Can Google+ put an end to years of broken promises from the social recruiting gurus? Indeed, visions of a world where jobs and job-seekers are matched seamlessly through web communities have yet to materialize. Forget tweeting, blogging and community building: recruiters are finding their time and resources are better spent on traditional career websites like Monster, CareerBuilder or Naukri.

Those websites still work better for recruiters because they offer access to entire databases with hundreds of thousands if not millions of active job-seekers. Reaching such a broad audience via social networks would be practically impossible even for the most talented social networker. A recent survey in Singapore estimated that only 10% of companies have recruited through social networking sites last year. At most, we can estimate the percentage of total hires to be around 1 or 2%. Unfortunately for recruiters, the leading social media platforms are still not addressing their needs:

Hindered by those shortcomings, the recruitment community is still waiting for a killer app to take social recruitment to the next step. There are reasons to believe Google+ may deliver just that:
1. Open Networks Similarly to Twitter, Google+ will allow users to follow other users without seeking their permission. This means recruiters will be able to see updates from the best talent they’ve identified (those can be unidirectional as Google+ doesn't require users to follow you back3). Google+ can therefore offer the best of both worlds: searchable profile information (like Linkedin) and unrestricted networks (like Twitter).
2. Circles By offering the possibility for users to share different identities for different circles, Google+ is addressing one of the greatest shortcomings of existing social networks. With Google+, users will be able to send targeted messages to specific circles, increasing their chances of making an impact on their audience.
3. Circles 2.0 Google’s know-how in search engine technology positions it better than anyone else to help job-seekers promote different skill sets separately. Google advertisers have different website landing pages depending on which keywords were used to find them. Offering this service to job-seekers would be a natural next step and could become an essential feature in the new economy, where everyone is empowered to take their careers in many directions.
4. All-in-one. Keeping up with one’s social network is becoming a time-consuming chore for many recruiters and job-seekers. Who has time to log in to Facebook, LinkedIn, Gmail, Twitter and hold a steady job at the same time? Google is neutral, equally marketed to consumers and business, and offers the prospects of managing one’s various social networks on a single platform, a time-saver which will immediately appeal to busy professionals. This also re-opens the possibility of screening candidates based on personal preferences rather than just their career history, an essential tool for maintaining a certain corporate culture.
5. E-recruitment friendly. Google+ has already announced that it will include the option for business profile pages in the near future4 and that it will open the platform applications development5 on top of Google+. This could add an unexpected twist in the raging battle between vendors of e-recruitment systems, who will now have to compete for market share in a completely new ecosystem. Meanwhile, companies which have been building relationships with candidates may soon be able to take their relationships to the next step: are we hearing wedding bells?However, should we let our optimism run wild for a platform which hasn’t even been released to the general public yet? Remember that only four years ago, few people had heard of Facebook and LinkedIn. In contrast today, everybody already knows about Google. Sometimes, all it takes is a new kid on the block to change entire communities. Google+ could be just that kid.

Sources: http://www.hrmasia.com/site-search/are-you-using-social-media-to-hire-staff-yet/108840/ http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Monster-Responds-to-LinkedIn-bw-1408225401.html?x=0&.v=1 http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,2081795,00.html http://blumenthals.com/blog/2011/07/01/google-to-have-business-profile-pages/ http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,2081795,00.html Illustration by Hafizah Jainal About the author: Max Armbruster is co-founder and an active board member for Aqayo, the leader in e-recruitment solutions in Asia. He has vast experience in recruitment and general management, particularly as Managing Director for Edgilis in Singapore from 2006 to 2011. His key interests and expertise lie in the areas of business unit strategy, market research and strategy and e- recruitment. Max was previously Research Manager for the online technology media group CNET, now part of CBS Interactive. Stints at Washington DC’s think-tank, the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD) and Hewlett-Packard, also contributed to his knowledge in research and human resource best practices. He holds a Masters in Business Administration from George Washington University, and a Masters in Management from the Grenoble Graduate School of Business.