Dinnens' report on last Thursday's (19 November 2009) trulondon Recruiting Unconference includes the following observations:

• On UK recruiters' failure to use social media to develop networks or communities or to use groups to engage candidates and clients: "It seemed depressingly familiar, just another medium for finding names to headhunt and for advertising roles. [... W]hy do we have this amazing new medium which opens up all sorts of possibilities, can really transform the way we work and interact, enables us to deliver some real value for candidates and clients...and then just try and find ways of using it to do the same old, same old..."
• On the growing centrality of social media usage and policy as a differentiator for potential employees: "Social media policy will soon be an extremely important criterion for candidates to consider when assessing a company (actually, why isn't it now?)... and a legitimate question for the interviewee to ask. [...] I can certainly see a time soon when businesses will be rejected if their policies are not forward thinking, encouraging, empowering and trusting."

This blog post has already sparked an interesting debate in the comments box, which is just as worthy of your reading time as the original post itself.

See also:

• Social media in recruitment: the direct, zero-cost route to hiring?
• Social networking at work: a right, not a privilege?