Human resource (HR) departments in many organizations use social computing applications primarily in the areas of recruiting and training.

Recruiting

Both recruiters and job seekers are moving to online social networks as recruiting platforms. Enterprise recruiters are scanning online social networks, blogs, and other social resources to identify and find information about potential employees.

If job seekers are online and active, there is a good chance that they will be seen by recruiters. In addition, on social networks there are many passive job seekers-people who are employed but would take a better job if one appeared.

So, it is important that both active and passive job seekers maintain online profiles that truly reflect their background and skills.

IT’s About Business HRM takes a look at the difficulties inherent in the online recruiting process. It also provides some tips to assist you in a job search.

Training

Several companies use virtual worlds for training purposes. For example, Cisco uses its virtual campus in Second Life for product training and executive briefings.

IBM runs management and customer interaction training sessions in Second Life as well.