As if Jobvite wasn’t already making huge strides with their focus on collaborative hiring techniques, they have announced they will be launching applications to streamline job searches on both LinkedIn and Facebook. The applications will enable members to match the connections in their network with an open job posting via the Jobvite datebase. Although recruiters have been inching toward employing social networks in job search for almost a year now, this is a bold step in an amazingly efficient and viral direction.

So how does it work? A company’s employee opts into the application, enabling the service. Jobvite’s API then begins search and analyzing that employee’s community for people that fit an open position’s requirements. The matches are sent to the employee that opted in—not the match—and it is then up to the employee as to whether they forward on the job posting or not. Jobvite is also stressing that they do not scrape nor store any data found during the matching process, instead this is a one-way dialog between the API and the employee, who then has the option to facilitate the match to the connection in their community.

Drawbacks? I see potential for some spamming issues. Especially when you consider that Facebook networks have largely become diluted due to their “Add A Friend” connector feed. Many friends are not friends at all, leaving me to wonder how many times a day I will be messaged with a new job opportunity. Also the applications are not necessarily geographically targeted, therefore irrelevant job postings (for those not willing to relocate) could be forward by their so-called friends. Lastly, I wonder if this will become an abused tool by recruiters. Will we see a surge in recruiters adding fluff network connections in order to expand their potential match list? All of these questions will play themselves out over the next few weeks, but either way, we can’t deny the importance of these applications being released.

Job search and social networks have been dancing around each other for quite some time, trying to find a way to merge the breadth of a network with the depth of a job board’s data. These applications do just that, enable one community member to connect a job seeker in need with an open position—which in this competitive economical recession is nothing short then a golden ticket.  We couldn’t be happier for Jobvite and look forward to seeing where they take these applications moving forward.

What about you? Is this a good idea? Are you worried about spam? Or are you excited for this development/addition to your social networking experience?

For more on the applications and today’s release please check out ere.net and their article, Jobvite’s New Tools May Be Game-changers For Social Network Recruiting.