System and method for providing job recommendations

• US 8,914,383 B1
• Filed: 04/06/2004
• Issued: 12/16/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 04/06/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Monster Worldwide Incorporated (Randstad NV)
• Original Assignee: Monster Worldwide Incorporated (Randstad NV)
• Inventors: Weinstein, David Meier, Drapeau, Thomas Dacre, Belmarch, Ron
• Primary Examiner(s): LIN, SHEW FEN
• Application Number:
  US10/819,768
• Time in Patent Office: 3,906 Days
• Field of Search: 707/104.1, 707/3, 707/6, 707/10, 707/100, 707/737, 707/749, 707/804, 707/805, 705/7.42
• US Class Current: 707/749
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/958 Organisation or management of web site content, e.g. publishing, maintaining pages or automatic linking
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/063112 Skill-based matching of a person or a group to a task
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/1053 Employment or hiring

Abstract

A system and method for providing job recommendations based on user behavior or characteristics are disclosed herein. The job recommendations are configured in accordance with a data set based on relational analysis of previous users'"'"' activity, or matches between job postings and the user'"'"'s resume or user profile information. The presentation of job recommendations is triggered, configured, and provided transparently to the user.

Claims

1. A job recommending method comprising:

receiving, by a computing device and from a user computer, user information provided by an individual user, wherein the user information includes an indication of interest in a first job posting provided at a job seeking webpage;

retrieving information of a second job posting, by the computing device and from a database of affinity information,

the second job posting associated with a prescribed measure of potential user interest based on a calculated affinity score between the first job posting and the second job posting, wherein the prescribed measure of potential user interest based on a calculated affinity score between the first job posting and the second job posting is calculated based on a number of users having expressed an indication of interest in both the first and second job postings by saving or applying for the first and second job postings and a number of users having expressed an indication of interest in the first job posting, and further wherein said calculated affinity score is calculated based on the user resume information;

determining the prescribed measure of potential user interest based on said calculated affinity score between the first job posting and the second job posting satisfies a job affinity threshold;

communicating, by the computing device and to the user computer, the second job posting as a supplemental job recommendation to the first job posting for displaying in a recommendation portion of the job seeking webpage when the prescribed measure of potential user interest based on said calculated affinity score between the first job posting and the second job posting satisfies the job affinity threshold,

wherein the second job posting as the supplemental job recommendation is not a result of any direct employer-user match or requested by the individual user; and

communicating, by the computing device, alternative content related to the first job posting in the recommendation portion of the job seeking webpage, when there is no job posting satisfying the job affinity threshold as a supplemental job recommendation to the first job posting.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the user information includes user personal information.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the user information includes user job search criteria information.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

requesting, by the computing device and from the database of affinity information, a third job posting having another prescribed measure of potential user interest based on a calculated affinity score between the first job posting and the second job posting by another plurality of users in association with the first job posting; and

communicating, by the computing device and to the user computer, the third job posting as another job recommendation, wherein the third job posting is not requested by the individual user.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the another prescribed measure of interest can be same or different from the prescribed measure of interest.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein the another plurality of users can be same or different from the plurality of users.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving from the user computer, user information provided by the individual user includes performing a search for job postings matching the user information, the search hidden from the individual user and the search yielding at least the first job posting.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the alternative content is at least one selected from the following group:

links to related websites, tools for using the job seeking webpage, and advertisements.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

adding the second job posting to a ranked bank of possible job recommendations as a first job recommendation;

adding a third job posting to a ranked bank of possible job recommendations as a second job recommendation based on possible job recommendation criteria;

applying a job recommendation rank to each of the first and second job recommendations;

selecting a job recommendation for the user from the ranked bank of possible job recommendations based on the applied job recommendation ranks.

10. A job recommending system comprising:

a database including an affinity score indicative of potential interest in a second job for a plurality of users, the plurality of users having expressed interest in a first job;

a first processor in communication with the database and configured to provide a job seeking site including a recommendation portion of the job seeking site, wherein the first processor executes instructions to;

receive user information from an individual user, the user information including an indication of interest in the first job,

determining the affinity score indicative of potential interest in the second job for the plurality of users satisfies a job affinity threshold, and one of;

communicate to the individual user the second job as a supplemental job recommendation to the first job in the recommendation portion, in response to the affinity score satisfies the job affinity threshold,

the second job as the supplemental job recommendation not being a result of any direct employer-user match or requested by the individual user,

wherein the affinity score is a function of (a) a number of users having expressed an indication of interest in both the first and second jobs and a number of users having expressed an indication of interest in the first job, and (b) the user resume information; and

communicate to the individual user alternative content in the recommendation portion in response the affinity score does not satisfy the job affinity threshold; and

a second processor in communication with the database and configured to execute an affinity generation procedure,

wherein inputs to the affinity generation procedure for calculating the affinity score include jobs saved or jobs applied to by the plurality of users accessing the job seeking site for a prescribed period of time, and the jobs saved or jobs applied to by the plurality of users affect the second job provided to the individual user.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the user information includes user job search criteria information.

12. The system of claim 10, wherein the affinity score can comprise an affinity score of the first job relative to the second job or an affinity score of the second job relative to the first job.

13. The system of claim 10, wherein the user information includes the user saving a job or applying to the job at the job seeking site.

14. The system of claim 10, wherein the user information includes the user'"'"'s current job title and geographic location in a resume associated with the user at the job seeking site.

15. The system of claim 10, wherein the user information includes at least one of a resume or user profile information.

16. The system of claim 10, wherein the second job is automatically provided on the job seeking site in response to a trigger event associated with the individual user.

17. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing processor executable instructions to:

receive a first indication of user interest in a first job from a first user at a job seeking site;

retrieve information of a second job, wherein

both the first job and the second job are previously viewed by a prescribed number of users other than the first user at the job seeking site;

determining an affinity score based on a number of users having expressed interest in both the first and second jobs by saving or applying to the first and second jobs and a number of users having expressed interest in the first job, the affinity score indicative of implied potential interest in the second job for a plurality of users, the plurality of users having expressed interests in the first job, and further wherein the affinity score is calculated based on the user resume information;

determining the affinity score satisfies a job affinity relevance threshold; and

one of;

automatically communicate the second job as a supplemental job recommendation to the first job to the first user in a recommendation portion of the job seeking site in response to the indication of interest by the first user of the first job in response to the affinity score satisfies a job affinity threshold wherein the second job automatically communicated to the first user was not a result of any direct employer-user match or requested by the first user; and

automatically communicate alternative content in the recommendation portion in response to the affinity score does not satisfy the job affinity threshold.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 17, further storing an affinity order between the first and second jobs.

19. A job recommending method comprising:

receiving by a processor, a first indication of interest in both a first job posting and a second job posting from a first user at a job seeking website;

receiving by the processor, a second indication of interest in both the first and second job postings from a second user, wherein at least one of the first and second indications of interest comprise jobs saved or jobs applied to;

calculating by the processor, a first and second job affinity score by dividing a number of users who have expressed interests in both the first job posting and the second job posting by a number of users who have expressed interests in the first job posting, wherein the first and second job affinity score is indicative of a user'"'"'s correlated interest in the second job posting when the user has interest in the first job posting, and further wherein the first and second job affinity score is calculated based on the user resume information;

calculating a reverse first and second job affinity score by dividing the number of users who have expressed interests in both the first job posting and the second job posting by a number of users who have expressed interests in the second job posting, wherein the reverse first and second job affinity score is indicative of a user'"'"'s correlated interest in the first job posting when the user has interest in the second job posting;

receiving a third indication of interest in the first job posting from a third user at the job seeking site;

retrieving the calculated first and second job affinity score for the first and second job postings;

determining the first and second job affinity score satisfies a job affinity threshold;

automatically communicating by the processor, the second job posting to the third user by displaying the second job posting as a supplemental job recommendation in a recommendation portion of the job seeking website in response to the affinity score is at or above the job affinity threshold; and

automatically communicating by the processor, alternative content related to the first job posting to the third user in the recommendation portion of the job seeking website in response to the affinity score is not at or above the job affinity threshold.

20. The method of claim 19, further comprising determining by the processor, an interest order for the first and second job postings, wherein the interest order relates to an order of interest in the first and second job postings by the first user, the second user, and other users.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein determining the interest order comprises the order of interest being in the first job posting before the second job posting, and determining the score relating to interest in the second job posting after the first job posting.

22. The method of claim 19, wherein each of the other users indicates an interest in one of the first job posting, the second job posting, or both the first and second job postings.

23. The method of claim 19, wherein the first indication of interest includes at least one of job search, a user personal information, a resume, saving the first and second job postings, and applying to the first and second job postings.