The world’s # 1 online job search destination just became even more important!
On Sept. 14, in response to requests from job seekers (and probably employers), Indeed.com announced the launch of Indeed Resume, a new function that will help both job seekers and employers, and could be the next must-do for job seekers.
As of September 14, Indeed now provides:
- Resume posting for job seekers (free, of course) with many different resume formats accepted, including PDF.
- And, free resume searching for employers, although a cost to employers will probably be coming.
- A personal URL for the job seeker (customizable by the job seeker) to use for their Indeed Resume.
I’m happy to say that Indeed is a Job-Hunt Sponsor, but I see this as an important new development benefiting both job seekers and employers regardless of that relationship.
How Indeed Resume Works
1. You, the job seeker, post your resume (one version, for now at least) on Indeed Resume.
2. You choose the level of privacy you want. So, if you are employed, you can (should!) keep your resume Private!
3. If you make your resume searchable, employers can search for your resume for free (vs. the hundreds or thousands of dollars job boards typically charge).
4. When an employer finds your resume and wants to contact you, the contact goes through Indeed. So, your contact information will be supressed in the resume search, which means you shouldn’t get any bogus offers or sales pitches as a result of posting your resume.
5. If you are interested in the job and the employer, you can respond.
Benefits for Job Seekers and Employers
This is good for everyone for several reasons.
If you are a job seeker -
- You now have a snazzy place to post your resume, complete with your personal resume URL which you can use many ways: “networking” (business) card, email signature, Google Profile, LinkedIn Profile, and QR code.
- If you are a job seeker, your resume is searchable by MANY more employers than usual because employers don’t need to pay a fee to search through Indeed Resume.
- Employers seeking to search through Indeed Resume are carefully screened to ensure that they really are employers.
- Employers can’t see your personal contact information, until you approve, so your privacy is protected.
If you are an employer -
- You don’t pay for access to resumes that may not contain the job candidates you need. And Indeed Resume, which started “beta” in March, 2011, already has over 1,000,000 resumes and is growing at more than 10,000 resumes a day!
- The search function is very, very nice – lots of Indeed filters and advanced search options.
- You won’t be competing with non-employers who muddy the communications between job board, employer, and job seeker.
- At least for now, reaching out to a job candidate who you’ve found will be at no cost. That will probably change in the future.
Most of the time, when I see “Free resume posting” and/or “Free resume searching” – I look for the “gotcha” that causes either job seekers or employers pain. I don’t know any legitimate site, except maybe a private association, that charges job seekers to post their resumes. And, I usually see “free resume searching for employers” as a threat to job seeker privacy. But, this one is different!
Click on that “Post Your Resume” button, and upload your resume (even a PDF!). Then, IF you are currently employed, be sure to make your resume Private! Indeed has included the safeguards for you to use to protect your privacy.
Here’s the Indeed blog post about Indeed Resume.
Bottom Line
Given that this is Indeed, this looks like a win/win, at least for job seekers and employers. Maybe not such good news for Indeed’s competition…
© Copyright, 2011, Susan P. Joyce. All rights reserved.
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About the author…
Online job search expert Susan P. Joyce has been observing the online job search world and teaching online job search skills since 1995. Susan is a two-time layoff “graduate” who has worked in human resources at Harvard University and in a compensation consulting firm. In 1998, her company, NETability, Inc. purchased Job-Hunt.org, and Susan has been editor and publisher of Job-Hunt since then. Follow Susan on Twitter at @jobhuntorg.
Thanks for the post, Susan.
When I first started reading, I thought it would be an invasion of job seeker privacy to have unscreened ‘employers’ reach out to candidates. I know that, many times, I have the victim of ‘employer’ spam from sites such as CareerBuilder and Craigslist, where unscrupulous individuals have sent me fake job offers.
When doing a quick search for ‘Executive Assistants’, I saw that all of the resumes looked exactly the same, possibly making it harder for employers to distinguish the good candidates from those that weren’t so good. Speaking as a resume writer, I saw a potential opportunity to assist job seekers with these by including them in my resume writing services. There seems to be quite a bit that could be done to help candidates stand out, despite the vanilla format.
Shanen
I also really like this Facebook application called BranchOut. BranchOut is the largest professional networking service on Facebook. BranchOut users leverage their Facebook friend network to find jobs, source sales leads, recruit talent, and foster relationships with professional contacts. BranchOut also operates the largest job board on Facebook with over 3 million jobs and 20,000 internships. BranchOut was founded by serial entrepreneur Rick Marini in July 2010.
BranchOut is a free application for anyone interested in professional success. All BranchOut users create a professional profile that includes their work history and education. Personal information, like photo albums and status updates, are not included in BranchOut profiles. BranchOut also offers endorsements and career badges, which friends and colleagues give to one another as a way to acknowledge skills and accomplishments.
At the core of the BranchOut user experience is the ability to find connections through one’s extended friend network. For example, when you search for a company on BranchOut, you gain visibility to a list of friends and friends-of-friends who work at that company. These inside connections can be used to increase access to new jobs, sales leads, and recruiting talent. On BranchOut job seekers search for employment opportunities and are found by recruiters.