The granddaddy of all job sites doesn’t look much different on the surface these days, except for a slightly tweaked new logo. But behind the scenes, Monster.com has been remaking itself for the past year-and-a-half. For job seekers, that means access to a lot more openings. An expanded network of databases has boosted the number of available U.S. job listings from about 250,000 six months ago to over 1.5 million now.
Not job hunting at the moment? Don’t be surprised if you hear from prospective employers anyway. Companies can still post job ads on the site, just like before. But now, they can also use a service called TalentBin by Monster (MWW) to sift through about 115 million online profiles, gathered from more than a dozen social media sites across the Internet. They can then contact those “passive” candidates directly through a messaging center on Monster’s platform.
The site’s vastly expanded reach is a bid to regain the No. 1 spot in the online job advertising business, which Monster lost to Indeed.com in 2010. “We’re capitalizing on dramatic changes in how recruiting gets done,” notes Mark Stoever, Monster’s executive vice president for strategy. “It’s evolved over 20 years. We want to be Monster again.”
To that end, the site acquired two smaller companies earlier this year. One of them, San Francisco-based TalentBin, makes current data on candidates available to employers from social media sites like Quora, Meetup, and GitHub. The other, Boston tech firm Gozaik, aggregates job ads and distributes them over a wide range of social media, particularly Twitter.
“The trouble with most profiles on LinkedIn, and most resumes posted on Monster, is that people don’t keep them up to date,” Stoever says. Constantly monitoring social media, particularly tech sites like GitHub “where people list their latest skills and credentials in order to join a community,” solves that problem, he says.
For employers, Monster’s makeover is aimed at “untangling the mess,” says Matthew Mund, head of product development. “Finding the right candidates online has gotten very fragmented. Companies need vice presidents, volume hires, highly skilled people, lower-skilled workers—there hasn’t really been a one-size-fits-all solution.”
Monster wants to be a one-stop shop for any talent an employer might need, even if the talent isn’t looking for a job. “How do you let potential employers know you might be interested in working for them, without putting yourself out there and launching a search?” asks Stoever. Not to worry, he says. “We’ll do it for you.”
