It was just a matter of time. Two Seattle Web 2.0 startups that both play in the online recruiting/job arena have linked arms.

Jobster has begun using salary information from PayScale, allowing people who research specific jobs to quickly get salary ranges for those positions. In an example provided by Jobster Chief Executive Jason Goldberg, a person searching for "blogger jobs" could click on a link to PayScale and find charts as to what people in that profession make depending upon where they live. It is a good idea, but it looks as if the service needs refined.

When I clicked on the salary information for a "blogger intern" at Yahoo, it provided information for an architectural intern. Listings for music writers, returned salary information for art, drama or music teachers. I then searched on Jobster for something close to my heart -- "journalists." The first search result was for a job in the Chicago area, but the salary information from PayScale was for an applications and programming supervisor. I don't even know what that is. The second job posting provided a little bit better result. It was for video journalists at KRON in San Francisco, with PayScale estimating that film and video editors in California make on average $52,750.

Just for kicks I then searched on Jobster for "photographer. That seemed to work, with PayScale saying that photographers make on average $30,201 in Washington state.

Goldberg admits that the service needs a little work, though he said PayScale's "data is getting better and better over time." It will be interesting to see if this feature will help distinguish Jobster in a very crowded sector.
Jobster and PayScale are both backed by Menlo Park, Calif.-based Trinity Ventures.