The Social Web will be the biggest transformer/disrupter since the birth of the Web itself. What if you applied “social” to the relatively staid world of online posting of jobs? Plaxo gave its answer to that question today, with the launch of “social job listings” in partnership with Simply Hired. [Reminder/disclosure: I work at Plaxo.]
Wired’s Michael Calore did a great writeup on the news: Plaxo Debuts New Job Search Service for ‘Viral Hiring’
IMHO, the official Plaxo post I wrote on the announcement deserved more attention (but I’m biased), so I’m including some of it here (and linking to it, of course):
This is a great time at Plaxo. In 2008, we had triple-digit growth in all of our key metrics, including new users, monthly unique visitors, and pageviews. We increased our network density, with the number of connections in our next-generation social network skyrocketing from 2 million to over 30 million. We got acquired by a stable, profitable, and growing company, while remaining an independent business unit, resourced for growth. (We’re hiring.) And, we’re making great progress at becoming a vital social utility for one of the most valuable demographics: post-college professionals.
But, of course, we are well aware that most companies out there are in a different position, and that our members are confronting a deepening recession, rising unemployment, and decreasing job security. It is that sobering reality that inspired us to come up with a better way to connect job seekers with career opportunities, working together with Simply Hired, the largest job search engine, to introduce “social job listings” on Plaxo.
For users in the U.S., we’ve rolled out a new Jobs section on Plaxo, where hiring managers and recruiters can post new job listings, and where job seekers can browse or search postings from across the Simply Hired network. But jobs posted on Plaxo aren’t like job listings anywhere else; job listings on Plaxo are turbo-charged with the “social power” of your extended network.
What do you think? I, for one, am curious to see if this new form of job listing can bring greater efficiency to the now-more-than-ever important process of connecting job seekers with career opportunities. If you’re a Plaxo member and see a job listing shared with you, please consider “paying it forward” and re-sharing it to your network. Thanks!
The Real McCrea 