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If you've kept up with the HR trade press lately, you're aware of the intensifying debate over the effectiveness of online recruiting. On one side, some of the better known industry observers vehemently advise corporate recruiters against using job boards at any cost, favoring instead good-old networking, employee referrals and the like.

On the other side of the discussion we find many experienced recruiting practitioners, who know emotionally that the gurus are right about this issue, but realize as well that the millions of employers and job seekers who use job boards can't all be wrong all the time.

Generally, a reasoned approach to the issue comes down to treating both online and more traditional means of sourcing job applicants simply as two among many implements in the recruiter's toolkit. To say that one is superior to the other is to overlook the truism that one tool does not fit all tasks.

It's all about audience, folks: At one end of the curve, when recruiting for SVPs and on up the ladder, job boards may perform less effectively that traditional networking, staffing firms or headhunters.

At the other extreme, vital as they are to the smooth and profitable operation of the enterprise, many jobs require people with few marketable skills or experience. Folks in this segment often depend primarily on family, friends and other lower-tech means of finding jobs, though more and more are logging on to find employment opportunities via the Internet.

In the middle, obviously, are the vast majority of jobs and people needed to fill them. You probably know this segment well, since virtually all enterprises require them. Depending on the industry, we all need people in marketing, sales, service, finance, R&D, administration, and countless more jobs that form the core and supporting competencies of the enterprise.

Today virtually everyone in this segment depends on the Internet as a portal to a growing breadth and depth of information critical to their lives, from entertainment, to shopping, to e-mail, to – that's right – career advancement.

Just as they try to hire candidates best suited to the job and the enterprise, prudent recruiters employ the tools best suited to the audience from which they need to attract those well-suited job seekers.

Considering the numbers, geographical distribution and mobility of today's global labor force, it seems only logical to select the recruiting approach that will optimize your efforts and enhance your productivity.

OK, let's sum up. Positions needed by virtually all companies. A vast pool of people interested in these positions. Regular-to-intense use of – if not dependence on – the Internet by these people.

So tell me again why recruiters should avoid using the web to source applicants?