Robert Scoble calls Facebook “the modern day Rolodex,” and I’d have to agree. Like any recruiting method, setting up an account and adapting to the Facebook format takes time, but the payoff is tremendous, once you know what you’re doing. In professional sales recruitment, mastery of Facebook (or similar sites) will soon be a required skill.

The beauty of Facebook is in the wealth of information freely supplied by its users and wide variety of search functions. An active “Facebooker” will include enough information about their work experience and personality to make it seem like you know them, before you’ve even spoken.  

Social networks encourage users to reveal personal details well beyond the standard academic major and degree information found in a resume or cover letter. Photos, lengthy likes and dislikes lists and personal commenting features provide a very telling description of a candidate as both a person and an employee.

What does this mean for a job placement firm? Free networking connections and a lot of time saved, for starters. Most of these sites are free to join, and once you're familiar with the functionality, you can save a lot of time screening potential candidates before you even call them back. Take the time to join one or two of these social networks and you're almost certain to see the quality of your candidates improve.