Heidrick & Struggles: Looking for LinkedIn magic

Founded in 1953, Heidrick & Struggles (NASDAQ: HSII) has become one of the top executive search firms. Hey, one of the firm's plumb assignments was for the CEO of Google (NASDAQ: GOOG), Eric Schmidt.

Well, according to Heidrick & Struggles' latest quarterly report, the business continues to do just fine. Revenue came to $153.6 million, up 16.1%. Net income spiked 36.3% to $9.2 million.

If anything, the current turbulent economic environment is a growth driver. After all, there has been lots of turnover in the C-suite. For example, according to a report from Challenger Gray & Christmas, there were 134 CEO departures in January.

Something else: there is growth in areas like Europe, Asia and even the Middle East.

But Heidrick & Struggles realizes that it needs to reinvent its business. To this end, the firm is looking at some interesting online ventures.

For example, Heidrick & Struggles recently invested in VisualCV, which provides a Web 2.0 approach for resumes.

What's more, it also looks like Heidrick & Struggles wants to set up its own social networking platform – similar to the popular LinkedIn service. It's an interesting idea and focuses on the importance of social connections in the executive-recruiting game.

Actually, the service will be private, which I'm sure is critical for high-paid executives.

Yet, there is definitely some risk: do busy executives really have enough time for such things?

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook and The Edgar Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements. He also operates DealProfiles.com.