Networking sites let you look for more than long lost friends and high-school albums, they can get you a dream job as well, discovers PRABALIKA M. BORAH

You tweet or get linked, you drop a scrap or invite friends to a community, networking sites are letting users to look for more than old friends and life partners. While a few late lateefs are still discovering friends through Orkut and Facebook, ea rly birds have not only started advertising and doing business but seem to create job opportunities through them. How? Name any networking site and Human Resource managers of most organisations are already there, checking profiles. So does it mean it’s giving job portals a serious competition?

“In a way, Yes. HR managers visit my profile through linkedin and get in touch with me most of the times. Networking saves us money and lot of hassle. Networking also allows one to communicate about job requirements in a very casual manner. And if I don’t fit that profile I can be referred to someone else,” says Narrendiran, a communication professional.

So is it enough to be registered in one site? “No,” says Aditi, a HR manager. “The more, the better are the chances. Also most of the times it’s the same people we meet in these sites, we are aware who is offered what or who is networking with whom, which helps us to offer irresistible bait,” she says.

Orkut, facebook, ryze, linkedin, zaabiz, bigadda and what not. In their bid to specialise recruitments, some of these networking sites have also gone for specialisations. So how does it score over job portals? “It is convenient. Openings spread through social communities and you are linked to so many people through your profile. Moreover some networking community sites offer the option to get recommended or recommend somebody. It works very well when vacancies open up at a particular level,” says Advitiya Palam, hardware engineer.

Describing the power of on line networking, N. Chandramouli, CEO, Blue Lotus Communication says, “Business Networking has always been one of the key factors affecting recruitment. The positive viral effect is a large influencer to the right talent. Now of course, online business networking allows the power of business networking to be multiplied manifold.”

Some, on the other hand say, rules of job search have changed for everyone, and while doing this the job seekers are increasingly accessing networking sites in career-related searches. “Social networking sites are most visited when we are facing an economic downturn. The average number of hits a profile receives on these sites is more than that on a job portal. Reason: They tend to loop both social and career networking,” says M.S. Shivakumar, Principle Consultant, Expertus which owns www.my-c2c.com, a job portal for freshers.

He also adds, “However, the reach and the bandwidth provided by job portals between employee and employers are way ahead than networking sites.”Despite this there are a few who’d like to argue saying that networking sites give access to people who you will have to wait for months.“Besides helping you reach the unreachables, it allows you spot the trends,” says Anubhav Goel, CEO, Circumference Info Services Pvt Ltd.

Some rubbish the popularity and want to believe there is no direct competition. Stating credibility issues, Rajita Singh, Head HR, Broadridge Financial Solutions India Pvt Ltd say, “Networking sites are an additional input to the recruitment process and is a good value addition when it comes to getting to know the person — about his networks, hobbies, interests etc. Job sites essentially help get the candidates actively looking out, whereas networking helps brand even passive candidates so that companies are on top of the mind recall.”

Does creativity find a place? Do job portals help in knowing anything beyond what is stated in the resume.“We are engaged in R&D and products work, we need creative people. Given this, internal employee referrals have always been the best hiring channel for us. As the referring employee builds the required understanding on both sides, the candidate understands the company, goals and culture well and as a company we also know the candidate. This results in effective recruitments, with long retention and results. In recent times we have seen social networking sites offering pretty much the same value,” says Ramesh Lagnathan, MD and VP Progress Software.