Jobs search engine, Simply Hired, has developed an application for social networking site Facebook, which allows users to display a mini CV, as well as indicate how open they are to new job opportunities.

Called Workin' It!, the application also tells potential employers what type of roles or positions the individual is interested in and offers users the facility to give and receive 'gold stars', which lets friends and colleagues rate how good you are at your work.

"With thousands of applications being developed for the Facebook platform, we wanted to ensure that our offering created real value to the user," said Peter Chang, lead software engineer at Simply Hired. Facebook recently opened up its platform to enable developers to make applications that integrate with the site (see Jobtonic, right). The site has just passed the 30 million worldwide user milestone and, internationally, the UK is the third largest Facebook user with more than 1.4 million active members.

As yet more evidence of the relevance of social networking sites to recruiters, Simply Hired has also deepened its links with MySpace by developing a widget which users can download and use to display contextually relevant jobs on their own MySpace area.

"The UK social networking market is on the rise and I believe we'll continue to see dramatic growth. Nothing speaks louder than market growth," Gautam Godhwani, CEO of Simply Hired, told Recruiter. "I also think we'll see increased verticalisation with more niche social networks."

Focusing on niche and local communities of talent is one of Simply Hired's key strategies. In the US, it has announced a partnership with local search website Neighborhood.com and now has a jobs channel on 24 major television stations which form part of the localised MyFox network. Its Job-a-matic product, meanwhile, which allows any web publisher to create their own job board targeted at a specific audience, currently has 2,000 users worldwide. Simply Hired expects this figure to rise to 5,000 by the end of the year.

www.simplyhired.com