Barry Schwartz at Search Engine Land connected two interesting news items today when he pointed out that Microsoft had just bought CareerBuilder while Google was contemplating the purchase of SimplyHired.

Why so much interest in job search? Given that roughly half of our waking hours are spent working, finding the right job has a dramatic impact on our day-to-day experience. And we’re willing to pay to get it right: job search is a multi-billion dollar industry, with the 10 largest search firms in the U.S. passing $1 billion in revenue as far back as 2000.

Finding a dream job is akin to finding the perfect mate. We have to be able to clearly articulate what it is we really care about in our employment. We have to be able to understand what it is that we don’t like but are willing to ignore. And we have to understand our potential employer, so that we can know whether this is a match made in heaven or one destined to crash and burn.

Research abounds proving that companies perform better if they have a clearly articulated purpose and values, shared by all of the employees. In Built To Last, Collins and Porras found it to be the single most consistent identifying characteristic of visionary organizations. When everyone is working in alignment, the door is opened to extraordinary performance.

Job search engines, like Monster and CareerBuilder, focus on descriptions and keywords to help people find their employment. You look for work in your geographic region, in your area of expertise, or in your salary bracket. Overlay that with VortexDNA technology, though, and you could look for work in companies that share your core purpose and values. Don’t you think that would be important?

Companies seeking to hire describe the skills and attributes they need: IT architect, proactive problem solver, proficient with Microsoft Word. Imagine, though, if the companies had a simple and consistent way of finding out whether new hires share the organization’s deepest reason for existence. This sort of powerful connection could have a profound impact on the ultimate success of individuals and the company itself.

What do you think? Would you rather find a job, or a career where you could unleash your grandest vision of who you are? For me, I can’t distinguish who I am from the work that I do, but I know some people think a job is just a job. What is it for you?

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 9th, 2007 at 8:37 pm and is filed under Microsoft, Search, Google. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.