Per this week’s survey results from job boards, we’ve seen some changes over the past 12 months – not the least of which is increased optimism. Perhaps part of that is based on what HR and recruiting professionals are actually doing to find candidates. This installment of the survey results describes how things have changed (in some areas) during the last year. Here are some highlights:

• Social media (78%) and general job boards (74%) lead the pack as the tools used most frequently. (For comparison’s sake, last year had social media (70%) and company career sites (65%) leading the pack)
• Not surprisingly, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook continue to dominate the social media tools used – but company blogs have gained popularity (from 28% in 2010 to 29% this year)
• Niche job boards, company career sites, and social media are all slated for the largest increases in spending for the coming year (last year, SM, company sites, and referral programs led)
• The quality of the candidates is far and away the top deliverable respondents gained from job boards (as it was in 2010)
• .jobs saw a slight uptick in interest – from 13% in 2010 to 18% in 2011

Take a look for yourself (survey download requires free registration).