By now we all know how important it is to have a consistent and professional presence on LinkedIn and Facebook but with the rapid growth of Pinterest, experts are saying it’s important to build your portfolio there as well.

And by experts we mean recruiters! According to a recent post on ERE, Dr. John Sullivan writes, “Many users use it to show off their work, so recruiters can use it to spot great designers.”

Considering the site’s demographics lend themselves well to “targeting women or young people as recruiting prospects,” Dr. Sullivan mentions companies are getting on board on using Pinterest for recruiting. Since it’s such a visual platform, in particular graphic designers may bode well by pinning their own work to get noticed.

Plus, recruiters may start using it more frequently to post screen grabs of job announcements. Given his advice to fellow recruiters, it seems we should all lend an ear by what they’re doing, yes?

In the piece he wrote, “Make your pictures easy to find by including the most popular keywords and hashtags. You should also include QR codes and links to your careers page or your LinkedIn profile if you want to communicate directly with interesting prospects. And don’t forget the important benefit that your brand image will likely improve because you’re using this hot app.”

flickr: tiffa130

What’s happening in the recruiting world in the coming year? Dr. John Sullivan predicts ten things:

1. Continued churn of labor (simultaneous hiring/layoffs)
2. Increased use of contingent labor types
3. Increasing demand for proving a business impact in $
4. A return of the War for Talent
5. Increased growth of direct sourcing initiatives
6. Relentless demand for continued innovation
7. Increased visibility of brand-damaging viral messaging by current/former employees
8. Accelerated obsolescence of recruiting tools/approaches
9. Accelerated obsolescence of apathetic talent
10. Increased importance of formal retention efforts

Churn is the maybe the most important trend for jobseekers to be aware of: low churn is what’s contributed to the unemployed staying unemployed while the employed hop from career to career (or at the very least, hunker down and continue to get that paycheck). Sullivan suggests that employers ramp up their training efforts (to help recently unemployed people start making a difference as soon as they start their new job) and focus on making sure their temps, contractors, and freelancers are being used properly. This sounds like it could be a big opportunity for entrepreneurs, so keep an eye out for your target companies opening their doors to contractors.

flickr: Alex France

“Are you a team player?” “Do you work well under pressure?” Typical interview questions. And Dr. John Sullivan says they suck.

Why? Because it’s obvious what the answer to these questions are. Who’s going to say “No, I’m terrible under pressure?”

Sullivan recommends asking “forced-choice” interview questions, which journalists might call “open ended” ones. He gives some examples that apply more to hourly workers, but here’s one that struck us as particularly useful: “How many hours of overtime would you be willing to work on a routine basis?”

You could also ask, we gather, “What do you read?” rather than “Do you read newspapers?” or “What are you most passionate about?” rather than “Are you passionate about our work?”

These are different than the behavior-based questions (“Tell me about a time when…”) but still useful. Sullivan suggests using them early on in the process. How do you feel about these types of questions?