Cheezhead

The winds of change are always blowing on the Web. But for companies in the online recruitment space, a storm is coming.

Ten years ago, the spotlight was bright on up-and-coming job sites. Since then, most have vanished while three major players arose from the ashes - Monster, HotJobs and CareerBuilder.

Their dominance will be short-lived. With the inevitable emergence of Google to the fray, major change is a foregone conclusion.

Job postings will become a commodity and promotion of openings for employers will be free. As a result, companies that rely on listings for their livelihood will be forced to reconsider their business models.

All roads will lead to the corporate career center. Opportunity lies in the companies who can integrate themselves into employer Web sites. Assessment, pre-screening, applicant tracking, employment branding specialists and the like will have their time in the sun.

Monster is already starting to bill itself as "More than job postings" in their new television advertising. Their re-focus on supporting the candidate instead of being a sweat shop for job listings might just pay off.

With its large network of affiliate sites, CareerBuilder is touting their ability to target passive job seekers like no one else. HotJobs is undoubtedly a hindrance to Yahoo! If Google launches a vertical search for jobs, Yahoo! will have to follow their lead. So will MSN, AskJeeves, and everyone else.

The unquestionable losers will be the local boards, the niche sites, and the newspapers.

It’ll be a big mess. It could get ugly.

But once the storm has subsided, job seekers will have a central place to search for jobs, employers will save money and be able to put focus where it should be - their own site - and some of today’s market leaders will adapt, survive and even thrive. Life will go on.

A storm is coming. Are you ready?