New Google features that are still in beta

Posted by Jim Stroud

October 9, 2007

Every now and again, I like to check out Google Labs which is where Google releases new toys for experimentation. I recently visited the site and saw a couple of items that I felt were blogworthy. Let me show you what I mean by going step-by-step.

Visit Google Labs Experimental Search. There are a few items shown, but what I want to show you is the “Alternate views for search results.” At this writing, it is at the top of the page. Click the “Join this experiment” button (as shown by the arrow below)

Return to the Google homepage and right away you will notice that the homepage has changed. No worries, since you clicked in to join the experiment, this is now your default. To go back to how it was before, simply return to Google Labs Experimental Search and leave the experiment.

Okay, so now let’s do a search! In this case, I am looking for a CPA or a CFO. The search string I am use is this:

intitle:resume inurl:resume (CFO | CPA)

A screenshot of how that looks is below.

And these are the results and its nothing unusual, the default is the “list view.” The first thing I want to point you too is the “Timeline” link. (See arrow) It is the third link beneath the search bar.

Now you should see a timeline just above the search results. What I believe Google is doing here is scanning the search results for dates mentioned on the resumes and sorting them accordingly. Let’s take a look at one.

I click on “1960″ because… umm… just because. I see that right away, Google begins with 1960, but stretched the timeline 5 years. So my results are resumes with the years 1960-1965 cited on them.

Since it was only one result, I know which one to click. (Smile) And guess what? The result was a good one. Click here to see for yourself.

Now what if I wanted the resume of someone with 5 years experience? Simple, I would look at the search results timeline and click on the “2000″ since that would give me a range of results citing dates on the resume between 2000-2005. Neat trick, huh?

Okay, let me show you something else that may prove useful. Click on the last link beneath the search bar. Its called “Map View.”

Now Google is showing your results based on geographic location! Say you had a req’ for a finance guy, but no relocation dollars are available. With this function, you get a quick visual of where these resumes are based. (Ideally) It does not work perfectly, but more often than not the results are compelling.

Below is a screenshot of a resume result based in California. Neat-o trick, huh?