Hey, it’s a new year, which means – well, I don’t know! But some stuff did happen in the past 30-40 days, so let’s take

 a look at how the industry is faring:

• Quora and LinkedIn integrate: In a StackOverflow-like move, LinkedIn users now have the ability to link their Quora account to their profiles, thus providing viewers with more insight into the user’s skills and knowledge. Is this a deal-changer? No, but it’s the kind of incremental improvement that makes LinkedIn so competitive.
• New referral-based recruiting system garners $500K: Tomigo, a new start-up, has raised $500,000 from Yaron Carni and the Tel Aviv Angel Group to develop a social recruiting system based on the concept of employees referring their social media contacts. The system allows companies to circulate information about job openings through their own employees on social networks such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Google Plus. Yet another take on the job board model.
• TheLadders ‘reinvents’ job search: TheLadders has released a number of new mobile offerings, including “TheLadders Scout”, which summarizes the qualifications of other job seekers who already have applied to the job-listing of interest. Will it ‘reinvent’ job search? Hmm.
• A job board for MBAs and the companies that love them: A new site that offers projects, internships, and jobs for MBAs has launched.MBAProjectSearch has a mix of freelance jobs, internships and full-time employment, with free postings and an eBay-like feedback mechanism. Interesting – a niche version of oDesk or elance.
• CareerCloud launches Social Resume: CareerCloud, the latest venture from job board veteran Chris Russell, has launched Social Resume. The platform lets a job seeker take information from LinkedIn, Facebook, and other social networking sites, then consolidate it in one publicly visible page. Sounds like an idea whose time has come.
• Tribune may sell its stake of CareerBuilder: Want to invest in CareerBuilder (which seems to be doing pretty well these days)? You may get your chance. In an interview with Bloomberg News, Lance Vitanza, managing director at CRT Capital Group LLC, suggested that Tribune Company’s partial ownership of Food Network and CareerBuilder might well be up for sale, now that the media company has emerged from bankruptcy. I guess this isMonster’s big chance to buy out the competition!
• Reality TV show gets boost from Jobsite: Jobsite.com has announced its sponsorship of Top Recruiter – Season 2, a web-based reality show that brings together the world’s most talented recruiters in a head-to-head competition. My question: when is the Recruiting Animal coming on?
• Facebook announces Graph Search: Facebook’s new search tool, Graph Search, is designed to take a precise query and give you an answer, rather than links that might provide the answer. Analysts have been quick to point to Graph Search’s potential as a recruiting tool. We shall see.
• Google’s in-house job board now links with Google+: Looking for a job at Google? You can now easily suck up to future managers and co-workers by adding them to your Google+ circles. The search giant has added Google+ integration to the company’s job board to make it easier to tailor job searches to your qualifications, save jobs to favorites, connect with Google employees, get job posting updates via e-mail and use your Google+ information to fill out job applications. Smart move.

That’s it for now. More soon!