Weekly Article Social Networking

The Next Frontier of Recruiting Wise employers are looking for ideal applicants for open positions. In most cases, the people they want are not actively looking for a job. They will not show up on job boards or in stacks of resumes. The most desirable candidates are passive job seekers, not active. They are comfortable where they are working, but will change employers for the right opportunity. The challenge for recruiters is to find these special people. Traditional meat-market recruiting will not work.

What's the solution for these selective employers?

The advice is to talk to people you know---friends, relatives, business acquaintances. Everyone knows someone---or knows someone who knows someone---who may be perfect for that job opening. Also, people who know you are likely to understand what you're looking for. And they are willing to help you get connected. Do you have time to devote to telephoning everyone who might know a prospective candidate? Most employers do not have time, so there is an opportunity to use technology to ask others for help. The solution is social networking, the next generation of recruiting. The technology pioneer is a Seattle-based company called Jobster, www.jobster.com.

Expect to hear more about this company, its technology, and its success. The process utilized by this new entry into the job seeking/finding arena is disarmingly simple. First, your company determines what jobs are open and creates on-line advertisements describing the job and the type of person the firm wants to hire. Instead of posting notices on the job boards, company leaders or human resource professionals (depending on the job) send the on-line advertisement by e-mail to everyone they think can help.

One recipient may know of a couple of likely candidates and send them the pre-developed e-mail advertisement. The recipient may also pass the job announcement along to their acquaintances who may know of other people who would be a great fit for the opening. Using this form of viral marketing, the hiring company has plenty of people to choose from. When several people recommend the same person, chances are good that an ideal candidate has been discovered.

About Author

From "The Herman Trend Alert," by Roger Herman and Joyce Gioia, Strategic Business Futurists. (800) 227-3566 or http://www.hermangroup.com. The Herman Trend Alert is a trademark of The Herman Group, Inc."

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