It's no secret that I'm fascinated by blogging and networking Online - that social networks in near any form are something that I love to play with (Sci-Fi is a member of Dogster... doesn't this say it all?) But last week I started a project at home that had nothing to do with recruiting or social networking - or so I thought at first. It became quite obvious to me after just two days into this new passion that I had actually tapped into the oldest social network of all... My genealogy.
Having just recently lost my last Grandfather I happened to be discussing family tree and lineage issues last week while Twittering when Natahlee recommended (via Twitter) Geni.com based on it's ease of use. Many thanks go to Natahlee for the recommendation, she could not have picked an easier site to use and update, in my humble opinion.
After firing up this gem I found that adding members of your family line is as easy as typing in a name and email address for them. They then receive an invitation to join where they enter names and email addresses of additional family members and so on. The Geni.com site allows for nearly any level of detail to include timelines, photo galleries, discussion threads, journal entries (micro-blogs) and much more. It was on the 3rd day, when my family had collectively entered over 100 names and 6 generations of lineage (all without any begging or pleading) that I got my first personal message about employment opportunities. The second and third inquiries weren't far behind.
You see, my personal profile displayed my profession - just like it would in any other social network. And people responded - just like they would in any other social network. Of course, in this network the referrences and recommendations are much more personal.
At this morning's last login I had nearly 75 living blood relatives and another 40 or so in-laws displayed on a map for review (another slick feature.) With a few keystrokes I announced to several that I was working to fill jobs in a few key areas where I saw a concentration of family. Within just 3 hours I've already received as many emails with at least 5 quality leads.
Something to think about, indeed.
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Mar 25, 2008Posted By
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Chris Hoyt (aka: TheRecruiterGuy)My Geni network is crazy out of control. I've more relatives than I thought - and more than I thought would be interested in contributing.
I'm loving this thing!!
www.geni.com
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