Network Job Hunting

First of all, i would just like to explain that i am at my workstudy job and am watching the job fair in action - feeling guilty already that i am not attending (and might i add i do not have a job for next year) only to feel worse when i read the articles for this week, all about Job Searching and Recruiting....I think it may be a sign

I do believe that Social Networking sites will become a new means for potential employeers to search more "resumes" on hiree's even more than they have already become. I have discussed in earlier posts about how its not about what you know, it is who you know, which i believe is more prominant than ever. The idea of six degrees of separation is expanding our networking circles, especially with blogs, sites such as linkedin, facebook and myspace to name a few.

I read an article which named 10 simples rules for hiring employees and found them really interesting and optimistic for myself in my future job search(hopefully):

Here they are:
Hire Great People: 10 Simple Rules
by Barbara ReinholdMonster Contributing Writer

Rule number one is clear, but very counterintuitive: Don't ever, ever hire somebody just like yourself. Why not? Because from the beginning of time, executives have been unconsciously cloning themselves, stocking the shelves with vanilla young men from impressive schools. And what has happened to executives and companies that did that? As management guru Rosabeth Kanter observed, they often sink into the soft sand of irrelevance as the rough waters of current reality wash over them.

Here are the other nine:
2. Hire for Attitude Rather than Skill

Teaching skills is a snap compared with doing attitude transplants. Among the qualities you'll want most is a fierce sense of optimism.

3. Look for Renegades

In interviews, ask when the person has been in trouble. The obedient employee will be of limited use to you in this change-up environment.

4. Hold out for Results
Never hire someone with good potential but questionable habits, thinking you can change him or her. As in choosing mates, what you see now is what you get forever.

5. Go for a Sense of Humor
The potential hire who can't laugh easily, particularly at herself, is going to be a very dull and probably rigid employee.

6. Fill in the Blanks
Look carefully at the aggregate strengths and skill gaps of your teams in various work units, and go for the qualities and styles that are missing.

7. Test Drive
Don't be satisfied with references. Remember that many of the most glowing references are given for people others are eager to dump. Include day-long simulations as part of your interview process, or invite applicants to provide you with a portfolio of their best work.

8. Stock the Bullpen

Keep an eye out for prospects before the need arises. Don't wait until a vacancy occurs. Keep a pool of potential employees under the watchful eye of somebody who's responsible for hiring. Evaluate your recruiting team in terms of how well they keep the bullpen ready. And tell them never to turn away an interesting candidate with the line, "We don't have any positions open right now."

9. Push Harder for Diversity
Make certain you're spreading your net wide enough to find those high-potential, but different, fish who generally don't swim in the streams near you. Ask your HR group what contacts and periodicals they're using to interest potential hires. "We don't know where to find people different from us" is a costly excuse.

10. Listen
Most interviewers talk way too much. When a candidate finally gets to you, listen for the "story line" of his or her life, at home and at work. It's been said that being a leader is like practicing psychiatry without a license. That may be more true in hiring than in any other part of the job.
The job of recruiting is too serious to be handed off in its entirety to HR. Your legacy will be set, after all, by the teams you choose to accomplish your objectives.