You may know that I love a bit of social networking.
I’ve come across a useful resource for recruiters who want to know how to get the best from sites such as LinkedIn, Xing and Ecademy (plus others). It’s created by a chap called Otis Collier who is an American Internet Recruitment Trainer.
He’s put together a page on his site about Social Networking. It contains links to the main social networking sites used by recruiters in the US (I notice that at least one we use in the UK is missing) plus a lot of free resources. These include Cheaters Guide to LinkedIn, LinkedIn Tips, Alternative LinkedIn Invitation Templates and a Social Networking Weblog. Although the resource is very LinkedIn focussed a lot of the information can be used to benefit your use of any social network site. He also has an audio presentation called “The Virtual Rolodex” which is worth checking out.
It’s quite interesting the possible impact social networking might have on recruiting especially for head hunters. I wrote a related piece about how what you get up to on social networking sites might actually work against you getting a new job. http://www.sitevisibility.co.uk/2006/11/5-ways-to-stop-myspace-ruining-your.html