We recently blogged about the site DevBistro, which is a source for technical interview questions.‚ Another helpful resource for technical recruiters is a website called WhatIs, which claims its stake as “the leading IT encyclopedia and learning center”.‚ 

I highly recommend bookmarking this site as your “go to” resource for answers to any of your questions about technology.‚  The site is set up in a way that is very easy to navigate to find the info you need quickly and efficiently.‚ On the main page is a large list of technical categories.‚ You can also do a keyword search for the technology that is in question or you can browse topics alphabetically.‚ When I am trying to find a particular topic, I prefer searching alphabetically, because sometimes you might not have the correct name or spelling and you won’t find what you’re looking for.‚ 

The definitions that you get from WhatIs are pulled from a variety of different sites, but they are all part of the TechTarget family of sites, which happens to be who runs WhatIs also.‚ Say you want to learn what JavaScript actually is.‚  Below is the result of my search on JavaScript, you can get an idea of what the definitions look like.

I find the definitions on WhatIs to be pretty easy to understand for a non-technical person, and they make sure to add links to other technologies referenced in the definition in case you want to research further.‚ WhatIs might not be the best place to search for some obscure technologies; I couldn’t even find a definition for Java Server Faces (JSF) on the site.‚  However, if you do a keyword search on a technology that doesn’t have a definition, you are still presented with web results that could help answer your questions.

One interesting feature that I just found while writing this blog is a “How do you pronounce IT?” section which lists a bunch of odd names of technologies or acronyms that are sometimes confusing for people who don’t deal with these names on an everyday basis.‚ Now we can really sound like we know what we’re talking about when we’re talking to techies!

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Here is a follow up video to a post from last week on 11 Sourcing Alternatives to Google. This video gives a very short demo overview on‚ Powerlabs, which is a new search engine set to debut in 2008 and is based on “natural language” search technology. Recruiters and Internet Sourcers will see the potential value in using this search engine moving forward.

*If you would like full screen, please hit the small box on the lower right hand corner of the media player.

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Sponsored by SmashFly Technologies, Provider of WildFire, The First Job Marketing Platform

Facebook is, per their website, “a social utility that connects you with the people around you”.‚ On this site, you can set-up a personal profile of yourself, connect with friends and work colleagues, join networks and groups, post videos and photos, read news and more. Facebook is a social networking site, much like LinkedIn for example, but with a more open community for communicating, setting-up and customizing profiles and sharing of information. The site was originally built for college students to network and socialize with one another, but has since opened its doors to everyone else, and it has‚ really taken off‚ in popularity. Here is my home page below. You can see that it offers alot of features and information.

Recruiters and Internet Sourcers can use this site as another outlet for finding potential job seekers and candidates. Here are a few ways to do this:

1) Use Facebook “Friend Finder”. This‚ feature automatically scans your email and address books. This will show you what friends, colleagues and other people you know who are already out on Facebook and will give the option to send invitations to connect. From there you can see what mutual friends you have‚ and also look into their other friends as well. You can see the names and minimal information for friends that are “not‚ mutual”, but you‚ do have ways to reach out to them and connect directly. In most cases, you can use Facebooks option to “poke” them, write on their “wall” in their profile, or see if they posted contact information on their page - such as a phone or email address.‚ 

2) Use‚ Search Options. Facebook offers Basic Search (by keywords), Advanced Search (tons of options such as location, company, title and education), the ability to search for classmates by schools, and the ability to search for colleagues by current and past workplaces. The one drawback on Facebook is that it will only let you search your network (I’m from Pittsburgh, so my network is limited to Pittsburgh connections and anyone else I connected with). One way around this is to connect with others outside of your network, but are only limited to see those contacts‚ in the other networks. Another option is‚ to change what network you want to be designated on Facebook.

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3) Post Positions to the Marketplace. Postings are free on the site and go out to your network. Most job categories are represented.‚ 

4) Join Groups. This is the area where you are most likely going to find people and connect. I highly recommend. One group I joined is Web 2.0 Entrepreneurs, which has over 29,ooo members. There is a discussion board where you can interact with other members. This is where you will get a good bang for your buck so to speak on Facebook. An example of a discussion is below.

There are plently of other ways to use Facebook, such as asking questions to your network, participating in or sponsoring events and uploading tailored videos for others to see. You can customize your‚ profile and advertise your interests in connecting and job openings that way as well. I will do a video tutorial on Facebook in the next few days. Keep an eye out for it.

Sponsored by SmashFly Technologies, Provider of WildFire, The First Job Marketing Platform

Google Maps is a very useful tool for Recruiters and Internet Sourcers in many ways. Let me explain.

Let’s say you are sourcing in a new area geographically, and are unsure of the surrounding cities and towns. You find a perfect candidate while sourcing, and you want to determine if this candidate is within a commutable range of the client site. In this example screen shot below, I am trying to find out if Stamford, CT. (where‚ a perfect candidate lives) is closeby to Hartford, CT. (where‚ the client is).‚ You can see it shows that it is 1hr. 30 min. away, most likely too far for the candidate. By using Google Maps, I can also see what‚ surrounding areas‚ ARE within a reasonable commutable distance, and I will take note in future searches.

Another example is say you are searching for businesses to source from a city you have not worked in before. Google Maps will do a search and show you where businesses are located nearby, along with contact information and links to their websites. In this example below, I searched for financial companies located near Hartford, CT.

Sponsored by SmashFly Technologies, Provider of WildFire, The First Job Marketing Platform