The UK site is the first to go live with the search technology, called Power CV Search, outside of the US and its introduction follows Monster’s acquisition of search specialist Trovix in 2008. Nick Field, head of B2B marketing, told Recruiter that it will be a premium paid-for product and described it as one of the biggest developments in recent years for Monster and online recruitment.

“There’s been arguments about whether a generalist or niche board is better. This negates that argument because niche exists within Monster just by the match capability,” he said. “It’s not just about going to clients and saying we’ve got the biggest database or number of visitors any more because it comes down to matching to the right candidate.”

Semantic searching is far more intelligent than traditional keyword searching because it can contextually interpret the meaning behind the words in a CV. “It’s more like a human reading a CV,” explains Field. “For instance, it can interpret the difference between ’recent’ experience in a particular area as opposed to just ’previous’ experience which may have been 10 years ago.”

The algorithms behind the technology can also rank and score candidates and allows a recruiter to choose five people for side-by-side comparison. Monster will also be using 6Sense in tandem with the behavioural targeting functionality built into its site to place client vacancies in front of those candidates who match their requirements.

As far as the candidate is concerned, all those registered with Monster will eventually benefit from the technology by receiving better matched jobs when they search. A beta version of Power CV Search is available on the site now but there is no date for its official launch.
Semantic searching is not new in recruitment but its introduction by such a major player is significant. Keith Robinson, co-founder of comparison and directory sites JobSiteAdvisor.com, said if it worked well it would “raise the bar” for the industry as a whole.

“For jobseekers and recruiters, the key issue is getting either a relevant job or a relevant candidate. Corporate recruiters also have much to gain from precise matching, given they are not normally in the volume game.”

Giles Guest, director of Enhance Media, which works as a strategic consultant to more than 60 job boards, said the move is likely to be followed by other job boards who are looking to change their model from a lower-value “database of jobs” to a higher-value solution provider.

“The move shows the current shift in the job board market away from job listing to more added-value services,” he said. “This another step in the blurring of the line between job boards, response handling ad agencies and recruitment consultancies.”
www.monster.co.uk