Professional Social Networks: An Essential Tool for Professionals and Companies in the Global Economy

Abstract

This article presents a detailed analysis of 21 popular Professional Social Networks (PSNs) which are a means to allow workers to manage their professional profiles online. The functionality and principal characteristics of the PSNs are analyzed, including recruitment, security, privacy and communication issues, which are studied and exemplified using real cases. PSNs provide a variety of functions which use this work-related information to help both workers and companies solve problems, such as finding a job or personnel recruitment. According to our study, recommendation systems are essential in PSNs since they support all the decisions principally related to recruitment issues and are also capable of recommending courses, which will be of greater importance in the future. Finally, the impact of PSNs on workers and their search for jobs is studied by means of statistics regarding how people use the principal PSNs such as LinkedIn. Some advice is also offered to both applicants and recruiters in order to improve their effectiveness when using PSNs.