Good medicine: the top 5 JobBoardDoctor posts of 2018

It seems that 2018 was the year that – once again – job boards failed to die. However…they certainly did evolve. And although there was a lot of startup activity as well as developments with established niche sites, it was the top of the industry food chain that garnered most of the press. Yes, I’m talking about Google, Indeed, Facebook, and LinkedIn. So when I decided to take a look at the top 5 JobBoardDoctor posts of the past year, guess which one ended up on top? Well, in fact, you don’t have to guess – just read on:

#5: Google sticks its foot in the recruitment marketing industry: This one actually first appeared in 2017 – but apparently you liked it enough to push it into the top 5. In this post, I speculate (since it was written in 2017, right?) about how our industry might react to Google’s entry. My thoughts about Indeed? Well…they should be worried. Hmm – they aren’t acting like they’re worried yet.

#4:Recruit goes nuts, money is raised, and more: news of the recruitment marketing industry: I suspect that this news roundup was popular specifically because of news that Recruit was acquiring Glassdoor. Having both Indeed and Glassdoor under the same ownership seemed – to me at least – as a kind of response to the competition coming from Google. Also, note that much of the news in this post is coming from outside North America – a trend that continued throughout the year. This is truly a global industry.

#3: Rhinos, Pandos, and Randrrs: news of the recruitment marketing industry: I’m not sure why companies with well-established brand names decide to move to not-well-established brand names – but it’s happened more than once in 2018. However, the big news in this post was Indeed’s decision to charge a subscription for resume access. What looks like a job board and acts like a job board must actually be a job board, eh?

#2: The results of the 2018-19 Recruiting Site Trends survey are here!: The post title really says it all. This year you and almost 200 of your colleagues around the globe participated – and the results were, as always, interesting. Almost 2/3 of respondents saw their revenue go up during the preceding 12 months, and job alerts continued to be the top traffic-driver for job sites. Haven’t looked at the results? You should!

#1: The big showdown: Indeed and Google: Well, no surprise – the most read post focused on Indeed’s non-cooperation with Google Jobs. Why would they Indeed such a huge traffic source? I posit three answers: they think they’re big enough to survive without Google; they’re scared; or they’re incompetent. I’m sure you have your own opinion. Maybe the answer will be clearer by the end of 2019?

Are you wondering what’s coming this year? Good – so am I!

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