every month. Over 300,000 job seekers visit the
platform every day, with more than 270,000 jobs to choose from at any given time.
Totaljobs launched TravelTime
Search on its website and transformed its job search functionality. By integrating TravelTime into its search ranking algorithm, Totaljobs is
enabling its users to search for job openings by commute time instead of distance.
The challenge
Most job sites only give users the option to search by distance. However, the problem with this is that a job
seeker’s access to a workplace is often subject to the transport options available to them.
For example, 15
miles (24km) taken as a straight-line distance could translate to a simple 20-minute drive down the motorway. Or it
could mean a 50-minute commute, involving 3 trains, 2 buses and a short cycle.
Candidates are also less likely to consider jobs that fall outside their distance limit. For instance, their potential job may be on the other side of London, which seems far away — but they may not know there’s a direct train that could get them there in 14 minutes.
Searching for job opportunities by distance also means that candidates are often forced to use another routing site
to work out their potential commute, one vacancy at a time.
In short: distance alone isn’t a useful
reflection of a location’s accessibility.
Thus, with both location and commute time revealed as
being key factors for its users, Totaljobs needed a quick and easy way to allow its website visitors to search for
opportunities by time in addition to other important criteria.
The solution
Displaying job search results by commute time, not distance
Adding TravelTime Search to Totaljobs’ website search functionality meant that, for the first time, Totaljobs’ users could search for job opportunities by commute time.
TravelTime uses a lot of data, including transport timetables, to enable Totaljobs’ users to search for job openings
within a maximum commute time.
This means that, for example, job seekers can now search for “sales jobs within
45 minutes of my home postcode” and the Totaljobs website will return suitable vacancies that they can reach within 45
minutes of the chosen location.
Moreover, by using travel time and transport data, Totaljobs’ search results
show the actual commute time for each job.
How it works
After selecting a job opening, the candidate can use Totaljobs' commute time filter to select their maximum commute time and transport preferences.
This means that everything they need to make an informed decision about the vacancy is provided on-screen — they
do not need to leave the Totaljobs site while job hunting. When the right opportunity appears, they can simply click
and apply.
Crucially, TravelTime sorts tens of thousands of vacancies for Totaljobs and returns results within milliseconds — as fast as a blink of an eye. And this means Totaljobs can replace distance with time to better serve job seekers.
The results
1. A 10% increase in conversions
Since using TravelTime, Totaljobs has seen impressive results.
“TravelTime has enriched our user experience and increased conversions by 10%," says Chief Product Officer, Christophe De Rassenfosse.
Integrating TravelTime into its site search resulted in an immediate and consistent 10% upsurge in the number of job applications per visit.
2. A better user experience
Integrating the TravelTime API required only minimal changes to Totaljobs’ search interface – it simply swaps
distance for time.
TravelTime also improves the job search functionality for users, giving them more meaningful information and less
reason to navigate away from the Totaljobs. This delivers a simpler search for the job seeker and more conversions for
Totaljobs. It’s that simple.