Sourcing with MSN: MSN Groups

Posted by Jim Stroud

February 6, 2006

If you were in a room full of say… 325 software developers, could you recruit one? Chances are that you could; question is where would you go to find 325 software developers in one place? Well if you visit MSN Groups, you could be in that position right now. Let me show you what I mean…

Here is a screenshot of the homepage for MSN Groups.

MSN has lots and lots and LOTS of groups in its domain. People gather to discuss everything from Religion to the last episode of Despearate Housewives.They also gather to discuss technology. On the left hand side of the page is a “Computers and Internet” section. (See the arrow?)

For your convenience, MSN has divided their groups in such categories as Hardware, Programming and Software. The numbers in parenthesis signify how many groups are listed under that main heading. For example, besides the “Programming” link is the number 858 indicative of the 858 sub-groups that are listed under the main group - Programming. (see below)

To give you a closer look of this, I choose the “Programming” group. Underneath that group are more sub-groups dedicated to: C++, Java and Perl. Scrolling down the page a bit more and we see a long list of 603 groups discussing various forms of technology. (See below)

So what now? Well, you would click on the group of your choosing (Advanced .NET Programming for example) and ponder which of the many members you want to approach. I would suggest that you tread carefully when approaching people in this type of setting however as some might take offense to an unsolicited approach from a recruiter. Go figure.

Here are a few steps you might want to ocnsider beforehand.

1. Contact the manager of the group and ask them to post your position. (They just might do it.)

2. Lurk in the group for awhile and discern which members seem to be the most knowledgable. Approach these individuals directly and (if possible) outside of the group setting. (We don’t want to be banned from the group do we?)

3. I don’t have a three to share. Sorry… (smile)

I hope this tip proves useful to you!

Happy Hunting

P.S. I wonder if this would qualify as a “Post of the week” a Recruiting.com?