Recruiters are using Web 2.0 tools to find new talent

Entrepreneur.com has written an interesting article about how internet tools such as social networks, blogging and other Web 2.0 networking tools are becominging increasingly popular to hire people. As employers learn more about how to use these tools, the way recruitment is done looks to change radically.

Case studies include San Francisco PR entrepreneur Jason Throckmorton, founder of $5 million LaunchSquad, Ben Swartz, co-founder and president of Chicago-based interactive marketing advisory firm Marcel Media, estimates he's hired three-quarters of his 21-person staff using Web 2.0 resources.

InsidersReferral.com Inc.'s job site Jobirn (jobirn.com) hooks up candidates, employers and recruiters via IM rather than conventional but slower e-mail and TheCareerMole.com sets up a channel for current employees to mentor candidates and provide information about company culture and jobs.

Some people believe that nothing will replace human recruiters, and I certainly agree that nothing replaces a face-to-face conversation as there is only so much you can learn from a piece of paper, the rest emerges from body language for example. However, so much can be gained from Web 2.0 recruiting.

It can save time, money and facilitate rapid communication; by checking out a person on a social network you can see who they are connected with and there's an old saying that you can judge a man by the company he keeps.

The world is a small place, by checking out those connections, you're bound to know someone who knows someone who you can make discreet enquries of. You have access to timely and accurate information, time can be saved by quick responses by all parties.

Increasingly, large and small companies are encouraging employees to maintain their own blogs - yet another thread in a potential recruit's history.

At Work Anywhere intends to harness a lot of these concepts and we're including them in our product - live at the end of February. You can register and have a look now while the site is under development, feedback is welcome!