This is as much a rant against the existing job search sites as it is an idea...I could hardly call it "novel" or "innovative," despite the apparent lack of implementation.
Let's face it--most job search sites use a very crude search algorithm, and look for *any* matching keyword from a list you provide.
Some of the more intelligent ones will go so far as asking whether *any* matching keyword will do, or whether you need *all* of the keywords to match.
Of course, what's still sorely lacking is the ability to exclude keywords, to help eliminate false positives--Because let's face it, even if the economy is recovering, jobs are still scarce. And the only thing more annoying than a search engine telling you no jobs are available, is a search engine telling you hundreds of jobs are available--and then you spend hours reading through poorly-formatted text only to discover that there are in fact none which match your qualifications and expectations.
<rant>
I'm a chemist. I know how to work with chemicals, and many instruments for analyzing them. I have a degree in chemistry.
Sounds like a simple thing to search for, right? No.
Search any site for "chemical"--and I get dozens of false positives for everything from janitorial work to selling swimming pool supplies.
You think maybe I should search for "Chemistry"? Bad choice--apparently the majority of HR people can't tell the difference between careerbuilder.com and match.com. I get literally thousands of hits for everything from "used car salesman" to "nurse", because it matches "We're looking for someone with the right chemistry."
I'm specialized in certain areas of the field--thermodynamics and kinetics. I'm competent in quite a few other areas (inorganic, organic, analytical, polymers, etc.) And then there are a few areas I have negligible experience in--I've never done any sort of DNA analysis, or purified and crystallized proteins, etc. It would be nice to filter out biotech jobs and look at the stuff I'm actually qualified to do. Unfortunately, searching for something specific like "physical chemistry" or "analytical chemistry" usually returns all the false positives that either keyword would provide, rolled together into an even more enormous list.
And last but not least, there are the "hidden keywords" that some sites (like careerbuilder) seem to use if I attempt matching a job to my skills. And apparently because my resume contains the words "Unix" and "Linux," some sites ignore the half-page or so of skills like "atomic absorption spectroscopy" and "gas chromatography" and only suggest jobs like "Java developer" and "Oracle developer."
The thing is, all of these problems could be solved by a search engine that allowed boolean searches like Google.
| Chemistry -"the right chemistry" -DNA -protein -pharmaceutical| [I feel lucky]
Simple, right? Why is no one doing this?
<end of rant>