How job boards can improve. Part 2: Incremental job updates instead of full file replace

In Part 1 we looked at the benefits of eliminating third party pop up application forms from job boards.

In Part 2 of "How job boards can improve" we look at incremental job uploads rather than the traditional full file override method currently used by nearly all Australian job boards.

Using the full batch override method, whenever we send a job file on behalf of a client to a job board we have to send the client's entire job file each time.  The entire file we send completely overrides and replaces the entire job file the job board has for that client.  This can happen multiple times an hour, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Sending an entire job file every single time a client adds a new job, fixes a typo or expires a job is old fashioned and unnecessary.  I can appreciate how this method has evolved from batch processing days but those days are thankfully far behind us.

The way it should work is that a third party uploader should be able to simply send jobs one at a time, real time as soon as anything changes.  This is called an incremental upload.  If a client adds a new job in JobAdder we should be able to immediately upload just that job to the client's job boards. 

The benefits of incremental uploads are compelling;

1. Incremental updates are far less resource intensive.  We are not sending us much data down the line and the job boards do not have to process so much data.
2. Incremental updates are less catastrophe-prone.  A full batch override method is a very scary thing to get wrong.  For example if you have 100 job ads on SEEK and your uploader accidentally sends SEEK a job file with just one job in the file then guess what happens?  99 job are immediately expired.  This is catastrophic from a billing perspective and generally requires numerous people to spend hours fixing it up. 
3. Incremental updates can be processed immediately.  This means your jobs are loaded onto the job boards in real time.

Currently there are only 2 or 3 job boards in Australia offering incremental updates.  I believe this method must become the norm rather than the exception.