The world moves at a fast pace especially when it comes to technology, in this case recruiting technology. But the savvy recruiter needs to stay abreast of the changes. Technology itself is only a tool that enables solutions, and it is easy to fall for the next bright shiny object, but emerging technologies do have an effect on recruiting operations.

How do you know if you are behind the times and living in the dark ages? Here are some clues:

1. You still wear a watch (vs. checking the time on your cellphone)
2. You still use a non-digital camera (vs. your smart phone's camera)
3. You print and store documents in a filing cabinet (vs. storing digital documents on the cloud)
4. You still make telephone calls (vs. texting and tweeting)
5. You carry a day planner (vs. using an electronic alternative)
6. You don't understand what OMG and LOL mean
7. You listen to CDs (vs. using MP3 technology)
8. You watch TV shows on a TV set (vs. online)

Okay, so maybe some or all of the above apply to you. But take heart. You can become tech savvy when it comes to recruiting technology. Here are a few tips to get you up to speed.

1. Start using collaboration tools, such as Google Docs, Zoho, and Microsoft Sharepoint.
2. Use a Facebook page to incorporate document sharing and live chat (a great alternative to cumbersome forum software)
3. Take advantage of software-as-a-service offerings, such as collaboration websites like Web Collaboration, and other workforce planning tools.
4. Use browser and desktop plugins, such as Contact Capture, that lets you extract contact information from web pages and make it available to various contact databases (no more cut and paste).
5. Use Slideshare, InnoCentive, or Wikipedia as knowledge domains.
6. Use your smart phone to share documents, use social networking applications and other productivity apps.
7. Instead of bookmarking a website that you may never return to, why not share it via Twitter or Facebook instead where it will be stored and where you can find it.

Set a goal of learning one technology application a month, and next thing you know you'll be the tech whiz in your department.

Call me what you will, but I still write using pencil and paper, use a store-bought calendar to write my appointments on, still use a landline, and don't trust anything that's "wireless". I carry a watch pendant like the White Rabbit in Alice in Wonderland. But that's fine by me. I'm still standing.

How about you? Do share your recruiting technology tools with us.