Monster.com melds SaaS, big data for job searches

Monster.com is getting into the cloud computing mix with a newsemantic search and analytics platform service called SeeMore, which it launched on Thursday morning. Merging two hot capabilities cloud-based delivery and analytics makes a lot of sense for Monster, which no doubt supplies many companies with a lot of data in the form of resumes. Giving them a relatively pain-free way to make the most of that information only makes Monster that much more valuable.

Although its a very niche solution, SeeMore addresses a very typical big data problem: finding the needle in the haystack of unstructured data. Resumes and other job-application materials arent easily broken down into information that would fit nicely into a relational database, so searching through them to find relevant information requires lots of man-hours or specialized tools. Something like Hadoop might be overkill, but SeeMore seems to fit the bill.

Especially now, with unemployment rates higher than any time in recent history, employers are seeing lots of applicants for every job they post, on top of the unsolicited resumes they no doubt receive. With so many choices, its very likely the ideal candidate has sent in a resume, but its also that much easier to miss that resume.

But SeeMore actually takes it a step further by centralizing all of a companys resumes in the cloud, meaning companies might be able to fill an opening with the ideal candidate, even if that person only applied for a different job and via an entirely different channel. Semantic search is key to the process because employers can search based on broad skill sets instead of just keywords, and the system ap! plies co ntext to the information included on the resumes in order to pull the right ones.

A quote included in the press release sums up Monsters new service nicely:

With the introduction of SeeMore, we are transforming recruitment and talent management by taking our state-of-the-art 6Sense semantic search and applying it to resumes beyond Monster, said Sal Iannuzzi, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, Monster Worldwide. Employers can now assess their companys talent databases in one central location so everyone can be found easily, regardless of their point of origin. This, paired with the benefits of semantic search and analytics, enables companies to be more precise about their talent matching needs, reduce the time and cost of acquiring and managing talent, and improve the quality of hires.

However, while SeeMore is great for Monster and its customers, it signals what should be a broader trend toward merging big data and cloud computing. The cloud makes it easier than ever for companies to consume niche services, and easier for providers with those niche skills to deliver that service. Data just happens to be a great focal point for a service now that everyone has mountains of it and theyre starting to realize its actually valuable. Helping companies make the most of their data in a particular area, or even giving them access to your data in that field, is becoming a great way to drum up new business.

Image courtesy of Flickr user Brooks Elliott.

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