The three most widely used recruiting tools today are referral programs, mobile technology and social media, Dr. John Sullivan told ERE.net.

Not surprisingly, the rise of social media has brought with it an increase in recruiters' use of the social sites to find qualified candidates, according to TLNT. With more than 800 million users, Facebook represents a virtual hotbed of prospective workers whose attributes, likes, dislikes and even photos are available for employers to see.

According to a recent Jobvite survey, 89 percent of respondents used some form of social media in their recruiting arsenal or plan to within the coming year. Sixty-four percent said they've hired people using a social network.

"(Social media) allows you to connect with people (potential candidates) and build relationships, make referrals and build talent communities," the news source notes in a separate article.

LinkedIn, the professional social network, is a top-notch recruiting technique as well, because a candidate's entire job history - along with accomplishments, responsibilities at past jobs and recommendations are available to view.

Mobile is another growing sector of job recruitment. According to a recent Pew survey, one-third of all Americans have smartphones, and 87 percent use them to access the internet or read email. Around 66 percent said they perform these tasks on a daily basis.

Furthermore, a recent Google survey revealed that 50 percent of smartphone users access a social network at least once a day, allowing recruiters to offer prospects custom apps, send tweets on Twitter about job openings or have employees refer jobs to their friends via Facebook.

Job boards and networking are not dead, however. A recent Manpower Group study found that over the last three years, four in 10 respondents found a job via networking, and in 2010, 41 percent of people used traditional networking tactics to land a position.

In addition, TLNT points out that job boards remain relevant, as career management workforce firm Right Management said they accounted for 25 percent of the positions found by their firm's clients.

StaffingTalk points out that less traditional methods are also being tested to recruit candidates.

For example, when social dating company Zoosk was in need of software engineers this past August, it promised to send two new hires out on an all-expenses paid date in Los Angeles. They also offered a $10,000 referral bonus to any new engineer hired through the end of September.