Google Cloud Jobs API: 4 Things You Need to Know

Adrian Dixon

November 17, 2016

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You know AI for recruiting is hot when Google enters the game: Google just announced their entry into the arena with Google Cloud Jobs API, which is basically AI for job search.

Here are 4 things you need to know about the Google Cloud Jobs API.

1. What does the Google Cloud Jobs API do?

According to Google’s Data Science team, their Cloud Jobs API, “understands the nuances of job titles, descriptions, skills and preferences, and matches job seeker preferences with relevant job listings.”

It does this by figuring out the job title and skills a job seeker enters in his or her job search query.

The API uses machine learning (check out our blog on recruiting ai technology terms to learn more about machine learning) to understand and find the closest matches based on a job seeker’s preferences for:

  • job duties and qualifications
  • location
  • seniority

2. How does the Google Cloud Jobs API find better job matches?

The Cloud Jobs API can find better job matches using three techniques:

  1. Creating an occupation dictionary (ontology) consisting of 30 job categories (e.g., human resources), 1,100 occupation families (e.g., emergency registered nurses), and 250,000 specific occupations (e.g., software engineer).
  2. Creating a skills dictionary consisting of 50,000 hard and soft skills.
  3. Creating relational models that link each skill to every occupation family and specific occupation.

google cloud jobs api occupation ontology

3. Who are the intended users of the Google Cloud Jobs API?

The Google Cloud Jobs API is both candidate-facing and employer-facing.

Candidate-facing

Google wants to solve the problem of the lack of industry standards for defining a job and how it relates to specific skills in order to provide better recommendations for job opportunities (i.e., open job listings) to active candidates.

With its ability to find better job recommendations for candidates, the Google Cloud Jobs API promises to:

  • find relevant job postings that job seekers would miss otherwise because they contain specific jargon
  • save job seekers time
  • improve over time as it collects more data

Employer-facing

The Google Cloud Jobs API is currently in alpha and promises an easy integration for interested:

  • job boards
  • career sites
  • applicant tracking systems

Their initial partners so far are recruiting software companies CareerBuilder, Dice, and Jibe.

Recruiters and hiring managers stand to benefit from the Google Cloud Jobs API as its improved job recommendations should attract a higher number of more qualified applicants for open positions.

4. Who are the competitors of the Google Cloud Jobs API?

Industry experts such as Jessica Miller-Merrell of Workology believe the Cloud Jobs API is a potential competitor for job aggregators and recruitment social networks such as:

  • Indeed
  • LinkedIn
  • Glassdoor