There’s a job in your scrap!

CHENNAI/BANGALORE: Vijay Nayak (43), a chemical engineer by training, was “trapped” in an IT job for 15 years in Bangalore. “My career was stagnating and I wanted to do what I had learnt in college. Then, last year, I got this job offer through a contact in Ryze networking,” says Nayak who has taken over as the country head, India, of the Dubai-based Global Engineering Systems.

B Somakumar (32), an engineer with Kodak in Chennai for seven years, wanted to get back to his native place in Kochi, but never got a transfer. His dream came true early this year after he received a new job offer through a scrap message in his Orkut account. “A fatter salary pack, more freedom and being with my dear ones-I could not ask for more,” says Somakumar, whose Orkut profile details his skills in converting conventional photo printers to digital ones.

Online communities and social networking groups such as Orkut, Ryze, Flicker and Yahoo 360 have become job exchange points where prospective employees, employers and recruitment agents are spending productive hours. Even job portals have started groups within the online communities that have a growing pool of job seekers. And all at no cost. “These communities are a good preliminary hunting ground, though all the profiles there are not trustworthy,” says Micheal M Bala, business head of  clickjobs.com.

“Almost all colleges and B-schools have alumni groups (within online communities) which are good poaching grounds. We get easy access to target recruits through specialist groups on software, human resources, sales and management. What’s more, 90 per cent of them are genuine,”  adds BS Murthy, CEO, Human Capital Consulting.

While some of the member profiles with personal, professional and social details are more elaborate than an average resume, employers also find the scraps (open messages) a valuable source of information about the prospective recruit. “The scrap entries give a fair idea about the person, the circles he moves in and how he behaves in casual conversations and reacts to issues,” says K R Rajesh, who recruits graduates for his marketing firm in Chennai.

Interactions in the communities matter a lot, says Reva, a software programmer from Coimbatore, who recently landed a job through Orkut. “I joined an Orkut community of a company to find out about a training programme. I started discussing general stuff with several people in the company. They liked the way I participated in the discussions and gave me an offer,” she says.

Conscious of employers on the prowl, job seekers are polishing their profiles to push themselves. “Out-of-the-box thinker and a team man to the core,” says the profile of a young graduate who identifies himself as Top Gun in Orkut.