Technology offers employers, recruiters and hiring managers powerful new recruitment tools, but the pace of change can be an obstacle, and face-to-face methods need to remain central to the process. 

We've seen many organisations rushing into the online networking space before developing a proper recruitment strategy.

With the popularity of technologies such as Facebook, Wikis and blogs, all the talk has been about how these online spaces could help firms find those elusive passive candidates. Here was a medium that provided free access to thousands of potential candidates.

But the increasing use of these mediums means employers no longer totally own their brand. This is where a clear strategy and policy around what employees can and cannot do comes into play.

There is more to consider than simply broadening your search base. As we all know, its quality not quantity that matters. If companies want to be active in online communities, their image and reputation have to be carefully managed and monitored, and they need to act quickly to address any issues because they can become widespread very quickly and have a significant impact on candidate attraction.

Next week, some pointers on how to incorporate social media into your recruitment process.

Emma Charnock, regional director, Hays (Hong Kong and China)