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Google Search will help you find your next job

Just ask for "jobs near me."

Finding a new job can be tough. With so many recruitment sites to keep track of, it can be difficult to know what's out there, never mind applying and getting through the interview process. Now, there's a new way to keep tabs on the work in your local area: Google. An update to Search on desktop and mobile allows you to, well, search for new employment with conversational queries like "jobs near me" and "teaching jobs." You'll then see a list of results from across the web, each of which includes the company's name, the role, the hours and when the job was posted.

If you're after something specific, you can drill down and filter by category (customer service, management, healthcare), title (nurse, data engineer, barista), and the type of employment (full-time, part-time, contractor, internship). Google will also list your estimated commute, if the job listing includes the necessary information. Half the battle is knowing when a new job has been posted, so you can also save a custom search and request email alerts every time a new opening matches your criteria. Throw in employer reviews and ratings, and you've got a pretty robust search tool.

For now, the feature is only available in the US. Google has teamed up with LinkedIn, Monster, WayUp, DirectEmployers, CareerBuilder, Glassdoor and Facebook (yes, Facebook) to power the service, and has published some documentation so that other job providers can make their openings discoverable through the service. Should it take off, we wouldn't be surprised if Google rolled this out elsewhere. Different countries are ruled by different recruitment sites, but the general model, at least in Google's case, should work regardless of the region. As my colleague Roberto Baldwin noted, it's nice to see Google helping people who need a regular paycheck more than an AI speaker or a flashy virtual reality headset.