The career Web site (www.monster.com) hopes the subscription-based service will help both job seekers and employed people who want to exchange information about jobs or goals. Monster says that the networking product will enable the site to re-engage its 40 million members, many of whom are well past the typical six to nine month initial period of activity and merely have resumes in the Monster database. "What happens is someone gets a job, and we're looking for ways to maintain that member," said Jeff Taylor, founder and chairman of Monster, a unit of Monster Worldwide Inc. of New York. "What we're able to do now is to provide an instrument of introduction or assist in an introduction to other people in their professional network."

Here's how it works. Users set up profiles containing information including their first name, first initial of last name, skills, job, employment history, schools, interests and location. Users then can search among the network by those categories. To contact a person, however, users must pay membership fees. The fee structure hasn't been finalized, but Monster said it is likely to be on par with rates charged by online dating sites and similar services. Monster Networking is set to go live in the first quarter of next year. "Dating and alumni services have proven themselves as subscription models, so that seemed a good place to start" rather than be a free service like other recently launched networking sites, says Michael Schutzler, Monster's senior vice president of consumer products. Mr. Schutzler joined Monster in July after leaving school networking site Classmates.com a year ago, where he served as president and chief executive. Monster serves as the host of the networking community by controlling most of the content of initial icebreaker notes. This way, users don't have to give out personal information initially. Monster also send users weekly e-mails of potential network matches. To try to ensure a fun atmosphere and a network of professionals who want to be involved, users can rate their exchanges with other members using a point system.