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The Talent Shift: Looking in All the Wrong Places

By Chris Cruz, Technical Recruiter

A talent shift is happening. The movement of candidates from the standard job boards to social media becomes more apparent every day and the financial markets are beginning to show that. It is important for companies to see the signs and understand the effects this will have on their talent acquisition efforts.

It is no secret that for the immediate future, social media is the next thing in talent identification. A prime example is LinkedIn. As LinkedIn gains more exposure and candidates, job boards are playing catch-up. Financially, investors see a brighter future with the new tech than the old guard. Monster’s (MWW) value has plummeted from ~$5b to $1.1b since 2006. However, LinkedIn has climbed from a $4b valuation to $7b since last year. If money talks, its cheering on social media. Strategically, job boards, like Monster, are beginning to shift with social media in mind. The BeKnown Facebook app, is Monster’s attempt to establish a professional social network set on top Facebook’s social graph. However, they are not alone Startups BranchOut, PoolDip, and Talent.Me have joined the race to be the de facto professional app of ~800 million Facebook users, with more sure to come.

With the talent landscape constantly changing, it is vital for companies to ensure their talent pipelines are adaptable to technology innovations to ensure proper ROI. Outside of their own internal recruiting functions, companies must partner with the firms that can track where the market is and where it is going. What do you think? Do you feel your recruiting budget are best served by favoring job boards or social media.

Chris Cruz is a Technical Recruiter for Suna Solutions. He can reached at ccruz@suna.com or  www.linkedin.com/in/christopherjcruz. The views expressed in this blog are his alone and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer.