And the popularity of social networks like LinkedIn, Facebook & Twitter certainly adds to the speculation that job boards like Monster & Careerbuilder is going to go away. But what the speculators fail to understand is that social recruiting as the primary source of talent acquisition works only in an economy in which you have 6 job seekers for every job. Employers can afford to be extremely selective and solely recruit from their networks (within the six-degrees of separation) because they have enough unemployed top talent within their network. But this model will fall in its face as the economy starts growing and companies start aggressively hiring. Can you imagine a world where all positions are hired through social networks? People won’t know where to go to look for jobs because all jobs will be hidden…that model just won’t work and is not sustainable in a growing economy.

Employers and Recruiters talk about the passive candidate talent pool as the “holy grail” of recruiting. This proverbial holy grail is really less of a recruiting platform in a recessing economy. Gainfully employed people in this economy are reluctant to switch jobs…so even though employers and recruiters can research passive candidates on LinkedIn and Facebook all day long…but when it comes the time to take the plunge, these passive candidates are not budging an inch from their current safe havens at their current employers.

So Job Boards are certainly not going away…they will however undergo major transformations and will have to revise their current business models. The business model of charging to post a job and search resumes seems really outdated in the Web 2.0 & beyond world where the whole premise of the internet is to connect with people and disseminate information easily. Why should companies have to pay to post a job and find people? The value add of job boards will be in the area of providing a feature-rich talent evaluation platform. Job boards will also have to evolve to integrate the major social networks into the job search and talent acquisition processes in meaningful ways. Some job boards are trying to reinvent the wheel by creating their own social networks…like Careerbuilder’s experiment with Brightfuse…their failed attempt to create another LinkedIn. What were they thinking? Why would I move my profile from LinkedIn to Brightfuse when I have all my connections and network at LinkedIn? People don’t need any more social networks…they now need tools to leverage their existing social networks.

In a recent Wall Street Journal article, John Katz, the chief investment officer of Matrix Asset Advisors in New York, predicted that Monster is positioned for solid growth in the coming years. The article can be found here: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125399832850543723.html . Speaking about Monster’s stock price, John said that he’s “very confident” that in 12 months, the stock will be in the mid-$20s. He also said that he is a frequent buyer of Monster’s stock as he considers it a good investment. This is just more affirmation that job boards are here to stay…but undoubtedly at the brink of a major transformation.

From my experience in the recruitment industry, one of the main problems employers have with social networking sites, particularly those with CV databases or candidate profiles, is that information is often outdated and too much time can be wasted tracking down individuals who have long since found work.

Recruitment Consultants from Employment Office- an Australian recruitment solutions company- are quick to point out the advantages of targeted advertising as an ideal recruitment process. Instead of posting your advertisement on all-industry job boards, try sector specific websites.

For example, niche online job board http://www.bluecollar.com.au is becoming increasing popular with both Australian Job Seekers and Employers, because it not only offers a platform for visitors to browse related opportunities with multiple companies, but also tends to attract candidates who are experienced and interested in the Blue Collar sector.

Today there are multiple ways to recruit- so embrace social networking tools, but don’t limit your opportunity to network friendly, Gen-Y users.

If you build avoidable weaknesses into your business intentionally you are setting yourself up for failure. Granted, vetting is a good side effect of hiring someone if they come highly recommended by someone you trust, but other issues come along as well.

If the best talent for your job opening lives a thousand miles away where no one in your organization knows someone, do you really want to limit yourself to hiring lesser talent simply because other companies were lazy and/or following trends–or because you didn’t think it important enough to step outside a network? I personally wouldn’t want to work with any person or organization that embraced such nonsense.

Examining the changes in the marketplace I don’t think we’ll see job boards going away – but it IS a changing market. Boards do good for bulk hires and they’re quick, but with networking dominating job acquisition for so many people, I think the services provided need to change.

The job search is evolving. Services need to.

I do have concerns with a sampling bias. This is a networking focused blog, so it’s not surprising that your readers – who no doubt understand the importance of networking for job referrals, as it is often stressed here – are receiving jobs through that medium. So, I wouldn’t get too juiced up over those numbers. They are insightful, nonetheless. Thanks for the post.

I’ve got to call you out on a couple things. Less than 1,000 recruiters on Linkedin? And if job boards go completely dead, where are people going to find jobs? Their ‘network?’

The reason why there was a need for job boards originally was because some people looking for work don’t know how to network like Me 2.0. It’s much easier for them to log on to a site, search, and apply for the job they want than do the networking thing. And do recruiters really want to ‘network’ when they’ve got 10 jobs to fill?

I don’t see job boards going anywhere…but I do see them adapting by working these social networks tools into their business models.