Yes, it’s another social networking site

I just signed up to a new networking site for consultants called Blue Chip Expert. Its CEO is Scott Langmack, a former CMO of Borland, and the site is being dubbed – you guessed it – “the MySpace for high-end job seekers” (a quote from an upcoming Business 2.0 article apparently.)

According to the company, Blue Chip Expert “bridges the gap between your skillset and the best available opportunities by combining social networking, the right internet platform, and the right financial incentives.” Basically, it puts consultants and contractors in touch with companies who might be looking to hire them. Access is invitation only, and this is where the financial incentives bit comes in – you receive a referral fee when anyone you invited is hired via the service. The calculations are quite complicated so I’m not going to go into the details here, although the company reckons you can earn annual fees in the thousands. I have noticed that recruiters are busy handing out invitations, saying that it’s a great way for people to win project work while searching for a full-time opportunity. And presumably those recruiters also get referral fees.

The site is still early stage; it seems to be concentrating on signing up members at the moment and plans to start matching talent with opportunities “soon.” The signing up process was pretty comprehensive, if a little clunky. I have developed a healthy cynicism about the plethora of social-networking-sites-with-a-difference that are popping up, and to me, this doesn’t sound too dissimilar from existing offerings such as Guru.com. I’d be surprised if I end up raking in the $$$ through referral fees, but if it brings in a few project leads, that’s fine by me. I’ll report back.

Technorati Tags: Blue Chip Expert, social networking