IT Career Site Dice Launches Network for Tech Recruiters, Job Hunters

Want to mingle with tech recruiters? Get to know hiring managers in the companies you might be interested in joining? IT job site Dice has launched a new networking site that aims to connect IT job seekers and tech recruiters on a more personal level than traditional resume-submitting transactions allow.

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Called the Dice Talent Network, the new initiative combines social recruiting tools with a specialized job board environment. Employers can communicate directly via chat or IM as well as release announcements about new positions to anyone in their network. Tech pros, meanwhile, can choose to follow companies where they might want to work and decide what kinds of information (including tie-ins to Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, blogs or personal Web pages) to share with hiring managers and recruiters.

“The Talent Network is all about creating more interactions and more connections between companies and tech professionals,” says Scot Melland, CEO of parent company Dice Holdings.

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About 100 companies including eBay, Geico, Siemens and Staples took part in the early beta of the Dice Talent Network, which will continue to add companies now that it’s live. Tech professionals can hand-pick which employers will have access to their resumes and profiles — though employers don’t have to accept every request to connect more directly. “A company doesn’t have to accept your connection, but if you connect, you can have more of a one-on-one conversation with the company,” Melland says.

Today’s hiring environment — like the Internet in general — is becoming much more social, he says.

“Recruiting is becoming much more of a relationship-building game, rather than a transaction. People expect to be able to connect on more of a one-to-one basis, and they expect to get rich sets of information about people or the companies that they are connecting with.”

Talent voids are only going to exacerbate the need for networking among IT hiring managers and potential job seekers, Melland adds.

“Recruiting is going to get difficult in the tech space over the next couple of years because of shortages of new graduates and shortages in certain technical fields. It’s going to be critical for companies to build talent pools — meaning, create relationships with large groups of people who have skills that they’re interested in.”

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