Facebook versus LinkedIn: Job Recruiting via Social Networks

I've expressed my utter dissatisfaction with LinkedIn as a viable recruiting tool in previous posts. It actually drives me insane to spend hours interviewing candidates who are not really in the market to be poached.

Well, it appears that Facebook may also become a recruiting tool in some sectors. This hypothesis isn't based on a set of statistics - but on the fact that someone on my team at work was just contacted by a headhunter on the site.

To me, this concept raises a host of issues. Will one social network (Facebook, for example) become the global be-all-and-end-all? Or, will social networking continue to become more focused and fragmented- with users joining specialized social networking sites specific to their geographic locations, interests, etc.?

From an ethical/privacy standpoint, I think there are, again, a series of issues that come to the fore. Facebook is supposed to be a way of connecting with friends; does corporate infiltration somehow violate the very point of the site? I'm not sure I want headhunters looking at my tagged photos. Nor do I want to deal with these kinds of (typically stalker-esque) individuals when really, I'm visiting Facebook to see photos from the party I bailed on last weekend, or to play poker with my little brother.

Maybe recruiting and other solicitations via social networking sites are Web 2.0's version of spam. Food for thought on a Monday (as I continue trying to find a good candidate to fill an open position at my company).

LinkedIn Logic

We've been looking to hire a few people on my team at work - and it's gotten me to start thinking about LinkedIn, and how it contributes to the job hunting scene.

Our head of HR has brought us a few candidates she's come across on LinkedIn. Most of them are stellar, and could be great additions to our group. The problem? Most of the good ones aren't actually actively searching for a new job. And when it comes down to it, they typically turn down an offer from our team. Why? Because they're truly not in the market to make a move.

As a result, I feel like I've been wasting time interviewing people who don't particularly want to work at my company. On the one hand, it seems like LinkedIn is a great way to find candidates. But how truly relevant is the site when it's not actually leading to legitimate hires? I'm curious to see how things go with LinkedIn, and its role in the job search process.