As the national economic recovery continues slowly, at McKinley Group we’re seeing a shift toward clients proactively preparing their organizations for the return of business as usual. While that may be some time off yet, what we’re talking about, in short, is making structural HR changes and snapping up available talent in a down economy to best position the business for future growth. Topping the list of to-do’s is maximizing presence in the rapidly emerging 3.0 job community with some simple steps:

Avoid Recession Recruiting
You’ve built your business with smart, long-term decisions so don’t be fooled by the seemingly endless supply of available candidates in the current job market. You should recruit for your future with the same philosophy regardless of what the economy is doing. In other words, stay picky, stay on strategy in your search for candidates and most important – use the new tools at your disposal to make sure the process is fast, slick and efficient.

Audit Online Presence
Recruiting candidates in the 3.0 job market is a little like dating. Even before you make connections, you have to be seen in the right places and look good when you are there. So if you’re intent on using the new social media tools and platforms to build your existing business for the future, now is a good time to overhaul or refresh your company’s website. Social media will be used to direct candidates, clients and other businesses to your online information, so your site should be appealing and current. Consider adding RSS feeds to aggregate daily news about your industry as a reason for candidates and clients to return to your site frequently.

Be Selectively Social
With the advent of Ning, the easy-to-use social network-building tool, there are literally thousands of social media networks for industries and niche interest groups springing up all over the web. You can’t have a company presence, brand or recruiting ad on every platform, so be selective with your strategic entry into the social media job marketplace. Do your research and pick sites that deliver a high volume of visitor traffic, add in some niche industry networks and you should have both depth and relevancy in your search.

Let’s Start with Linked-In
You must have Linked-In top of your list. Your full company profile and detailed information about mission and open job vacancies must be posted here and updated regularly. It is the single largest source for candidate mining on the Internet today. By posting here you are also using the power of networking to help your ad or job posting gain additional views.

Join the Conversation on Twitter
Twitter is growing faster than any other social media tool and has its largest active user audience group in the 35-42 age demographic. Post links to job openings and company news here, linking back to Linked-in or your website. Use hash tags (#) to highlight key search terms for other Twitter users to find your updates more quickly. And join the conversation. Any use of Twitter must also include sharing of other information: industry information, re-Tweeted articles from writers, journalists and other users that your Twitter followers will find of interest. Twitter is all about engaging the community first, being part of the conversation, and then selling your wares (job openings) after that.

Candidate Screening
Once you have your web presence updated and your social media networks built and active, you need to think about your candidates. Use social media to “background check” them, if you will. Their profiles on Facebook and other sites should be clean, appropriate and free of anything unsavory or inappropriate. It’s an easy – and essential way – to do a little digging without much expense or time.

Don’t Forget to be Personal
Building networks in the 3.0 world is very effective, but it’s important to remember to network with real world contacts too. It can be useful to reach out with news of your vacancies to industry contacts, friends and former colleagues through social media platforms, or to hire a professional search consultant who can help extend or manage your search.

Keep it Hot
Staying on top in the 3.0 job market means keeping everything current, fresh and renewed. You should look for new ways to point readers, potential candidates and others in your industry to your company website, your company Facebook page and the Twitter feeds of your management and employees if appropriate.

In the old days hiring employees and building your business started with an ad and ended with someone walking in to start the job. Today, with social media tools, recruitment is an ongoing, living process that is as much about keeping your name and profile live in the online communities that are important to your business, as it is about actually hiring people.

Tony Sorensen is a partner at McKinley Group Inc., a Minneapolis-based executive-search and recruitment company. He can be reached at tony@mckinleygroupinc.com.