Reflecting on One Year at Indeed

Today, marks one year for me at Indeed.

Frequent readers of SWT will know throughout the year that I like to pause, think and reflect, and anniversaries offer the ideal opportunity to do just that.

So, what has happened over the past year?

If truth be told, it feels like only yesterday that I was making my way to Indeed’s Silicon Docks HQ to start my new role, but I’m pleased to report that during the past 12 months there’s been some incredible achievements. Among the many highlights, I’ve witnessed first-hand the considerable growth of the Indeed team, I’ve also had the pleasure of working on many exciting initiatives, as well as enjoying the numerous website traffic milestones we’ve surpassed.

I’ve also got a lot to be thankful for. I have a great boss and every day I have the opportunity to work alongside a world-class team in a fantastic working environment. The mission, company culture, products and pride people take in their work, makes Indeed a great place to be.

Undoubtedly, its been a busy year and to help celebrate my Indeed-aversary, I’ve jotted down five lessons I’ve learnt during this period:

1. Job search is now mobile
Like a multitude of everyday activities, smartphones have changed how we look for and apply to jobs. Mobile accounts for half of all job searches on Indeed and this number will only increase as people become accustomed to searching for jobs at a time and location that suits them. The smartest companies recognise job search is mobile and have made the right technology investments, but with only 10% of Fortune 500 businesses currently offering a mobile-friendly apply process, there’s more work to be done.

2. Integrated marketing is evergreen
Earlier this year Indeed launched its first ever brand campaign — the centrepiece being an exceptional TV advertisement featuring job seekers that were found using Indeed. In a world that is seemingly becoming more and more focussed towards online, it was a timely reminder about the importance of launching marketing campaigns that are fully integrated across platforms — and the massive impact this approach can have, when executed flawlessly on communicating a brand promise.

3. Exciting potential of predictive analytics
While the term ‘big data’ is often bandied around, I was pleased to read Chris Hyams, SVP of Product & International add some clarity to the discourse when he penned an article for the WSJ which said, “When we talk about big data, what we really mean is making sense of mountains of information to help solve problems.”

Chris them expanded on this theme in a recent interview with the Telegraph where he discussed predictive analytics and, how in the future, predictive analytics will enable jobs to find candidates, rather than the current vice versa. For me, predictive analytics is where big data will truly come of age — and this is hugely exciting, and potentially transformational for the recruiting industry.

4. Huge value of organising information
I was going to focus on search engines in this point, but in fact the argument I’m trying to make is much broader. While the last century was characterised by companies that created their own proprietary data and information, the coming century will be dominated by companies that take information and organise it in a customer-centric way or enable their users to publish information which is then hosted or curated.

Search engines like Google and Indeed perform this function, but many other category changing businesses, which are not search engines, like Airbnb, eBay, Just Eat, Uber and Tinder organise, rather than create information. There’s huge value in facilitating the easy flow of information and many smart entrepreneurs recognise the opportunity for disruption in many industries.

5. Simplicity is key
In an age of growing complexity, never underestimate the value of simplicity. Indeed’s search engine let’s job seekers enter the role they’re looking for and location they seek to work in, before returning all the relevant jobs. In my mind, there’s something almost beautiful about design that is so intuitive and easy to use. While the algorithm that matches jobs to the person’s search is complex, I’m reminded each day that simplicity and success follow each other. This relentless approach to simplicity and focussing on doing a few things incredibly well is the hallmark of many leading companies and a lesson to us all.

All in all, its been an amazing year and I’ve learnt a lot along the way — there’s much to be excited about. Here’s to looking forward to another great 12 months at Indeed and many more besides.