This document discusses how exclusive online communities hosted by alumni associations and professional organizations can help employers source qualified talent more effectively than open social networks or job boards. It argues that exclusive networks provide authenticity, protect privacy, and leverage shared affinity between members to foster trust and willingness to help one another. This creates benefits for both employers and the hosting organizations. For employers, it establishes their brand, allows advanced targeting of qualified candidates, and builds a talent pipeline. For hosting organizations, it engages alumni, reinforces their brand's value, and promotes continued involvement through activities like referrals, events, and donations.

1. White Paper
SM
Get Connected. Get Ahead.
Winning the War for Talent
The new model for online recruitment sources qualified candidates
more effectively by tapping exclusive online communities.
©2008 Affinity Circles affinitycircles.com

2. Table of Contents
Abstract
Section I: The Market Landscape – How Social Media Is Changing the Way
Talent Is Sourced
The War for Talent is Raging1.
Online Job Boards Become Obsolete2.
Open Social Networks Hold False Promise3.
Section II: The Power Of Exclusivity – Creating More Value for Sponsors
and Advertisers
Exclusive Social Networks Yield Results for Associations4.
Case in Point: Gator Nation Network connects alumni
Exclusive Social Networks Provide Competitive Edge to Employers5.
5.1. Established presence brands preferred employers
5.2 Advanced targeting engages qualified passive candidates
5.3. Talent pipeline improves recruitment ROI
Section III: Affinity Circles – The Leading Provider Of Exclusive Social Networks
Success Factors Converge in Affinity Circles6.
6.1The Affinity Circles Difference: An exclusive technology platform
inCircle Recruiting Offers Proven Solution7.
Case in Point: Juniper Networks targets IT alumni
Case in Point: Lam Research builds talent pipeline
About Affinity Circles8.
Testimonials
Table 1. Most Valued Sources of New Hires
Table 2. Young Alumni Drive Member Engagement
Figure 1. Percent of Job Seekers Expressing Comfort with Submitting Personal Information
Figure 2. The Essential Difference: The inCircle Ecosystem
©2008 Affinity Circles

3. ©2008 Affinity Circles 1
Abstract
Talent is the secret weapon in a knowledge-based
economy, where strategic success depends upon
creativity and innovation. To stay competitive in today’s
job market, employers are increasingly investing in new
sourcing techniques to recruit qualified professionals.
One innovative recruitment model connects employers
with qualified passive candidates through online alumni
communities where participation is exclusive, privacy is
protected and identities are authenticated.
Colleges and universities can facilitate the profes-
sional advancement of their graduates by providing
a trusted online environment where employers can
engage alumni in dialog about career opportunities.
These sanctioned interactions allow employers to es-
tablish trusted relationships that would not otherwise
be possible.
For employers, recruitment advertising in the ex-
clusive online communities of alumni associations
builds brand awareness and creates a talent pipeline
of qualified, interested candidates. This shortens the
recruiting cycle, reduces advertising costs, and in-
creases the quality of their hires.
For alumni associations, recruitment from within the
exclusive online community reinforces the endur-
ing value of the academic brand, fosters continued
alumni engagement, and promotes participation in
development campaigns.
1. The War for Talent is Raging
In today’s increasingly competitive global marketplace,
recruiting and retaining top talent is a strategic imper-
ative. Forty-three percent of global executives recently
surveyed report that talent sourcing is a moderate to
severe challenge, making it a top risk factor in achiev-
ing high performance for their organizations.1
Two well-documented trends are making it increasing-
ly difficult to find and attract quality candidates. First,
the workforce is aging, and there are not enough pro-
fessionals to replace retiring baby boomers. The U.S.
Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that the U.S. work-
force will grow by only 3 percent from 2000 to 2020 as
a result of the retiring baby boom generation.2
In addition, there is a shortage of students entering
professional fields such as engineering, technology
and medicine. In the 21st century labor market, the
U.S. Dept of Education predicts that 60 percent of
jobs will require skills possessed by only 20 percent
of the workforce.3
The combination of these trends creates an intensely
competitive labor market, where the most sought-
after candidates have more choices, leading to lower
recruiting yields for employers.
2. Online Job Boards
Become Obsolete
Online job boards such as Monster.com and Career-
Builder.com have attempted to solve this problem by
aggregating job postings and job seekers. But rather
than delivering better results for employers, these
communities flood the applicant pool with active job
seekers who are frequently under qualified for profes-
sional positions.
According to recruitment industry expert Peter
Weddle, there are more than 50,000 job boards and
career portals in operation on the Internet.4
The
proliferation of job boards has created confusion
and frustration among job seekers and diminishing
returns for employers.5
As a result, employers waste
valuable resources at a time when their staffing needs
are most dire.
In a recent recruiting survey conducted by The
Adler Group, 89 percent of respondents indicated
that they are not seeing enough strong candidates
for important positions, and 63 percent reported that
the quality and quantity of responses from the major
job boards is either a huge problem (20 percent) or
growing problem (43 percent).6
In 2006, employers
reported spending more than one-third of their re-
cruiting budgets on general job boards, even though
The War for Talent is Raging / Online Job Boards Become Obsolete

4. ©2008 Affinity Circles 2
the quality of applicants provided by the boards was
only 22 percent favorable.7
Clearly, posting job requisitions in job-search com-
munities does not produce new hires at a rate suf-
ficient to meet the demand for talent. This model for
online recruitment advertising is no longer viable.
Industry expert Lou Adler seemed to be speaking for
many when he asked, “Is the transactional corporate
recruiting model doomed?”8
Too often, the transac-
tion between employer and applicant is not complet-
ed because applicants’ credentials are insufficient, or
candidates withdraw in favor of opportunities where
social networks play a role.
To compete effectively in the talent war, employers
are now going beyond job boards to find more pro-
ductive pools of talent.
3. Open Social Networks
Hold False Promise
Open social networks allow employers to take ad-
vantage of existing relationships and make more
meaningful connections with candidates than are
possible on job boards. Market leaders LinkedIn and
Facebook bring together large communities of indi-
viduals connected to one another by either profes-
sional or personal relationships. These relationships
can be used by employers as channels to promote
job opportunities. But despite their size, open social
networks fail to deliver on their promise of a better
recruiting experience on three dimensions:
First they provide no authentication of the opportu-
nities being presented within the community, the em-
ployers offering the opportunities, or the candidates
being targeted.With no pre-qualification or screening,
community members may not be the professionals
they claim to be, and their academic credentials may
be real or fabricated. The Wall St. Journal recently re-
ported that “disputes about the veracity of academic
credentials have become common.”9
The fact that
there is no way to tell if someone is accurately repre-
senting themselves creates a credibility gap that can
repel the best employers and candidates.
Second, open networks provide at best rudimentary
privacy settings that do not allow users to establish
different levels of trust for different types of connec-
tions. Their marginal utility fails to protect highly de-
sirable members from being aggressively contacted
by other members. Likewise, recruiters can easily
abuse the ability to contact anyone in the network
in order to headhunt or obtain personal references
without a potential candidate’s knowledge or per-
mission.10
In addition, the confidentiality of passive
candidates who accept a professional inquiry is easily
violated, since it is impossible for them to express
interest without exposing their identity and contact
information. Thus, one positive response can easily
lead to an endless series of additional solicitations.
Finally, open network connections and communica-
tions tend to be initiated by those members who are
seeking assistance. With most interactions being driv-
en by“have not’s,” the ensuing nuisance-factor causes
the best job candidates to resist actively participating.
Instead, these professionals rely on more exclusive
networks such as their alumni associations, where
they have a shared affinity and established credibil-
ity. The CenterNetworks blog post, “Are The Most
LinkedIn Really LinkedOut?” said it best: “In an age
when online social networks get all the attention, the
best social networks are still very much exclusive to
the real world.”11
The open network model is fatally flawed because
it does not provide authenticity, protect privacy or
leverage shared affinity. Without these key success
factors, network users lack the motivation to assist
Open Social Networks Hold False Promise
The open network model is fatally
flawed, because it does not provide
the trusted environment necessary
for community members to effectively
help one another.

5. ©2008 Affinity Circles 3
one another for the greater good of the community,
and both job candidates and employers fail to realize
the full potential of the connections being made.
4. Exclusive Social Networks
Yield Results For Associations
Alumni associations and other professional organiza-
tions can protect the privacy of their members by estab-
lishing private social networks. Because they are sanc-
tioned by trusted organizations, these exclusive online
communities succeed where open networks fail.
To ensure authenticity and privacy, the sponsoring
organization authenticates the identity and creden-
tials of all members; the “members only” environ-
ment, in turn, increases privacy — a pre-requisite for
many individuals who have resources to share. As a
result, the higher degree of trust and affinity among
members increases their willingness to help one an-
other. As the associate director for the Adelphi Col-
lege career center noted, “An online networking site
to connect alumni will go a long way in matching
students with those who are predisposed to help and
even hire them.”12
Associationshavetraditionallyofferednichejobboards
where members who are actively seeking employment
can look for opportunities. The addition of an exclu-
sive online community where members can network
both socially and professionally adds a new dimension
to the organization’s service offering, while providing
a valuable source of qualified, interested candidates
for employers. Because members can search for other
members who work for a prospective employer, the
online alumni network also generates employee refer-
rals for job opportunities. These contacts offer insights
into industry trends, what’s going on at the company,
and how the hiring process works.13
With a membership base that spans a cross section
of industries, professions and geographic regions,
alumni associations are uniquely positioned to pro-
vide the three most valued sources of new hires for
employers — employee referrals, social networking
and niche job boards.14
For the association, every new
hire represents a satisfied alum who has advanced
his or her professional career with the help of the
online alumni community.
Table 1: Most Valued Sources of New Hires. Source:
2007 Recruiting Trends Survey15
Source of Hire
Source
Value Index
Employee Referrals 3.56
Social Networking 1.58
Niche Job Boards 0.82
Commercial Resume Database 0.80
General Job Boards 0.59
Newspapers 0.57
Career Fairs 0.56
Search Firms 0.53
(Source Value Index = Percent of Hires / Percent of Spend)
The greater the value members derive from an orga-
nization-branded network, the more likely they are to
not only stay active in the organization but also give
back — in the form of sharing resources, making re-
ferrals, participating in events and making donations.
“We found that the more connected someone is as an
alumni and the more they participate, the better it is
for giving back to the university,” said David Roloff,
director of membership and marketing for the Uni-
versity of Missouri (Mizzou) Alumni Association.16
Active members of MizzouNet, one of 140 online
alumni communities hosted by Affinity Circles, have
formed more than 300 special interest groups and
scheduled 240 alumni events.17
At Beloit College, 75
percent of alumni who registered with Beloit’s inCir-
cle community are donors to the alumni association;
and 30 percent of all alumni donors are frequently
engaged through the online communityhosted by
Affinity Circles.18
Young alumni — those who have graduated within
the past five years — tend to drive member engage-
ment because of their prior exposure to online social
Exclusive Social Networks Yield Results For Associations

6. ©2008 Affinity Circles 4
networking. Indeed, as Newsday reports, “The Fa-
cebook generation expects to be part of a commu-
nity that hangs together even after diploma day has
come and gone.”19
Research shows that more than
60 percent of young alumni never use online alumni
association directories; but 53 percent prefer online
networks to keep in touch, and 83 percent would use
an online career center.20
Engaged members also tend to maintain more up-
to-date profiles, providing the association with cur-
rent member contact information and demograph-
ics when this data is automatically synchronized
between the community and the member database.
Accurate member demographics, in turn, make the
alumni network more attractive to corporate recruit-
ers as a means to announce relevant job opportuni-
ties through recruitment advertising, employee net-
working and special events.
With nearly 70 percent of young alumni posting re-
sumes on the Internet, alumni associations must offer
superior online networking and job search capabilities
to engage recent graduates and remain relevant.Those
who do reap the rewards of a vibrant, interactive alum-
ni community that is an attractive resource for employ-
ers. Aerotek Inc. recruiter Soraya van Dillen uses the
online alumni network for her alma mater, Santa Clara
University, to find the right job candidates.
“I’m very aware of the caliber of students and gradu-
ates they produce,” van Dillen said. “Not a single
candidate from Santa Clara has ever failed me. My
first step is to go back there.”21
5. Exclusive Social Networks
Provide Competitive Edge
To Employers
When employers participate in the official social net-
works of alumni associations and other professional
organizations, they connect with members whose aca-
demic credentials and professional accreditations are
authentic. Their recruitment yields improve, because
community members are comfortable responding to
professional opportunities or referring colleagues.
The connections made in an exclusive online com-
munity benefit the entire community. Research
shows that connections between people who share
an alma mater, professional trade or other special
interest are more valuable than purely social connec-
tions.25
These relationships function as a filter, pro-
viding participants with pre-qualified and, therefore,
credible information. Fully 86 percent of workers age
20-29, and 87 percent of their older colleagues, report
that they are more likely to listen to information and
recommendations if they are presented by someone
they know and trust.26
Exclusive social networks foster an environment
of trust where members look out for each other. In
“Social Networks and the Importance of Trust,” Nev-
ille Hobson — one of the leading early adopters and
Table 2: Young Alumni Drive Member Engagement in Official Online Communities of Alumni Associations
Activity by Young Alumni
(graduated in past 5 years)
Total Number Average Participation Rate
Registrations 136,000 11% of young alumni
Profile Updates 1.8 million 16,360 per community
Messages Sent to Fellow Alumni 3.1 million 28,180 per community
Affinity Groups Formed 20,000 180 per community
Social Events Scheduled with Fellow Alumni 5,000 45 per community
Source: 12-month activity statistics for 110 online alumni communities hosted on the Affinity Circles technology platform, April 2007-March 2008.
Exclusive Social Networks Provide Competitive Edge To Employers

7. ©2008 Affinity Circles 5
influencers in social media communication for busi-
ness — says trust in social networking sites such as Fa-
cebook is diminishing, because membership in these
open communities is seen as a commodity. He pre-
dicts that there will be a rise in niche networks in 2008,
and the ones that succeed will be the ones you trust.27
Niche networks such as the official online communi-
ties of alumni associations provide employers with
three competitive advantages in the war for talent:
An established presence. The company is an
active participant in trusted communities where
professionals interact, so there is awareness of the
brand as a preferred employer.
Advanced targeting tools. Up-to-date, ac-
curate and in-depth member profiles enable the
employer to use the sophisticated sourcing tech-
niques necessary to identify and engage qualified
candidates.
A Talent Pipeline. Employers build long-term
relationship with candidates who are interested in
learning more about professional opportunities
without compromising the candidate’s privacy.
5.1 Established presence brands
preferred employers
Setting up an online profile in exclusive online com-
munities generates employment brand awareness
among members, who are a highly desirable demo-
graphic. Equally important, a presence in these com-
munities exposes employers to a deep pool of passive
candidates. Employers can leverage their company
brands to make recruitment announcements more
appealing than their less well-known competitors.
In the trusted, secure environment of exclusive on-
line communities, job seekers — particularly passive
candidates — are more comfortable sharing their per-
sonal information such as current employer, job title
and work history.28
Savvy employers are taking advantage of this shift
in candidate preferences by establishing a presence
in the exclusive communities sponsored by alumni
associations and professional organizations. In a
recent survey conducted by the Society for Human
Resource Management (SHRM), employers report-
ed that professional associations and trade groups
represented the most fertile ground for discovering
passive job seekers, and 58 percent of respondents
plan to increase their investment in this area over the
next 12 months.30
5.2 Advanced targeting engages
qualified passive candidates
Even with an established presence, the challenge
remains to source talent within the online commu-
nity. According to recruiting industry expert John
4.1 Case in Point:
Gator Nation Network Connects Alumni
The University of Florida’s Gator Nation Network
(GNN) has registered more than 30,000 students,
alumni, faculty and staff since its launch in 2005, mak-
ing it the second largest school networking site in the
United States.21
Hosted on the Affinity Circles technol-
ogy platform, the exclusive alumni community delivers
professional networking content unlike that offered by
the popular social networking sites.
According to Katie Seay, director of membership and
marketing for the university’s alumni association, the
GNN brand is entirely professional, making it more at-
tractive to potential employers.22
With more than 10
percent of all alumni on record as registered members,
GNN enables young and old alumni alike to search for
jobs and form industry-specific interest groups that
contribute to professional advancement.
To date, the GNN alumni community has:
Registered 11 percent of email-addressable alumni•
Engaged 15 percent of young alumni•
Made 148,000 personal connections among alumni•
Formed 620 affinity groups•
Updated 80,000 alumni postal and email addresses•
By offering a university-branded online community, the
alumni association has not only strengthened its value
but also enhanced the quality and quantity of alumni
contact data, enabling it to improve communication and
participation.
Exclusive Social Networks Provide Competitive Edge To Employers

8. ©2008 Affinity Circles 6
Sullivan, many recruiting organizations continue to
identify “the ability to find candidates” as their No. 1
difficulty.31
To address this challenge, Sullivan recom-
mends a sophisticated talent sourcing technique he
calls “narrowcast sourcing” or “narrowcasting.”
Narrowcasting is a method of sourcing candidates
from narrowly defined population groups that exhibit
attributes similar to those that map to success in spe-
cific jobs. The intent is to find someone who thinks
and acts like those who are most successful in the job.
There are two steps to narrowcast sourcing:
Identify where talent resides. Sourcing activities
focus on the online communities whose members
share interests and values similar to those profes-
sionals who are most successful in the job. Identify
communities where talented professionals reside
by looking where current employees network.
Target recruitment ads by select criteria. Define a
set of parameters that are indicative of success in a
job, such as educational background or profession-
al affiliation, and target community members with
those attributes. Such targeted ads can increase
candidate click-through rates by 30-300 per-
cent.32
Narrowcasting can be most effectively applied
in affinity-based organizations, where profes-
sionals with common interests actively congre-
gate and network, such as alumni associations
and professional organizations. Using shared
affinities to target candidates also helps reduce
the risk of a bad cultural fit with a company — a
problem experienced by 85 percent of human
resource managers surveyed by OfficeTeam.33
To narrowcast effectively, employers must
be able to specify candidate attributes such
as college degree, major and class year; geo-
graphic location including city, state, country
and region; as well as current and previous
industries, job functions and employers.
5.3. Talent pipeline improves
recruitment ROI
A recent SHRM survey indicated that 39 percent of
employers reported difficulty in managing the vol-
ume of direct-response resumes they received in the
past 12 months.34
Now that the hiring pace is pick-
ing up — 64 percent of recruiters recently surveyed
anticipate that hiring activity will increase in the
coming year35
— employers can’t afford to be flooded
by resumes from applicants trolling job boards and
open social networks.
Instead, employers need to recruit from a pipeline of
qualified, interested candidates for increased efficien-
cy and effectiveness. The advantages are three-fold:
Reduced time-to-hire. Recruiting from a talent
pipeline results in reduced time-to-hire, the most
frequently cited measure of the efficiency in recruit-
ing.36
Candidates in the pipeline can be tapped as
soon as specific requisitions are opened.
Lower recruiting costs. Applications sourced through
exclusive online communities cost less to process
and have a higher yield than applications sourced
through direct response advertising.37
Exclusive Social Networks Provide Competitive Edge To Employers
30%
35%
40%
45%
50%
55%
60%
65%
70%
Professional
Associations
Niche
Job Boards
General
Job Boards
Active
Passive
Figure 1. Percent of Job Seekers Expressing
Comfort with Submitting Personal Information
Source: JOBcentral 2005 Job Seeker Survey29

9. ©2008 Affinity Circles 7
Higher quality applications. Candidates in the pipe-
line come from a known and trusted source, rather
than open channels such as general job boards, news-
papers and commercial resume databases.
Exclusive online communities ultimately produce a
higher number of trusted referrals from employees
who are also members of the community. As report-
ed by the DirectEmployers Association, this is the
No. 1 most valuable source of hires.38
6. Success Factors Converge in
Affinity Circles
The three critical success factors for sourcing talent
in exclusive online communities are established pres-
ence, advanced targeting tools and the ability to fill
a talent pipeline. These three factors converge in the
controlled environment of closed communitieswhere
membership is exclusive and privacy is protected.
Affinity Circles is uniquely positioned to help pre-
ferred employers source quality passive candidates
by helping them tap into the exclusive online com-
munities of highly educated professionals.
Affinity Circles provides the platform for online com-
munities sponsored by more than 140 organizations,
including alumni associations such as Dartmouth
College and Stanford University, and professional
organizations such as the Asia America MultiTech-
nology Association and the State Bar of Texas.
Membership in these communities is by invitation
only, and the identities of individual members are
authenticated by the sponsoring organizations. Com-
munity members control the content of their on-
line profiles and who can access each profile field
containing personal information. When users view
their community connections, they can filter contact
lists by region, occupation or industry; and they can
search for contacts using criteria such as current and
previous employer or job function.
When employers establish presence in Affinity Cir-
cles communities, they leverage the brands of the
6.1 The Affinity Circles
Difference:
An Exclusive Technology Platform
For Authentication and Privacy Protection
Membership database integration. Affinity Circles•
partners with sponsoring organizations through ex-
clusive multi-year contracts. The hosted platform inte-
grates with the organization’s membership database,
enabling authentication of each community member’s
identity and credentials.
Advanced privacy settings. Members can easily con-•
trol what information they make public within the com-
munity, based on the degree of connection between
themselves and every individual member.
Branded community. In the closed community offi-•
cially sanctioned by the sponsoring organization, mem-
bers enjoy the benefit of “members only” exclusivity, en-
couraging the exchange of highly valued opportunities.
To Ensure Receptivity to Employers
Permission-based marketing. Affinity Circles partners•
with the sponsoring organization to actively promote the
community to all members. Those who choose to join
the community are electing to network with their peers
and receive opportunities from preferred employers.
Candidate confidentiality. Members who are inter-•
ested in learning more about professional opportunities
can express interest in a preferred employer without
revealing their identity or personal contact information.
Automated Filtering. Once members express inter-•
est in an employer, pre-set filters trigger messages that
notify members who are under-qualified, and provide
advice on how to increase the marketability.
For Targeting Qualified Candidates
Targeted recruitment campaigns. Employers can use•
narrowcasting techniques to target candidates whose
credentials have been verified by the sponsoring orga-
nization, a trusted third-party. Selection criteria can in-
clude a combination of variables, including educational
background and work experience.
Personalized messaging. When community mem-•
bers log in, they see targeted messages from employers
on a personalized home page. They can see why they
were targeted, and they can choose to make contact or
to explore the opportunity while remaining anonymous.
Success Factors Converge in Affinity Circles

10. ©2008 Affinity Circles 8
sponsoring organizations to build credibility with
qualified candidates. In addition, community mem-
bers see their inside connections to employers through
employees who act as trusted ambassadors in the com-
munity, a position from which where they can make
candidate referrals and endorse job opportunities.
Affinity Circles accelerates the talent sourcing pro-
cess by building an ecosystem that connects organi-
zations, members, and employers through exclusive
technologies that enable the exchange of professional
opportunities.
In an affinity circle, employers have permission to
reach out to passive candidates. Community mem-
bers gain the advantage of first exposure to job op-
portunities, without putting their current positions
at risk by exposing private information prematurely.
Sponsoring organizations add value for their mem-
bers by providing a platform for these private inter-
actions. In the war for talent, Affinity Circles delivers
victory for all three constituents.
7. inCircle Recruiting
Offers Proven Solution
Affinity Circles’ product, inCircle Recruiting,
offers employers the only solution for talent
sourcing in exclusive online communities. in-
Circle Recruiting is an application that enables
companies to run simultaneous recruitment
campaigns in the leading online professional
communities, collectively representing more
than 15 million verified alumni and profes-
sionals.
inCircle Recruiting’s targeted,online ads drive
candidates to the employer’s branded profile,
where they can explore career opportuni-
ties and express interest in being contacted.
These ads generate click-through rates of up
to 20 percent — significantly higher response
rates than traditional recruitment media such
as job listings and banner ads.
inCircle Recruiting Offers Proven Solution
7.1 Case in point:
Juniper Networks Targets IT Alumni
As a leading provider of high-performance network
infrastructure for business, Juniper Networks (www.
juniper.net) was looking for ways to brand itself as a
preferred employer to experienced technical profes-
sionals with a specific educational background.
Over a five-week period, inCircle Recruiting helped
Juniper zero-in on candidates with computer science
and electrical engineering majors from top universities.
The campaign also exposed Juniper to employees of
specific companies that they have had success hiring
from in the past.
The targeted online recruitment campaign produced
immediate results:
515 targeted candidates visited Juniper’s employer
profile.
87 targeted candidates expressed interest in Juniper.
“inCircle Recruiting helps us target and engage the
pool of candidates that we care about most,” said Da-
mon Berkhaug, Senior Director, Global Staffing, Juni-
per Networks.
Figure 2. The Essential Difference: The
inCircle Ecosystem
inCircle is an exclusive online community where
valuable opportunities are exchanged between
organizations, members and employers.
Organizations
University institutions
and professional associations
with high admissions standards
and strong affinities
Members
Alumni with high
achievement standards, a
common sense of survival,
desire to contribute
Employers
The most competitive, and
desirable employers who
play to win in
The War For Talent

11. ©2008 Affinity Circles 9
Two pricing models — subscription-based and pay-for-
performance — give employers the option of running
unlimited recruitment advertising campaigns for a flat
fee,orpaying onlywhen a candidate grants permission
to be contacted. Both models offer unlimited outreach
to a high-yield talent pool, making inCircle Recruit-
ing the logical choice over traditional direct response
advertising and impression-based pricing schemes.
The McKinsey Co. report on “The War for Tal-
ent” predicts that “the most important corporate re-
source over the next 20 years will be talent,” and the
most astute and agile companies will devise “more
imaginative hiring practices.”39
inCircle Recruiting is
a unique solution that creates a pipeline of qualified,
interested candidates who can be tapped as soon as
job requisitions open.
Online recruitment advertising through inCircle
Recruiting reduces time to hire, increases recruiting
yields and delivers higher quality hires. Organiza-
tions that enable this innovative sourcing technique
add value for members, who can attribute their pro-
fessional advancement, in part, to their exclusive on-
line communities.
7.2 Case in point:
Lam Research Builds Talent Pipeline
Lam Research Corporation (www.lamrc.com), a sup-
plier of wafer fabrication equipment and services to
the worldwide semiconductor industry, was seeking
to more effectively increase employment brand aware-
ness among a targeted audience of passive and active
candidates.
Lam used inCircle Recruiting to specify target candi-
dates based on educational background and profes-
sional qualifications. Next they ran a campaign of tar-
geted announcements to drive desirable candidates
to a branded employer profile within the Affinity Circle
networks.
After one month, 745 targeted candidates had visited
Lam’s employer profile 843 times.
“inCircle Recruiting helps us build a talent pipeline of
high-quality candidates whom we may not have access
to anywhere else,” said Mark Retzer, College Relations
Manager, Lam Research. “The targeted campaigns
help us get our brand message in front of the right can-
didates, passive and active. The social network helps
those candidates connect with our current employees
and encourages internal referrals.”
inCircle Recruiting Offers Proven Solution

12. ©2008 Affinity Circles 10
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13. ©2008 Affinity Circles 11
Testimonials
“Our desire to attract the most qualified profes-
sionals is a strategic priority, regardless of current
economic conditions. Engaging candidates within exclusive
inCircle communities they trust helps us make connections
that might not have been possible through any other recruiting
venue.”
– Tom Wilson, Director Worldwide
Recruiting, Merrill Lynch
“inCircle Recruiting helps us target and engage the pool of
candidates that we care about the most.”
– Damon Berkhaug, Senior Director
Global Staffing, Juniper Networks
“inCircle Recruiting helps us build a talent pipeline of high-
quality candidates whom we may not have access to any-
where else.”
– Mark Retzer, College Relations Manager,
Lam Research
“I believe their approach of verifying alumni/group creden-
tials is a very attractive carrot for companies looking to hire
candidates out of select schools and organizations.”
–jimstroud.com
“Users trust content they get through Affinity Circles be-
cause each network is a ‘walled garden’ centered around one
school.”
–Business Week
“inCircle Recruiting helps employers find candidates they
need now, and it assists them in building a talent pipeline
they can tap into for future hiring.”
–AIRS
“inCircle Recruiting can increase applicant yield, reduce the
time-to-hire cycle and build a talent pipeline that can be har-
vested as future opportunities develop.”
–Six Degrees from Dave

14. About Affinity Circles
Affinity Circles is the leading provider
of exclusive social networks for alumni
and professional organizations seeking
to promote career advancement
opportunities among their members.
Today, more than 140 organizations
utilize the inCircle community platform
to connect over 15 million members
with preferred employers in a trusted,
exclusive environment.
To learn more about Affinity Circles
and inCircle Recruiting, email us at
sales@incirclerecruiting.com or call
us at (650) 810-1536.
Affinity Circles, Inc.
701 N. Shoreline Blvd
Mountain View, CA 94043
www.affinitycircles.com