

Identified Launches Its People-Ranking Professional Search Engine - matan_a
http://www.forbes.com/sites/tomiogeron/2011/09/19/identified-launches-its-people-ranking-professional-search-engine/

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devy_t
Identified seems to be an effective way to drill down who went to school
where, what companies employed who, and who knows who. The number generated
from the search engine can be entertaining however when it comes to hiring
decisions and real job experience the candidate who is “friends” with the most
influential or worked at a certain company won’t exactly turn out to be the
most intelligent or at least for a particular position a recruiter is trying
to fill (ie, George Bush Jr vs Ronald Reagan). If I was a recruiter now and I
have been in the past for various types of organizations (both in the private
and public sector), those who benefit the organization most tend to be those
who have the personality, the technical skills, the heart for the job, and
share the vision of the team which are all determined by a variety of factors
bigger than one single score. As labor costs constitute such a huge portion of
a company’s budget, I would suggest getting to know exactly who you hire,
inside and out, which takes time and effort. Well worth it to avoid a
disastrous hiring decision.

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devy_t
Alternatively it would be interesting if Identified showed three scores for
each factor considered - one score for education tied to national surveys/
rankings, one score for companies worked tied to perhaps employment surveys
conducted by HR consulting firms, and another for connections so that viewers
would see three numbers side by side. The availability of all this information
is of course dependent on how willing facebook users would be to voluntary
disclosure, especially their connections. Some important people don't want to
be identified as such and the friends of these individuals would want to
protect them from others capitalizing on the relationship.

