Patent Abstract:
The invention includes three primary methodical tools. The first tool implements a job recruiting toolkit. The second tool implements a method of generating referrals based upon a virtual community of people who relate to the job description. The third tool implements an enterprise recruitment toolkit.

Full Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]     This application is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/258,254 filed Oct. 21, 2002 (Attorney Docket No. ACCL0001), and is related to U.S. Patent Application (serial number not yet assigned) entitled “Method And System For Generating Referrals For Job Positions Based Upon Virtual Communities Comprised Of Members Relevant To The Job Positions” (Attorney Docket No. ACCL0001 D1), and filed concurrently herewith. This application claims priority from International Patent Application No. PCT/US01/12849, filed Apr. 19, 2001, which is incorporated by reference herein. 
     
    
     TECHNICAL FIELD  
       [0002]     This invention relates to the generation of referrals and the use of those referrals in an integrated referral and recruitment system covering from definition of a position, recruiting, interviewing, candidate selection, candidate negotiation, assimilation of new hires, and facilitation of subsequent mentoring relationships.  
       BACKGROUND ART  
       [0003]     Every growing company has a common problem: finding good people fast enough to meet critical business objectives. Existing options for finding and managing candidates are highly fragmented and time consuming to manage, often including web postings, advertisements, employee referrals, engaging recruiters, and searching resume bulletin boards.  
         [0004]     The market for recruiting services in the United States and elsewhere is rapidly growing, and according to industry sources, businesses in the United States spent over $13 Billion (US) to hire new employees in 1997. As Internet usage becomes ever more widespread, companies from a broad range of industries are expected to do at least part of their employee recruitment over the Internet. There are forecasts that, by 2003, most large companies, 60% of the medium companies and 20% of the small companies in the United States will use the Internet for recruitment purposes. In 1998 alone, there were over 28 Million job postings on the World Wide Web.  
         [0005]     Most companies face another set of challenges having to do with managing the hiring process. While a variety of tools and services for portions of the hiring process exist, there is no single tool which spans the tasks of defining a position, recruiting, interviewing, candidate selection, candidate negotiation, and assimilation of new hires.  
         [0006]     A central problem with existing approaches is the difficulty communicating what the actual status of the hiring is and what are the next steps of the hiring strategy. “I interviewed him or her, now what do I do?” “I interviewed for 6 hours and I never heard anything from anyone afterwards?” “I opened new job request with the Human Resources Department. It has been over three weeks, and I haven&#39;t heard from anyone. What is going on?” Note the problem doesn&#39;t change when recruitment is out-sourced, in fact in many circumstances, communications becomes more difficult and/or erratic.  
         [0007]     An associated communication problem is the inability for changes in hiring strategies to be communicated to everyone affected. There are many reasons why a hiring position may be either frozen or cancelled, but seldom do the people involved in the hiring activity find out about them in a time-efficient manner. As a consequence, job interviews occur for positions that no longer exist, people are brought long distances for no realistic objective, and they don&#39;t find out about it till much later, if ever.  
         [0008]     Another problem that pervades this sea of partial solutions is the basic financial management questions, which become so difficult to answer. How much did it actually cost to hire for a given position? How much did the corporate entity lose in delays for hiring that position? How long did it take to fill the position versus when the position was to be filled? Each of these questions is difficult to answer and/or questionable in its accuracy of answer today.  
         [0009]     Sitting on top of these problems is a fundamental difficulty in managing a recruitment process where there is no established, reliable way to review whether a corporate entity&#39;s hiring strategy was accurately implemented, realistically adjusted based upon interim results, and met its corporate objectives.  
         [0010]     Today, there is no realistic mechanism supporting the adjustment of a hiring strategy based upon interim results. The options are usually not thought out and reviewed, so management decisions are made in a vacuum. They “just happen” leading to erratic results whose only certainty is they have cost money, take time and take resources. The interim results are difficult to coherently collect and review with relevant decision-makers. The consequence of this is more sporadic activity and misdirection, often feeding on itself. Usually costing far more than is reasonable.  
         [0011]     There are common problems experienced with existing tools when someone newly hired arrive at the job site for the first day of work. They may discover that at least one crucial piece of their work situation is missing. Examples of such missing pieces include, but are not limited to, a working telephone, phone mail account, a computer interfaced to the relevant networks, desk, chair, employment contract, non-disclosure agreement, provision for business cards, and corporate security IDs.  
         [0012]     There are additional problems with existing personnel tools related to the discontinuity between the various pieces, having to do with the ability to confirm the reality of recruiting management estimates. Many managers will either assume that the job market is the same as it was the last time they hired in a given field, or will choose to paint an unrealistic picture about the effort and expense of filling a given position without even checking. The consequent cost of these managerial mistakes is huge. What is needed is a mechanism providing rapid and accurate feedback to a corporate entity&#39;s personnel department or executive group on just what it takes to fill one or more positions.  
         [0013]     A number of companies have put in place referral mechanisms to identify candidates for job positions either in their organizations or in their clients&#39; organizations. While these efforts were definitely pioneering in their intent, there are several persistent problems with existing referral mechanisms.  
         [0014]     Tracking referrals has tended to be sporadic, leading to cases of an individual referring highly qualified people whose information never gets to the correct hiring authorities, or someone is hired based upon a referral and appropriate recognition is not made to the referring source.  
         [0015]     Any single person&#39;s network of acquaintances is limited and existing referral networks are essentially a collection of address books for a handful of people, often limited to some corporate employees, their friends and family, and seldom anything else. People who in fact, may not even know about a job position&#39;s requirements nor the communities of people conversant in those requirements. For example, there could be a person within two blocks of the hiring agent, who either is the right candidate or knows the right candidate, but there is no mechanism by which the hiring agent can find that person who is so close by existing referral mechanisms.  
         [0016]     While all of the discussion so far has focussed on the corporate perspective, most of these problems have significant negative consequences for individuals looking for positions. Probably the most annoying problem is the lack of coherent communication. Estimates are that 40% of the people applying for positions on the Internet never get any response to their application.  
         [0017]     It is important to understand that most people do not look for another job unless there is a very large reason. They may be unemployed, facing lay-off, or the possibility of lay-off, and/or they may be extremely unhappy or frustrated with their current position. The background of stress, worry, frustration and outright fear can be enormous. So the lack of communication mentioned above has far greater consequences than it would under ordinary circumstances.  
         [0018]     Today, an individual is severely limited in their ability to find potential positions relevant to their requirements. They may rely on their circle of friends, family and professional associates, but they face the same problem as the referral service. Most of these people will not or can not understand the job requirements or know the people or companies needing such requirements.  
         [0019]     An individual accessing the World Wide Web will find thousands of job web sites and a level of depersonalization that would be daunting to anyone under the best of circumstances, and is often devastating to people, who, for whatever reason, are looking for a job.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0020]     The invention includes three primary methodical tools. The first tool implements a job recruiting toolkit. The second tool implements a method of generating referrals based upon a virtual community of people who relate to the job description. The third tool is an enterprise class recruitment toolkit. Each of these methodical tools addresses at least part of the problems found in today&#39;s recruitment process.  
         [0021]     The three tools form an integrated recruitment management and communication tool platform. The job recruitment tool can generate a referral request sent to the referral generation tool. The enterprise recruitment toolkit can incorporate the job recruiting toolkit to oversee and facilitate the job hiring process. Taken collectively, these tools solve at least the problems previously discussed herein. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0022]      FIG. 1  depicts a process flow view of one preferred embodiment of the invention;  
         [0023]      FIG. 2  depicts a system comprising a server communicatively coupled with at least one employee  20  of a corporate entity and communicatively coupled to at least one job hunter  10  operated by at least one program system  1000 ,  2000  and/or  3000  implementing one of the methods of the invention;  
         [0024]      FIG. 3  depicts a detail flowchart of program system  1000  of  FIG. 2  implementing a method of operating a job position recruiting tool accessed by at least one employee of a corporate entity and accessed by at least one job hunter;  
         [0025]      FIG. 4  depicts a detail flowchart of operation  1022  of  FIG. 3  further recruiting the job position request based upon access by the job hunter;  
         [0026]      FIG. 5A  depicts a detail flowchart of operation  1062  of  FIG. 3  further assimilating the new hire;  
         [0027]      FIG. 5B  depicts a detail flowchart of operation  1012  of  FIG. 3  further providing the assessment and approval process to create the job position request;  
         [0028]      FIG. 6A  depicts a detail flowchart of operation  1032  of  FIG. 3  further interviewing the interview candidate for the job position request;  
         [0029]      FIG. 6B  depicts a detail flowchart of operation  1042  of  FIG. 3  further selecting based upon the candidate evaluations for the job hunters to create the selected candidate;  
         [0030]      FIG. 7  depicts a detail flowchart of operation  1052  of  FIG. 7  further negotiating offer and closing for the job position request with the selected candidate;  
         [0031]      FIG. 8  depicts a detail flowchart of operation  1062  of  FIG. 3  further initiating steps for the first day for the new hire;  
         [0032]      FIG. 9  depicts a detail flowchart of program system  2000  of  FIG. 2  implementing a method generating referrals for at least one job positions based upon at least one virtual community comprised of at least one member of the virtual community relevant to the job positions;  
         [0033]      FIG. 10A  depicts a detail flowchart of operation  2032  of  FIG. 9  further creating the virtual community of at least one member based upon the job position request;  
         [0034]      FIG. 10B  depicts a detail flowchart of operation  2102  of  FIG. 10A  further selecting the members from the identified people;  
         [0035]      FIG. 11A  depicts a detail flowchart of operation  2012  of  FIG. 9  further maintaining the reservoir of at least two of the identified people;  
         [0036]      FIG. 11B  depicts a detail flowchart of operation  2022  of  FIG. 9  further receiving at least one job position request;  
         [0037]      FIG. 12A  depicts a detail flowchart of operation  2152  of  FIG. 10A  further selecting the members from the identified people;  
         [0038]      FIG. 12B  depicts a detail flowchart of operation  2052  of  FIG. 9  further sending the referral request for the job position description to the member, for each of the members of the virtual community;  
         [0039]      FIG. 13  depicts a detail flowchart of operation  3000  of  FIG. 2  implementing a method of operating a personnel workflow tool accessed by at least one employee of a corporate entity and accessed by at least one job hunter;  
         [0040]      FIG. 14  depicts a detail flowchart of operation  3012  of  FIG. 13  further providing access to the enterprise personnel strategy toolkit for the employee with an associated privilege containing an executive staff membership; and  
         [0041]      FIG. 15  depicts a detail flowchart of operation  3022  of  FIG. 13  further providing access to a management personnel toolkit for the employee with the associated privilege containing a management staff membership.  
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0042]      FIG. 1  depicts a process flow view of one preferred embodiment of the invention.  
         [0043]      FIG. 2  depicts a system comprising a server computer  100  communicatively coupled  22  with at least one employee  20  of a corporate entity and communicatively coupled  12  to at least one job hunter  10  and operated by at least one program system  1000 ,  2000  and/or  3000  implementing one of the methods of the invention.  
         [0044]     These program systems are comprised of program steps residing in memory  110  accessibly coupled  112  to server computer  100 .  
         [0045]     Program system  1000  implements a method of operating a job position recruiting tool accessed by the employee  20  of a corporate entity and by the job hunter  10 .  
         [0046]     Program system  2000  implements a method generating referrals for at least one job positions based upon at least one virtual community comprised of at least one member of the virtual community relevant to the job positions based upon a people reservoir  4000 .  
         [0047]     Program system  3000  implements a method of operating a personnel workflow tool accessed by the employee  20  and accessed by the job hunter  10 .  
         [0048]      FIG. 3  depicts a detail flowchart of program system  1000  of  FIG. 2  implementing a method of operating a job position recruiting tool accessed by at least one employee of a corporate entity and accessed by at least one job hunter.  
         [0049]     Arrow  1010  directs the flow of execution from starting operation  1000  to operation  1012 . Operation  1012  performs providing an assessment and approval process to create a job position request. Arrow  1014  directs execution from operation  1012  to operation  1016 . Operation  1016  terminates the operations of this flowchart.  
         [0050]     Arrow  1020  directs the flow of execution from starting operation  1000  to operation  1022 . Operation  1022  performs recruiting the job position request based upon access by the job hunter to generate an interview candidate. Arrow  1024  directs execution from operation  1022  to operation  1016 . Operation  1016  terminates the operations of this flowchart.  
         [0051]     Arrow  1030  directs the flow of execution from starting operation  1000  to operation  1032 . Operation  1032  performs interviewing the interview candidate for the job position request to create a candidate evaluation for the job hunter. Arrow  1034  directs execution from operation  1032  to operation  1016 . Operation  1016  terminates the operations of this flowchart.  
         [0052]     Arrow  1040  directs the flow of execution from starting operation  1000  to operation  1042 . Operation  1042  performs selecting based upon the candidate evaluations for at least one of the job hunters to create a selected candidate. Arrow  1044  directs execution from operation  1042  to operation  1016 . Operation  1016  terminates the operations of this flowchart.  
         [0053]     Arrow  1050  directs the flow of execution from starting operation  1000  to operation  1052 . Operation  1052  performs negotiating offer and closing for the job position request with the selected candidate to create a new hire associated with the job hunter. Arrow  1054  directs execution from operation  1052  to operation  1016 . Operation  1016  terminates the operations of this flowchart.  
         [0054]     Arrow  1060  directs the flow of execution from starting operation  1000  to operation  1062 . Operation  1062  performs assimilating the new hire associated with the job hunter for the job position request. Arrow  1064  directs execution from operation  1062  to operation  1016 . Operation  1016  terminates the operations of this flowchart.  
         [0055]      FIG. 4  depicts a detail flowchart of operation  1022  of  FIG. 3  further recruiting the job position request based upon access by the job hunter.  
         [0056]     Arrow  1160  directs the flow of execution from starting operation  1022  to operation  1162 . Operation  1162  performs creating a job position recruitment strategy for the product request. Arrow  1164  directs execution from operation  1162  to operation  1166 . Operation  1166  terminates the operations of this flowchart.  
         [0057]     Arrow  1170  directs the flow of execution from starting operation  1022  to operation  1172 . Operation  1172  performs executing the job position recruitment strategy to present a job position description for the job position request to the job hunter. Arrow  1174  directs execution from operation  1172  to operation  1166 . Operation  1166  terminates the operations of this flowchart.  
         [0058]     Arrow  1180  directs the flow of execution from starting operation  1022  to operation  1182 . Operation  1182  performs an e-filter acting upon the response of the job hunter to the product description results in the job hunter accessing the e-filter to create a job-match-score associated with the job hunter. Arrow  1184  directs execution from operation  1182  to operation  1166 . Operation  1166  terminates the operations of this flowchart.  
         [0059]     Arrow  1190  directs the flow of execution from starting operation  1022  to operation  1192 . Operation  1192  performs presenting a first level interview questionnaire to the job hunter when the associated job-match-score meets a predefined standard to create a first level response for the job hunter. Arrow  1194  directs execution from operation  1192  to operation  1166 . Operation  1166  terminates the operations of this flowchart.  
         [0060]     Arrow  1200  directs the flow of execution from starting operation  1022  to operation  1202 . Operation  1202  performs designating an interview candidate based upon the first level response for the job hunter. Arrow  1204  directs execution from operation  1202  to operation  1166 . Operation  1166  terminates the operations of this flowchart.  
         [0061]      FIG. 5A  depicts a detail flowchart of operation  1062  of  FIG. 3  further assimilating the new hire.  
         [0062]     Arrow  1300  directs the flow of execution from starting operation  1062  to operation  1302 . Operation  1302  performs initiating steps for a first day for the new hire. Arrow  1304  directs execution from operation  1302  to operation  1306 . Operation  1306  terminates the operations of this flowchart.  
         [0063]     Arrow  1310  directs the flow of execution from starting operation  1062  to operation  1312 . Operation  1312  performs orienting the new hire. Arrow  1314  directs execution from operation  1312  to operation  1306 . Operation  1306  terminates the operations of this flowchart.  
         [0064]      FIG. 5B  depicts a detail flowchart of operation  1012  of  FIG. 3  further providing the assessment and approval process to create the job position request.  
         [0065]     Arrow  1330  directs the flow of execution from starting operation  1012  to operation  1332 . Operation  1332  performs planning an enterprise staffing strategy. Arrow  1334  directs execution from operation  1332  to operation  1336 . Operation  1336  terminates the operations of this flowchart.  
         [0066]     Arrow  1340  directs the flow of execution from starting operation  1012  to operation  1342 . Operation  1342  performs initiating a job position requisition. Arrow  1344  directs execution from operation  1342  to operation  1336 . Operation  1336  terminates the operations of this flowchart.  
         [0067]     Arrow  1350  directs the flow of execution from starting operation  1012  to operation  1352 . Operation  1352  performs approving the job position requisition to create an approved job position requisition. Arrow  1354  directs execution from operation  1352  to operation  1336 . Operation  1336  terminates the operations of this flowchart.  
         [0068]     Arrow  1360  directs the flow of execution from starting operation  1012  to operation  1362 . Operation  1362  performs clarifying the approved job position requisition to create the job position request. Arrow  1364  directs execution from operation  1362  to operation  1336 . Operation  1336  terminates the operations of this flowchart.  
         [0069]      FIG. 6A  depicts a detail flowchart of operation  1032  of  FIG. 3  further interviewing the interview candidate for the job position request.  
         [0070]     Arrow  1430  directs the flow of execution from starting operation  1032  to operation  1432 . Operation  1432  performs scheduling for the interview candidate for the job position request to create an interview schedule for the job hunter. Arrow  1434  directs execution from operation  1432  to operation  1436 . Operation  1436  terminates the operations of this flowchart.  
         [0071]     Arrow  1440  directs the flow of execution from starting operation  1032  to operation  1442 . Operation  1442  performs interviewing the job hunter based upon the interview schedule by at least one interviewer. Arrow  1444  directs execution from operation  1442  to operation  1436 . Operation  1436  terminates the operations of this flowchart.  
         [0072]     Arrow  1450  directs the flow of execution from starting operation  1032  to operation  1452 . Operation  1452  performs generating a post-interview evaluation by each of the interviewers to collectively create the candidate evaluation for the job hunter. Arrow  1454  directs execution from operation  1452  to operation  1436 . Operation  1436  terminates the operations of this flowchart.  
         [0073]      FIG. 6B  depicts a detail flowchart of operation  1042  of  FIG. 3  further selecting based upon the candidate evaluations for the job hunters to create the selected candidate.  
         [0074]     Arrow  1470  directs the flow of execution from starting operation  1042  to operation  1472 . Operation  1472  performs deciding based the candidate evaluation for the job hunter to create going-forward for the job hunter. Arrow  1474  directs execution from operation  1472  to operation  1476 . Operation  1476  terminates the operations of this flowchart.  
         [0075]     Arrow  1480  directs the flow of execution from starting operation  1042  to operation  1482 . Operation  1482  performs checking background of the job hunter whenever going-forward is decided. Arrow  1484  directs execution from operation  1482  to operation  1476 . Operation  1476  terminates the operations of this flowchart.  
         [0076]     Arrow  1490  directs the flow of execution from starting operation  1042  to operation  1492 . Operation  1492  performs checking references of the job hunter whenever going-forward is decided. Arrow  1494  directs execution from operation  1492  to operation  1476 . Operation  1476  terminates the operations of this flowchart.  
         [0077]      FIG. 7  depicts a detail flowchart of operation  1052  of  FIG. 7  further negotiating offer and closing for the job position request with the selected candidate.  
         [0078]     Arrow  1510  directs the flow of execution from starting operation  1052  to operation  1512 . Operation  1512  performs preparing an offer based upon the job position request for the selected candidate. Arrow  1514  directs execution from operation  1512  to operation  1516 . Operation  1516  terminates the operations of this flowchart.  
         [0079]     Arrow  1520  directs the flow of execution from starting operation  1052  to operation  1522 . Operation  1522  performs approving the offer based upon the job position request for the selected candidate. Arrow  1524  directs execution from operation  1522  to operation  1516 . Operation  1516  terminates the operations of this flowchart.  
         [0080]     Arrow  1530  directs the flow of execution from starting operation  1052  to operation  1532 . Operation  1532  performs extending the offer to the job hunter as the selected candidate. Arrow  1534  directs execution from operation  1532  to operation  1516 . Operation  1516  terminates the operations of this flowchart.  
         [0081]      FIG. 8  depicts a detail flowchart of operation  1062  of  FIG. 3  further initiating steps for the first day for the new hire.  
         [0082]     Arrow  1610  directs the flow of execution from starting operation  1062  to operation  1612 . Operation  1612  performs notifying facilities of the first day for the new hire filling the job position request. Arrow  1614  directs execution from operation  1612  to operation  1616 . Operation  1616  terminates the operations of this flowchart.  
         [0083]     Arrow  1620  directs the flow of execution from starting operation  1062  to operation  1622 . Operation  1622  performs notifying a business card vendor of the first day for the new hire filling the job position request. Arrow  1624  directs execution from operation  1622  to operation  1616 . Operation  1616  terminates the operations of this flowchart.  
         [0084]     Arrow  1630  directs the flow of execution from starting operation  1062  to operation  1632 . Operation  1632  performs notifying a new hire mentor of the first day for the new hire filling the job position request. Arrow  1634  directs execution from operation  1632  to operation  1616 . Operation  1616  terminates the operations of this flowchart.  
         [0085]     Arrow  1640  directs the flow of execution from starting operation  1062  to operation  1642 . Operation  1642  performs notifying IS of the first day for the new hire filling the job position request. Arrow  1644  directs execution from operation  1642  to operation  1616 . Operation  1616  terminates the operations of this flowchart.  
         [0086]     Arrow  1650  directs the flow of execution from starting operation  1062  to operation  1652 . Operation  1652  performs notifying office supply vendor of the first day for the new hire filling the job position request. Arrow  1654  directs execution from operation  1652  to operation  1616 . Operation  1616  terminates the operations of this flowchart.  
         [0087]     Arrow  1660  directs the flow of execution from starting operation  1062  to operation  1662 . Operation  1662  performs scheduling orientation of the first day for the new hire filling the job position request. Arrow  1664  directs execution from operation  1662  to operation  1616 . Operation  1616  terminates the operations of this flowchart.  
         [0088]      FIG. 9  depicts a detail flowchart of program system  2000  of  FIG. 2  implementing a method generating referrals for at least one job positions based upon at least one virtual community comprised of at least one member of the virtual community relevant to the job positions.  
         [0089]     Arrow  2010  directs the flow of execution from starting operation  2000  to operation  2012 . Operation  2012  performs maintaining a reservoir of at least two identified people. Arrow  2014  directs execution from operation  2012  to operation  2016 . Operation  2016  terminates the operations of this flowchart.  
         [0090]     Note that each of the identified people is attributed a name, a virtual address, a background description, a geographic locale, and a history.  
         [0091]     Arrow  2020  directs the flow of execution from starting operation  2000  to operation  2022 . Operation  2022  performs receiving at least one job position request including a job position description containing a work location and including a referral specification. Arrow  2024  directs execution from operation  2022  to operation  2016 . Operation  2016  terminates the operations of this flowchart.  
         [0092]     Arrow  2030  directs the flow of execution from starting operation  2000  to operation  2032 . Operation  2032  performs creating a virtual community of at least one member based upon the job position request. Arrow  2034  directs execution from operation  2032  to operation  2016 . Operation  2016  terminates the operations of this flowchart.  
         [0093]     Arrow  2040  directs the flow of execution from starting operation  2000  to operation  2042 . Operation  2042  performs generating a referral request for the job position description based upon the referral specification to each of the members of the virtual community. Arrow  2044  directs execution from operation  2042  to operation  2016 . Operation  2016  terminates the operations of this flowchart.  
         [0094]     Arrow  2050  directs the flow of execution from starting operation  2000  to operation  2052 . Operation  2052  performs sending the referral request for the job position description to the member, for each of the members of the virtual community. Arrow  2054  directs execution from operation  2052  to operation  2016 . Operation  2016  terminates the operations of this flowchart.  
         [0095]      FIG. 10A  depicts a detail flowchart of operation  2032  of  FIG. 9  further creating the virtual community of at least one member based upon the job position request.  
         [0096]     Arrow  2100  directs the flow of execution from starting operation  2032  to operation  2102 . Operation  2102  performs selecting the members from the identified people based upon the job position description. Arrow  2104  directs execution from operation  2102  to operation  2106 . Operation  2106  terminates the operations of this flowchart.  
         [0097]     Arrow  2110  directs the flow of execution from starting operation  2032  to operation  2112 . Operation  2112  performs collecting the members to create the virtual community based upon the job position request. Arrow  2114  directs execution from operation  2112  to operation  2106 . Operation  2106  terminates the operations of this flowchart.  
         [0098]      FIG. 10B  depicts a detail flowchart of operation  2102  of  FIG. 10A  further selecting the members from the identified people.  
         [0099]     Arrow  2150  directs the flow of execution from starting operation  2102  to operation  2152 . Operation  2152  performs selecting a first of the members from the identified people whose the background description nearly matches the job description. Arrow  2154  directs execution from operation  2152  to operation  2156 . Operation  2156  terminates the operations of this flowchart.  
         [0100]     Arrow  2160  directs the flow of execution from starting operation  2102  to operation  2162 . Operation  2162  performs selecting a second of the members from the identified people whose the background description indicates knowledgeability about the job description. Arrow  2164  directs execution from operation  2162  to operation  2156 . Operation  2156  terminates the operations of this flowchart.  
         [0101]     Arrow  2170  directs the flow of execution from starting operation  2102  to operation  2172 . Operation  2172  performs selecting a third of the members from the identified people whose locale nearly matches the work location.  
         [0102]     Arrow  2174  directs execution from operation  2172  to operation  2156 . Operation  2156  terminates the operations of this flowchart.  
         [0103]      FIG. 11A  depicts a detail flowchart of operation  2012  of  FIG. 9  further maintaining the reservoir of at least two of the identified people.  
         [0104]     Arrow  2200  directs the flow of execution from starting operation  2012  to operation  2202 . Operation  2202  performs adding a first person with a name, a virtual address, a background description, a geographic locale to create a first of the identified people attributed the name, the virtual address, the background description, the geographical locale with an initial history. Arrow  2204  directs execution from operation  2202  to operation  2206 . Operation  2206  terminates the operations of this flowchart.  
         [0105]     Arrow  2210  directs the flow of execution from starting operation  2012  to operation  2212 . Operation  2212  performs updating at least one member of the attributes for the first of the identified people. Arrow  2214  directs execution from operation  2212  to operation  2206 . Operation  2206  terminates the operations of this flowchart.  
         [0106]      FIG. 11B  depicts a detail flowchart of operation  2022  of  FIG. 9  further receiving at least one job position request.  
         [0107]     Arrow  2230  directs the flow of execution from starting operation  2022  to operation  2232 . Operation  2232  performs receiving the job position request from a first corporate entity. Arrow  2234  directs execution from operation  2232  to operation  2236 . Operation  2236  terminates the operations of this flowchart.  
         [0108]     Arrow  2240  directs the flow of execution from starting operation  2022  to operation  2242 . Operation  2242  performs receiving the job position request from a first individual. Arrow  2244  directs execution from operation  2242  to operation  2236 . Operation  2236  terminates the operations of this flowchart.  
         [0109]      FIG. 12A  depicts a detail flowchart of operation  2152  of  FIG. 10A  further selecting the members from the identified people.  
         [0110]     Arrow  2310  directs the flow of execution from starting operation  2152  to operation  2312 . Operation  2312  performs selecting a fourth of the members from the identified people whose the background description includes employment within the first corporate entity. Arrow  2314  directs execution from operation  2312  to operation  2316 . Operation  2316  terminates the operations of this flowchart.  
         [0111]     Note that the referral specification may further include a referral award.  
         [0112]      FIG. 12B  depicts a detail flowchart of operation  2052  of  FIG. 9  further sending the referral request for the job position description to the member, for each of the members of the virtual community.  
         [0113]     Arrow  2330  directs the flow of execution from starting operation  2052  to operation  2332 . Operation  2332  performs queuing at least the referral request to create a member referral request queue. Arrow  2334  directs execution from operation  2332  to operation  2336 . Operation  2336  terminates the operations of this flowchart.  
         [0114]     Arrow  2340  directs the flow of execution from starting operation  2052  to operation  2342 . Operation  2342  performs processing the referral request queue to create a referral request message for the member. Arrow  2344  directs execution from operation  2342  to operation  2336 . Operation  2336  terminates the operations of this flowchart.  
         [0115]     Arrow  2350  directs the flow of execution from starting operation  2052  to operation  2352 . Operation  2352  performs sending the referral request message to the member based upon the virtual address attribute to the member. Arrow  2354  directs execution from operation  2352  to operation  2336 . Operation  2336  terminates the operations of this flowchart.  
         [0116]     Arrow  2360  directs the flow of execution from starting operation  2052  to operation  2362 . Operation  2362  performs flushing the member referral request queue. Arrow  2364  directs execution from operation  2362  to operation  2336 . Operation  2336  terminates the operations of this flowchart.  
         [0117]      FIG. 13  depicts a detail flowchart of operation  3000  of  FIG. 2  implementing a method of operating a personnel workflow tool accessed by at least one employee of a corporate entity and accessed by at least one job hunter.  
         [0118]     Arrow  3010  directs the flow of execution from starting operation  3000  to operation  3012 . Operation  3012  performs providing access to an enterprise personnel strategy toolkit for the employee with an associated privilege containing an executive staff membership. Arrow  3014  directs execution from operation  3012  to operation  3016 . Operation  3016  terminates the operations of this flowchart.  
         [0119]     Arrow  3020  directs the flow of execution from starting operation  3000  to operation  3022 . Operation  3022  performs providing access to a management personnel toolkit for the employee with the associated privilege containing a management staff membership. Arrow  3024  directs execution from operation  3022  to operation  3016 . Operation  3016  terminates the operations of this flowchart.  
         [0120]     Arrow  3030  directs the flow of execution from starting operation  3000  to operation  3032 . Operation  3032  performs providing access to the enterprise personnel strategy toolkit for the employee with the associated privilege containing a personnel department membership. Arrow  3034  directs execution from operation  3032  to operation  3016 . Operation  3016  terminates the operations of this flowchart.  
         [0121]     Arrow  3040  directs the flow of execution from starting operation  3000  to operation  3042 . Operation  3042  performs providing access to a management personnel toolkit for the employee with the associated privilege containing the personnel department membership. Arrow  3044  directs execution from operation  3042  to operation  3016 . Operation  3016  terminates the operations of this flowchart.  
         [0122]     Arrow  3050  directs the flow of execution from starting operation  3000  to operation  3052 . Operation  3052  performs providing access to a recruitment toolkit for the employee with the associated privilege containing the personnel department membership. Arrow  3054  directs execution from operation  3052  to operation  3016 . Operation  3016  terminates the operations of this flowchart.  
         [0123]     Arrow  3060  directs the flow of execution from starting operation  3000  to operation  3062 . Operation  3062  performs providing recruiting access to the recruitment tool for the job hunter. Arrow  3064  directs execution from operation  3062  to operation  3016 . Operation  3016  terminates the operations of this flowchart.  
         [0124]     Arrow  3070  directs the flow of execution from starting operation  3000  to operation  3072 . Operation  3072  performs providing access to a hiring toolkit for the employee with the associated privilege containing at least one member of the hiring team collection. Arrow  3074  directs execution from operation  3072  to operation  3016 . Operation  3016  terminates the operations of this flowchart.  
         [0125]     The hiring team collection may include the personnel department membership and the management staff membership and an IS staff membership and a facility staff membership.  
         [0126]      FIG. 14  depicts a detail flowchart of operation  3012  of  FIG. 13  further providing access to the enterprise personnel strategy toolkit for the employee with an associated privilege containing an executive staff membership.  
         [0127]     Arrow  3110  directs the flow of execution from starting operation  3012  to operation  3112 . Operation  3112  performs presenting an organizational chart to the employee. Arrow  3114  directs execution from operation  3112  to operation  3116 . Operation  3116  terminates the operations of this flowchart.  
         [0128]     Arrow  3120  directs the flow of execution from starting operation  3012  to operation  3122 . Operation  3122  performs modifying the organization chart by the employee. Arrow  3124  directs execution from operation  3122  to operation  3116 . Operation  3116  terminates the operations of this flowchart.  
         [0129]     Arrow  3130  directs the flow of execution from starting operation  3012  to operation  3132 . Operation  3132  performs presenting a hiring objective collection based upon the organization chart to the employee. Arrow  3134  directs execution from operation  3132  to operation  3116 . Operation  3116  terminates the operations of this flowchart.  
         [0130]     Note that the hiring objective collection contains at least one hiring objective item.  
         [0131]     Arrow  3140  directs the flow of execution from starting operation  3012  to operation  3142 . Operation  3142  performs modifying the hiring objective collection by the employee. Arrow  3144  directs execution from operation  3142  to operation  3116 . Operation  3116  terminates the operations of this flowchart.  
         [0132]     Arrow  3150  directs the flow of execution from starting operation  3012  to operation  3152 . Operation  3152  performs presenting a hiring strategy collection to the employee. Arrow  3154  directs execution from operation  3152  to operation  3116 . Operation  3116  terminates the operations of this flowchart.  
         [0133]     Note that the hiring strategy collection contains at least one hiring strategy item.  
         [0134]     Arrow  3160  directs the flow of execution from starting operation  3012  to operation  3162 . Operation  3162  performs modifying the hiring strategy collection by the employee. Arrow  3164  directs execution from operation  3162  to operation  3116 . Operation  3116  terminates the operations of this flowchart.  
         [0135]      FIG. 15  depicts a detail flowchart of operation  3022  of  FIG. 13  further providing access to a management personnel toolkit for the employee with the associated privilege containing a management staff membership.  
         [0136]     Arrow  3230  directs the flow of execution from starting operation  3022  to operation  3232 . Operation  3232  performs the employee expressing a need for a job position. Arrow  3234  directs execution from operation  3232  to operation  3236 . Operation  3236  terminates the operations of this flowchart.  
         [0137]     Arrow  3240  directs the flow of execution from starting operation  3022  to operation  3242 . Operation  3242  performs the employee creating a description for the job position. Arrow  3244  directs execution from operation  3242  to operation  3236 . Operation  3236  terminates the operations of this flowchart.  
         [0138]     Arrow  3250  directs the flow of execution from starting operation  3022  to operation  3252 . Operation  3252  performs the employee approving the description for the job position. Arrow  3254  directs execution from operation  3252  to operation  3236 . Operation  3236  terminates the operations of this flowchart.  
         [0139]     Arrow  3260  directs the flow of execution from starting operation  3022  to operation  3262 . Operation  3262  performs the employee clarifying the description to create a job description for the job position. Arrow  3264  directs execution from operation  3262  to operation  3236 . Operation  3236  terminates the operations of this flowchart.  
         [0140]     The preceding embodiments have been provided by way of example and are not meant to constrain the scope of the following claims.

Technology Classification (CPC): 6