Recently, it was announced that Yahoo is investigating launching a new social networking site call KickStart. The new site proposes to match college students with alumni at companies they are interested in for their careers. While this is an interesting twist to the social networking space, how is this really different than using LinkedIn or other social networking sites? You can still search various criteria, such as employer, on other sites.
The fact that this is very targeted at college students for the sole purpose of connecting them with alumni may have some merit but not sure if this will stand out from what is already out there in the marketplace.
I believe that too many social networking sites are in operation so it will be interesting to see if Yahoo actually launches this site.
What do you think?
For the entire story, go to Yahoo's New Social Job Network: Kickstart
Also, David Dalka provides an interesting perspective on the Kickstart idea in his post: Kickstart Solves the Wrong Recruiting Problem.
I see this as a good add-on to a service like LinkedIn, but not as a standalone service, as like you said Jason, it is yet another social networking site and another login to track!
I also commented on David's post about some of my thoughts on how hiring is done today... and this is partially who I decided to start Dunkirk Systems and go on my own.
mp/m
Posted by: Mike Maddaloni | September 01, 2007 at 11:15 AM
I see this as a good add-on to a service like LinkedIn, but not as a standalone service, as like you said Jason, it is yet another social networking site and another login to track!
I also commented on David's post about some of my thoughts on how hiring is done today... and this is partially who I decided to start Dunkirk Systems and go on my own.
mp/m
Posted by: Mike Maddaloni | September 01, 2007 at 11:16 AM
Yes, I agree Mike. This new service seems like a cross between LinkedIn and Facebook. If this site is used for the college hiring process, then it won't have the stickiness with people once they graduate. So, they need to figure out a way to keep people after they graduate.
Posted by: Jason Jacobsohn | September 02, 2007 at 08:23 AM
The whole social networking website business is getting more and more difficult. So many usernames to remember with so many passwords...but only a limited amount of time to be on each one...
It is crazy trying to manage each and every profile and friends. I have only chosen a couple that I feel are valuable and am sticking with them.
Posted by: Scott Bradley | September 02, 2007 at 12:10 PM
I agree Scott. I am not part of many either because like you said, it is difficult to maintain several. I prefer business ones such as LinkedIn.
Posted by: Jason Jacobsohn | September 02, 2007 at 03:45 PM