Social Networking meet Recruiting- what to know

LinkedIn's biggest asset is arguably the data it has about, and the access it provides to, some 23 million professionals.  This allows for targeted advertising, as well as targeted recruiting. With the launch of LinkedIn Recruiter back in March, companies with corproate staffing licenses can search from nearly all of the 23 million- person database to source for matches to job opportunities.  While there is no guarantee the owner of a LinkedIn profile will reply and accept connection to discuss an opportunity, a recruiter is far more likely to connect through LinkedIn's InMail system boasting a 60% open rate.  Clearly, this far exceeds quality, contact and exposure with traditional career sights and sourcing methodologies.

LinkedIn's Company Insider adds another interesting and compelling aspect to the job search process. It shows a prospective candidate, or a recruiter, the path of connection between a person, a job, and a company. If you are looking for a job and find a posting on LinkedIn, you can then see who you know that has contacts the company and a route of connectivity to find out more about the opportunity... The same is true for a recruiter that may be interested in a candidate; he or she can see the best path of connectivity to make a connection through a shared social network on LinkedIn. Taleo announced in June an integration with LinkedIn for its SMB ATS solution, and we are sure to see a trend towards ATS vendors seeking this integration to optimize their social networking took sets. 

A bevy of companies are entertaining solutions with both LinkedIn and Facebook, Facebook reaching a considerably larger audience, and LinkedIn serving the professional set with arguably more business-minded tools.

Comments

[Rachel]

Finding a job online is changing. About.com just named 3 new websites to its top 10 employment list:

http://www.linkedin.com
http://www.realmatch.com
http://www.indeed.com

Times are a changin!