The results for third-annual social recruiting survey were released recently and the findings underscore many reasons job seekers need to incorporate online social networking into their job searches.

The survey was based on responses from HR and recruiting professionals about the extent to which they use social networking websites in their recruiting process to find and vet candidates for jobs. Their answers indicate that they view social networks as a viable channel for sourcing high-quality candidates and that they plan to increase their use of social networking websites in their recruiting efforts this year.

At some companies, in fact, social recruiting is beginning to eclipse traditional channels for sourcing candidates, such as job boards and third-party recruiters and search firms.

If you’re looking for a job and not active on social networking platforms like ZaaBiz here are four reasons to join and actively manage your profiles.

1. You’ll have access to job opportunities at progressive, growing companies.

Companies that are hiring the most people in the shortest periods of time “are the ones who are more aggressively pursuing social recruiting. Companies with the most growth opportunities are trying to get better, higher-quality candidates through social recruiting.

2. You’ll have access to job opportunities first.

The survey results show that employers prefer using social networking sites for recruiting because they make advertising jobs and sourcing candidates cheap and easy. Seeking a candidate to fill in a position doesn’t cost a dime. For that reason, online social networks are among the first places employers advertise jobs.

3. Employers are increasingly using social networking platforms to find and vet prospective employees.

According to social recruiting survey:

73 percent of respondents currently use online social networks or social media sites to support their recruiting efforts.
92 percent of respondents hiring in 2010 currently use or plan to recruit via social networks.
78 percent of respondents use business networking plaform like ZaaBiz for recruiting.
One-third of respondents always check out candidates’ social media profiles when vetting them.
58 percent of respondents have successfully hired candidates through social networking websites.

4. You may not find as many job ads on job boards or job opportunities through recruiters.

Some employers are shifting their recruiting activity away from traditional channels, such as job boards and third-party recruiters and search firms, as they deepen their engagement with social recruiting. It was found that 36 percent of survey respondents say they plan to spend less money on job boards as the economy recovers. Slightly more (38 percent) will spend less on third-party recruiters and search firms as the recovery continues.

More and more businesses are taking their messages and products to the Internet via social networking websites that allows people to say what they need. Social media enthusiast believe its a new way to spread word of mouth and its easier and quicker to communicate. Social networking site allows users to upload and share information Networkers also use the social networks to let customers try products, remind them of current offerings and give followers special deals like free food.

A study from Access Markets International reports nearly 70 percent of small businesses in western countries use social media. The trend is not far when even developing countries like India will catch up with the trend. Although the usage of social media among Indian users has grown phenomenally over the past 12 months, but there is heaps of potential to go further.

According to a recent study by Edison Research, 51 percent of active users follow companies, brands or products on social networks. Companies also are using social networks to send coupons and specials to customers. The engagement of the consumers through social networks is quick and responsive. It attempts to break the schakles of how traditional media works. The future for brands, corporations and small companies is definitely social media especially when it delivers results in cost-effective and quick way. The only thing that needs to be addressed is an investment in time as no profits are reaped with immediate effect.

As a recruiter you want to be where the most qualified, talented, and largest pool of applicants are. Human resources can leverage social media to tap in to potential recruits. This type of head hunting is called social recruiting. It’s about engaging with users and using social media tools to source and recruit talent.

But how do you find the right person for the job you have available using social media? Here’s how to get started. To start with you can tap in to the free resources offered by ZaaBiz.  You should start by building connections to people you already know. This could include former co-workers, current clients, local entrepreneurs and even friends and family. Because you never know who someone else may be connected too that could make for a top-notch candidate. You should also join groups where you might connect with potential candidates. For example, if you are always looking for IT consultants you can find an affiliated group on ZaaBiz. Once you join relevant groups find ways to begin discussions with people in the group. If you notice people who are active in the group, they always ask questions and answer others questions, those might be the people you hone in on for job opportunities.

There is also a free way to advertise that you are hiring, without posting a job. Use your profile to broadcast that you are hiring. “Looking for an IT consultant.

When you find someone who may be a good fit for your company you have to evaluate their profile. Does the person have a complete profile including a picture? Are they a member of groups relevant to their field? Do you have any 2nd or 3rd degree connections to the person to get a more personal referral? You can find out a lot about a person from their profile before contacting them for an interview.

As small business owners, you can easily leverage ZaaBiz to find talent.

Networking remains the best way to conduct a job search, and the number one method leading to offers. Add technology and we have super tools when they are used effectively. A job search is about effectively marketing yourself and your skill sets to prospective employers. Social and professional networking tools provide a simple and efficient way to accomplish this. And using these tools is worthwhile because HR professionals, hiring managers, recruiters, and search firms are also using these tools to look for you.

To consider your ZaaBiz profile current, it should have great resume content for all your experience areas as well as references from former colleagues. Consider growing your connections by entering the names of the companies you have worked for, so that you can review who else you might want to invite to link. It is also beneficial to see who else you know by looking up people and companies using the search feature. This treasure hunt will pay off. Include your picture, and make sure a person interested in hiring you would consider it professional. On the home page you can share information about the kind of position you are looking for — these updates can be very effective.

Next, join some industry relevant or region relevant business groups. ZaaBiz groups are a great way to keep current on industry news, networking events, trends, and more. So start by joining all of the groups hosted by the largest industry associations.If you want to take your social networking strategy to the next level, consider sharing your industry expertise through various business groups. It’s a great way to showcase your knowledge and experience with your peers as well as potential employers.

Corporate marketers by and large struggle with how to use social networking sites to reach potential customers. The problem is that executives think of online social networks as social media and treat it as another channel to get people to click through to a site. This wouldn’t work.

Recent findings show that people don’t click through on advertising on social networks. A good analogy is to imagine sitting at a table with friends when a stranger pulls up a chair, sits down, and tries to sell you something while you are talking to your friends. You will not get far with a strategy like this. Instead this might in the long run affect the brand equity at the cost of huge advertisement expenditure.

To be successful, you need to shift your mindset from social media to social strategy. A good social strategy essentially uses the same principles that made online social networks attractive in the first place by solving social failures in the offline world. Firms should begin to do the same and help people fulfill their social needs online.

In continuation with the earlier analogy, “You should come to the table and say, ‘Here is a product that I have designed for you that is going to make you all better friends.’ To execute on this, firms will need to start making changes to the products themselves to make them more social, and leverage group dynamics, using technologies and applications.  But the fact is that a lot of businesses treat it as another form of media which to me would not work.

There are many ways a company can take advantage of social media for business. If you want to take your business higher and further, here are some social media tips you can follow.

Use Social Networking Platform- Networking is not a new business idea.  It is a practice that intelligent businessmen have always taken advantage of. In the past, business people practices ice breakers, carried business cards in their pockets and attended social functions to network with potential business partners and clients. The internet has made social and business networking easier for people.  With social networks like ZaaBiz, a businessman in the Australia can easily network with a businessman in other Asia-Pacific regions and start a business transaction.

Join Forums and Business Groups - Online forums and business groups may seem outdated what with all the new messaging services like Twitter and other services available online but there are still many people that join forums for different purposes. Search crawlers also frequent forums because of the amount of user activities and information in these sites.  Just like social networking sites, the company must choose carefully what forums it must join and what types of conversations it must start or engage in. ZaaBiz offers many business groups a forums of various business interest and relevance which offers an opportunity for businesses to network, position and be heard in the virtual space.

Start Blogging - Blogging is one of the most effective social media task that businesses should take advantage of. With a good business blog, a company can reach its target audience and deliver useful information to them.  A business can put anything and everything they want on its blog.  The company just has to remember its goals for blogging and stick with the goals in terms of content. For the blog to be effective, the company blogger must also blog diligently.  Updating the blog often will help establish readership and will also help improve the blog’s search ranking.

Use social bookmarking- Social bookmarking is the process of bookmarking useful sites for future referencing.  It is just like bookmarking a site privately on your web browser, except it is done socially. There are many social bookmarking sites online that you can use to bookmark good sites. You can also use these sites to read other people’s bookmarked pages so you can find interesting information you can also use in your business.  When you bookmark good sites, you are also establishing yourself as a provider of value and people will tend to follow you and check out the sites that you bookmark. If you have really good contents on your blog, bookmark them too. This can also help with your blog’s search ranking.

Chances are your blog is not going to land you a book or movie deal, but it is sure to bring you personal satisfaction, give you an outlet for expression, help you connect with others and even assist you with leveraging a business. Along the way, you can even come across little fame by way of following below mentioned steps:

• Blog is all about what you are passionate about. Coming up with fresh and interesting content is easier. And if you intend to onlt blog for money or fame, readers are sure to pick it up.

• Ensure to post frequently. Have a clear idea of what you are blogging about and post is consistently. Blogs do better when you have a focus.

• If you are an aspiring author, show that you have a loyal following. When someone talks about getting 25,000 unique visitors a month people pay attention. Such numbers of visitons are only possible if you have great stories to tell and/or you have great writing skills.

• Develop your unique voice. Write on topics that are unique in nature and there are many takers of the topic. But in the process of writing unique ensure to write on topic that interests you as well.

• Spend time on marketing your blog. With millions of blogs afloat on the Web, writing posts isn’t enough to attract followers. Focus on writing guest posts for other blogs or networking.

ZaaBiz has been catching up in the news off late. ‘The Telegraph’ one of the most coveted newspapers in Kolkata had an article about the new found image of social networking. A lot of hard work has gone into making networking the ‘in-thing’ in a financially crunched world.

Ever since the slump in job market more people have been joining networking websites for improving their chances of getting a good job. Now is the time to make use of opportunities that arise out of the situation. Although there is slump but still the search of good and valued employees is on, despite recession the best are still getting placed. This search is still active on networking sites.

The CEO of ZaaBiz Mr. Michael Brecht believes that ever since the slump has hit the market many are joining networking sites to utilize the time in building contacts in the industry. With new applications introduced in ZaaBiz the idea is to increase the market share for them. By making the premium membership free at ZaaBiz the website has gained more popularity among the more serious crowd of people who are looking for a change or a start. We can proudly say that the online networking channel is paying off for the opportunists.

Out of the different mobile marketing tools one of the most promising tools is social networking via mobile phones. A lot many users of mobile phones form a part of this category of users. People who are on the move traveling most of the time can now spend their time fruitfully making use of this time. Instead of listening to music all the time users of high end mobile phones can utilize this time to network with other people. It would be a good way of spending time online doing meaningful stuff. Mobile marketing has enabled this way of promoting business. It is a new technique and I feel it is sure to be a success if implemented successfully.

In India this sort of marketing has been new but is seeing a wide spread acceptance. The first of its kind was adopted by Tata’s during the launch of Grand Sumo. ZaaBiz can also be accessed by this medium. It is a new and advanced medium of promotion.

Marketing has evolved over a period of time. It has made a difference in almost all kinds of industries be it aviation, fashion or education. There is a wide variety of approach to marketing off late it is mobile marketing that has been making waves in the market. Since the boom in mobile technology the population of mobile phones has gone up by quantum figures. Related to this field of mobile technology a new form of marketing, newly coined as mobile technology has surfaced.

Mobile Marketing can refer to one of two categories of marketing. First, and relatively new, is meant to describe marketing on or with a mobile device, such as a mobile phone (this is an example of horizontal telecommunication convergence). Second, and a more traditional definition, is meant to describe marketing in a moving fashion - for example - technology road shows or moving billboards.

Marketing on a mobile phone has become increasingly popular ever since the rise of sms. Different forms of mobile marketing like mms, in game marketing, social networking, mobile web marketing, via Bluetooth and infra red have become some of the newer mediums of reaching out to more number of people.