Do You See Me Now?

Facebook allows users to upload and tag photos of anyone in their network. Once tagged, you anyone in your network can see these photos. There has been some concern about how this "feature" will impact job searchers as Human Resource (HR) organizations become more connected to social networking sites.

This tagging process on Facebook is manual, however, there is new start-up on the scene, Polar Rose, that dynamically tags photos using face-recognition software. This takes the HR concern to new levels as photos are uploaded by friends and foes alike and you may (or likely) may not be aware that photos of you have been uploaded.

With the growing concern for privacy as well as international security and the beginning stages of HR groups incorporating social networking technologies into their recruiting practices, what are the pros and cons of something like this?

Schenker, J.L. (2007, December 24). Finding Faces in the e-Crowd. Businessweek, p. 70.

"Professional" Social Networking

Many professionals are warming up to the idea of using social networking tools to help extend their professional networks--especially those finding themselves in a job search. Popular tools are LinkedIn and Plaxo, but now that FaceBook has opened up to non-students, this is also emerging with some.

What concerns should professionals have when using these tools?

Should professionals keep separation between their "professional" and "personal" networks?

Should employers search these or other internet sources as they recruit or qualify candidates?

Virtually Everywhere

Semper International, along with many other organizations are turning to Web 2.0 technologies for social networking, blogs and other technologies to play a key role in it's recruiting initiatives. Read more in the December 10, 2007 issue of Workforce Management .

How does your organization use MySpace, LinkedIn, Second Life or Facebook for HR-related activities?