[caption id="attachment_10324" align="alignleft" width="96"] By Tam Le, Dice Product Manager[/caption] Sourcing and recruiting happens everywhere. Both physically and virtually. Meeting someone in person, for the most part, is pretty easy. Be social. Be funny. Don't stare or be awkward. What really helps though, is that there's always context as to why you are there as a recruiter. Maybe you're just getting coffee, or attending a regular Ruby meetup. Whatever the event, there is a reason for you and the candidate to be at the same place at the same time. [caption id="attachment_10129" align="alignright" width="300"] Personal info blurred to protect the innocent.[/caption] Meeting online is a different story. Let's say I'm interested in Python (because who isn't?). I'm on Twitter searching for #python candidates and come across a profile like the one to the right. What do I do next? Sure I could @message them, but with the small nuggets of info on Twitter, how do I really know the candidate has strong Python skills? That's the biggest problem with recruiting on social sites - How do you learn more about the professionals you find online and tie them back to something tangible? The solution: The Open Web Chrome Extension My colleagues and I on the Product Development team spent a few weeks skunk-working a prototype that provided richer and more complete social data. What we developed was an Extension for the Google Chrome browser that utilizes our Open Web technology. What's a Chrome Extension? It's an extra feature on a Google Chrome browser that enhances the page you are on by providing bonus information, such as relevant links to candidate social profiles or contact info. With the Open Web Chrome Extension, whenever you visit a candidate's profile page on a social site, a quick search is done in the background to see if Dice has any other social profiles for that person. When Open Web has found a match, a blue plus sign appears next to the red "D" icon in the upper right corner of your Google Chrome Browser. From there, all you have to do is click on the "D" icon and then the View Profile button and you are taken to Dice where you can quickly see the candidate's complete social footprint. With Craig Anderson, you see that he has profiles on Github and Stack Overflow, which are excellent sources of knowledge. You can also learn more about him as a person on Google+. Double huzzah! Get rich data from just an email address Additionally, if you ever find an email address for a candidate on the web (like a web-based ATS or even Gmail) all you have to do is highlight the email to see if Open Web has a matching social profile.   Download it. Test it. Tell us what you think. The Chrome Extension is a free feature and is still very much a prototype. Download it now at: dice.com/extension Note: This feature only works with Google Chrome. You can download the Chrome browser here if you don't have it. I'd like your feedback. Will you use the Extension in your daily workflow? What suggestions do you have while it's still in beta? Let me know in the Comments section. Thanks, Tam