Thanks to the proliferation of social media, sourcing and researching candidates has never been easier. But 
LinkedIn, Twitter, and Github are only going to get you so far. If you've been a mouse potato for as long as I have, you've noticed the cyclical nature of online communities--they start with a small number of devoted, active members, slowly grow, and eventually are so full of noise that the original contributors move on, while any remaining good content is buried by a torrent of memes and reposts. Think of Digg, Reddit, or any forum that grew beyond 500 members and you'll see what I mean. My point here is that as communities grow, you'll need to get more creative if you're going to track down top talent where they're active online. Or, you know, you could just follow our blog and I'll do it for you. In fact, I'll bet you a free eBook you're not using the following 4 social media sites to research top talent.
Data Science Cagematches
These days, the term 'big data' is thrown around constantly. Gathering actionable insights from lines upon lines of data has innumerable use cases for a company of any size, but to sift through all the digits, you're going to need a data scientist or two. On Kaggle, not only can you locate this type of talent, you can watch them vie for your attention. Kaggle hosts elaborate data science challenges--often real world problems faced and presented by major corporations--and those who perform the best are invited to sink their teeth into the issues. Through this community, not only can you find those with relevant skills, but those who have the focus and desire to work specifically on the things you need them to do. Kaggle also hosts a forum and a job board for further engagement/recruiting fun.
Recruiter, Meet Open Engineering
The folks over at GrabCAD have created a compelling community that pairs open sharing of files and projects with a niche for CAD and OOD engineers. GrabCAD is the largest online amalgamation of CAD parts and assemblies, and in addition to acting as a sort of Github for this type of engineer, they also include an active community, including a forum and challenges, similar to Kaggle. The more specialized your role is, the harder it's going to be to build a wide recruitment funnel, but when it comes to mechanical engineers, GrabCAD has you covered.
Ever Heard of G+?
Often, the mention of Google's social media site is met with a scoff or a placating head nod. But make no mistake, recruiters, you ignore G+ at your own peril. Once YouTube profiles became integrated with G+ profiles, number of users and usage skyrocketed. Don't believe me? X-ray G+ as you would any other site, and let me know what you find. I'll even lend you the string I use to find recruiters:
site:plus.google.com ("lives * san francisco"|"lived * san francisco") (recruiter|sourcer|"talent acquisition") -inurl:(posts|about|photos|videos|plusones)
Go forth and do likewise!
Not Quite a Carbon Copy
There's already a handful of great communities for designers, but one you might not be familiar with is Carbonmade. Carbonmade hosts portfolio for the design oriented talent out there, delivering it in a large, sleek view that makes no sacrifices when it comes to resolution. The community includes all sorts of art related talent, including illustrators and stylists, but there's a whole host of web developers and graphic designers as well. Just check out our boy Brian! He provides a bunch of his work, his email address, and notes that he's available for freelance. Your job is half done!
Oh, and in case you were wondering, yes, Entelo does index each of these sites!
Any other lesser known sites I'm forgetting? Leave a comment or tweet @EnteloRob.
