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apophenia
October 2006 
the value of social networks in hiring
Posted on Aug 25th, 2006
by 
alina
alina
Networks are replacing resumes on the conventional career path, which increasingly resembles a "career exploration". In my former job, I had the opportunity to witness this tension between the value of knowledge captured by resumes and the knowledge capture by social networks. Usually, the resumes win with senior managers, business school graduates, and others who have a vested interest in hiring someone who can speak manage-ease. On the other hand, the idea diffusers tend to brush through the resume and then devote hours to google searches-- their interest is in how to hire an individual with the skills required for innovation.
Happily, web-based professional networking services like LinkedIn.com manage to combine resume services with information about a person's social capital. I love LinkediN and look forward to seeing how it evolves as the new group accounts take off. Word from sources in California that LinkedIn will not be allowing photo or personal information uploads at any point in the future as part of their strategy to stay true to the professional audience. Early adopters, if you haven't already joined LinkedIn, you might have to settle for being part of the early majority on this one...
More butterflies to chase on this topic:
- MeshForum, connecting networks
- Apophenia's current research on social networking sites and experts
- The gentlemen at the Virtual Handshake blog take another look at Granovetter's weak ties
- "What Can Social Networking Do For Your Organization?" / Brian Satterfield offers tips and tricks for your nonprofit.
- The Start-Up Exchange
- The Networking Pipeline Newsletter
Access: PublicTagged with: networking, linkedin, early adopters, early majority, hiring, resumes, social capital, meshforum, apophenia, start-up, granovetter, weak ties
