UK developers are already working on recruitment-related applications based on the OpenSocial standard, recently announced by Google.

OpenSocial means that for the first time, third-party applications can be developed for any social network that supports the standard. To date, these include MySpace and Bebo, as well as the business oriented networks LinkedIn, Viadeo and Xing. Facebook, which opened up its own platform for development earlier this year, has not joined OpenSocial.

Nick Goldstein, sales and marketing director of the reward and referrral site Jobtonic, which was one of the first job boards to develop an application for Facebook, told Recruiter that the standard is "fantastic news" and said the company's software developers are already exploring ideas for OpenSocial. "This will open up a lot more opportunities for wider applications, which will help recruiters leverage the benefits of social networking," he said.

On-demand talent and candidate management system provider, Taleo, which has written a white paper on social networking's impact on recruitment and which recently developed an application on Facebook, told Recruiter that it will monitor customer demand before deciding to develop. "We'll wait for feedback from our customer base as to what they see as important for their sourcing strategies," said Chris Phillips, Taleo's senior director of international marketing. Business social networking site Viadeo has been involved in the OpenSocial project from the beginning and has developed an application that allows its members to ask their entire network of online associates a question and get answers back. Peter Cunningham, country manager for Viadeo UK, told Recruiter that the only limit to applications is the developer's imagination and has already seen some interesting developments between job boards and online business networks where there is a "natural partnership to be developed".

"We've already had several discussions along these lines," he said. Such developments are particularly relevant at the senior end of recruitment, he added.

l Through a joint venture with Goldjobs, Viadeo recently created ViadeoGold, an authenticated executive community providing content, including job opportunities, for senior executives.

www.jobtonic.com

www.taleo.com

www.viadeo.com