Searching For A
New CareerThe role of internet job
portals
Trends & Insights during
Covid-19 in Germany
Agenda
1. Industry Overview
2. Trends at Microsoft Advertising
3. Search Patterns
4. Impact of Covid-19
5. Summary and recommendations
Industry Overview
Less than one in five uses the internet to find a new
job in Germany
Source: Eurostat; Anteil der Personen, die das Internet zur Arbeitssuche oder zur Übermittlung einer Stellenbewerbung genutzt haben, in ausgewählten Ländern in Europa im Jahr 2019; January 2020
9
11
12
13
14
17
17
17
18
25
25
26
30
32
37
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
Poland
Austria
Belgium
Greece
Italy
Ireland
France
Germany
Spain
Netherlands
UK
Norway
Sweden
Finland
Denmark
Online Job Search & Application in Selected European Countries 2019 (in %)
Direct online job portals are the most popular source
for job searches
Source: Faktenkontor; Und auf welchen Seiten haben Sie sich über Stellenangebote informiert? July 2019
69
56
2926
20
10 10
25
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Online job
portals, e.g.
Jobscout,
Stepstone
Online portal of
Bundesagentur
für Arbeit
Online job offers
at daily
newspapers, e.g.
fazjob.net
Career portals
on companies
websites
Xing LinkedIn Facebook Others Can't remember
Usage of online information sources for job searches in Germany 2018(in %)
Job portals also feature as key destination for
executives who are recruiting
Source: Hays; Welche Rekrutierungskanäle nutzen Sie zur Gewinnung neuer Mitarbeiter? *Entscheider aus Unternehmen (65 % aus Deutschland, 16 % aus der Schweiz, 19 % aus Österreich). January 2020
29
30
35
47
53
63
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Print media
External services
Social Media platforms
Employees attract employees
Owned company channels
Internet job portals
Which Recruiting Channels Do Executives* Use; 2019(in %)
Trends at Microsoft
Advertising
Search clicks up year-on-year, but strong COVID-19
impact in April
The careers vertical saw a positive trend with clicks
increasing year over year with up to 20% - 30% growth
rates each month since January 2019.
COVID-19 however impacted growth in March and
especially April with a significant reduction in clicks.
Microsoft Advertising internal data; Careers vertical; January 2019 to April 2020
Steady growth interrupted by COVID-19 and lockdown
The decline in paid clicks corresponds directly with the
lockdown and store closures in Germany. However,
starting with the week of April 11 we saw moderate
signals of recovery.
Click decrease is caused by lower advertiser density as
campaigns were temporarily paused and clicks went to
organic links instead.
Microsoft Advertising internal data; Careers vertical; 2020
CPC below, CTR above last year’s values until March
As a result, mainline CPC saw a steep drop as the
country went into lockdown in mid-March and ad
density was temporarily lowered.
Mainline CTR was significantly above 2019 values in
the first two months of the year, but numbers declined
in March and even more in April caused by the
circumstances.
Microsoft Advertising internal data; Careers vertical; January 2019 to April 2020
More searches in 2020 peaking in January and March
Whilst, we saw an impact on paid clicks as shown
before, search volume has in fact increased year-on-
year.
January is typically a strong month for job searches, as
the new year for many, also means new interest in
career opportunities.
March volume was equally high as the lockdown may
have motivated many to explore open roles or the loss
of one role, triggers the search for another.
Microsoft Advertising internal data; Careers vertical; March 2019 to April 2020; Search volume indexed against March 2019 (=100%)
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
120%
140%
160%
Search Volume Index
Indexed Volume
Search Patterns
Example of a user path
Microsoft Advertising internal data; Feb – Mar 2020
This is a typical search path including
geography, specific companies and
multiple job portals.
Conversion path summaryUsers convert more than once, searches are mostly generic
Data based on 115,000 conversion paths across 12 job portalsMicrosoft Advertising internal data; Feb – Mar 2020
16 10.4 7.2 1.5
16% 18% / 82%84% 15% / 85%
Path details – Days until conversion
Microsoft Advertising internal data; Feb – Mar 2020
42% of searchers completed their search path within one
day, but 1/3 needed three weeks or longer.
Typical generic elements of search paths are job function,
location and company names.
Path details – Searches until Conversion
Microsoft Advertising internal data; Feb – Mar 2020
21% of searchers performed just one search and converted
right away.
37% needed 2 to 5 searches, and another 30% modified
their search between 6 and 20 times.
Looking at the path's length, both by days and searches, this
is a strong argument for remarketing campaigns.
10% 10%15% 18%
90% 90%85% 82%
0%
25%
50%
75%
100%
First Middle Last One-Click
Branded vs. Generic Searches
Brand Generic
Path details – Brand vs generic searches
Microsoft Advertising internal data; Feb – Mar 2020
The brand name of career portal is not a
dominant factor for users.
Of the 115,000 analyzed search paths, only 10%
contained a brand name in the first search, this
number grows to 15% in the last (typically
converting) search. One click conversions have a
slightly higher brand awareness at 18%.
Of all paths with more than one search 76%
were generic only, 2% brand only and 22%
contained both brand and generic terms.
76%
2%
22%
Path Details
Generic Only
Brand Only
Hybrid
Path Details – Brand Searches by Portal
Microsoft Advertising internal data; Feb – Mar 2020
Users are not tied to one job portal. Throughout
the search paths we see movement between all job
portals as job searchers explore different options.
Portal A seems to be the starting point for more
than 2/3 of searchers, but as the path develops,
they include more and more other portals in their
queries. As seen, users often convert on more than
one portal.
For one-click conversions the distribution is more
even, based on users’ initial brand preference.
68%61%
37% 35%
6%
8%
13% 13%
8%12%
28%26%
18% 19%23% 26%
0%
25%
50%
75%
100%
First Middle Last One-Click
Brand Distribution Across Major Portals
Portal A Portal B Portal C Portal D
Impact of COVID-19
Unemployment is rising dramatically
Source: Bundesagentur für Arbeit; April 2020
In April, the unemployment rate in Germany rose to 5.8%, the highest in a long time.
2.56 million people are now without work. Excluding seasonality the Bundesagentur für Arbeit calls this the biggest ever measured increase.
Also, in March the number of new open positions was down by more than half.
4.9 4.9 4.9 5 5.14.9 4.8 4.8 4.9
5.3 5.35.1
5.8
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Apr 19 Mai 19 Jun '19 Jul 19 Aug 19 Sep 19 Okt 19 Nov 19 Dez 19 Jan 20 Feb 20 Mär 20 Apr 20
Actual Unemployment Rate in Germany through April 2020 (in %)
Searches for job portals increase significantly
Microsoft Advertising internal data; Search volume growth for selected terms; Mar 17 – Apr 30 vs Feb 1 – Mar 16, 2020
As a result of unemployment or reduced work hours interest in job portals has grown significantly (+62%) since lockdown.
Searches for ‚Agentur für Arbeit‘ [employment agencies] has also increased by 50%.
The current situation of the unemployed is apparent in the number of searches for ‘Minijobs’ (including 450 Euro jobs). This number has increased by 90%.
Summary
Summary & Recommendations