Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) introduced job search and a special veteran’s Website to support President Barack Obama’s directives to help U.S. Iraq War veterans find employment.
President Obama Nov. 7 announced his support for the Returning Heroes and Wounded Warrior Tax Credits, which will provide companies that hire veterans with credits. The provisions are geared to help the more than 850,000 unemployed, post-9/11 veterans.
Google is using its Custom Search technology to build the Veterans Job Bank for the National Resource Directory (NRD), which includes more 500,000 job openings nationwide. The custom search engine scans the Web for JobPosting markup from Schema.org on sites such as simplyhired.com to find job openings for vets.
The search engine makes it easier for prospective employers to add the JobPosting markup to their own Web page to list jobs on the NRD, Google explained.
On Nov. 11, which is Veterans Day in the United States, Google added Google for Veterans and Families, a special Website created by veterans who work at Google.
The Website, which aggregates Google products and platforms for service members, includes VetConnect, a special social network for veterans to share information via Google+.
The Google Veterans Channel on YouTube is a channel that lets veterans share their military experiences. A Resume Builder for Google Docs provides an auto-formatted resume that can be shared with potential employers.
Google is also working on Tour Builder, a service powered by Google Earth that lets users view some 3D maps, photos and videos of veterans’ service histories.
Google isn’t the only major high-tech company helping vets. LinkedIn (NASDAQ:LNKD), which offers a number of job recruitment services, teamed with the White House to tag job postings on LinkedIn that could be filled by veterans.
These tagged job postings will be accessible to the Google Custom Search-powered Veteran’s Job Bank and across veterans-oriented federal Websites.
LinkedIn also launched a special microsite that provides tips, tools and information on the best ways for veterans to find jobs on LinkedIn. Finally, LinkedIn also offered U.S. veterans a free, one-year Job Seeker subscription.