Social Media and Networking Sites to Aid Your Job Search

Have you ever run on a search on your name in Google? If nothing comes up, try adding quotes around your name and maybe even a location (e.g. Portland, OR). What shows up? Your LinkedIn profile (If not, it should!), Twitter account and Facebook page? What else? If you’ve been using the internet for social purposes for a while, chances are that you’ll also see some public forum posts, product reviews and other items you may not even remember posting. Carefully review these results as you’re future employer can and will see them! Try an image search as well and see what comes up. Listed below are a few tips to help you utilize some of the more common social networking sites to your utmost advantage, as well as some tips on cleaning up things that may be viewed by a potential employer as inappropriate.

1. Make sure your profiles are up to date: On LinkedIn for example, think of your profile as an extended resume. You’ll want to make sure that you’re most recent and relevant experience is all current and displayed. Tailor this information so that it is as applicable as it can be for your desired position. For other sites, make sure "Employment" or "Job" sections are filled out properly.
2. Make sure your public profiles are Safe for Work: This is a general rule to follow – even when you aren’t looking for work. Most sites have the ability to make certain posts/pictures and other content only visible to certain people via privacy settings. You should either remove anything you don’t want your coworkers or boss to see, or make them private so that only those people who should be seeing them can view them. Online research is a big thing these days as many background check companies are moving towards providing links to social accounts (Facebook, Twitter, etc.), photos and blogs. So do what you can to put your best foot forward in the realm of social media. Also, make sure that you have not posted any disparaging remarks or reviews of previous employers, as this can reflect very poorly on you in the eyes of any future employers.
3. Compliment your profiles with your interests and hobbies: Most profiles offer fields to express your interests and hobbies to viewers. Include relevant and work-safe hobbies in your profile. Good examples would be: Photography, Hiking, Reading and Painting. Bad examples would be: Getting Drunk, Pirating Music and Running from the Cops.
4. Post articles relevant to your profession and interests: This will show your potential employers that you take a genuine interest in your work and hobbies. It expresses a certain level of passion for what you do, both personally and professionally. You can create original content or simply post links to another blog or news site. You should absolutely send out a Tweet when you learn a new skill or do something outstanding that can be related to your work.
5. Utilize Apps: LinkedIn has several Apps available, such as Amazon’s "Reading List" and Box.net’s file sharing software. This will further key people in on what you do with your time. If you regularly read books related to your chosen field, make sure to keep your reading list up to date. Upload your resume to your box.net account and turn it on! This will allow you to track every time someone downloads your resume.  Facebook has "Branch Out" and a number of other networking apps as well. These are all tools to help you network and networking is very important. As the old adage says, it’s about who you know!
6. Network, Network, Network!: Settle in and start browsing through your existing friends and contacts. See who is working where and who they are working with. Reach out to people whom you think may help you in your job search. Do comprehensive searches for hiring managers in your desired field. Know a few companies that you would like to work for? Reach out to the appropriate hiring manager via LinkedIn. Follow a company’s blog, like them on Facebook, interact with them and keep tabs on them. Look at Meetup.com, LinkedIn Groups and Facebook pages for networking event schedules in your field. Attend some events and see what getting some face time will accomplish! Don’t forget to expand you’re online network by adding the people you meet at networking functions.
7. Join Groups: Joining a group relevant to your field will help you in many ways: The aforementioned networking aspect, staying on top of the latest trends and technologies, establishing an online presence among your peers and allow you to contribute and collaborate with new people. Many people go out of their way to post articles to these groups, which can not only relay their trials, successes and failures but will also certainly give you some additional insight into what people in your field are experiencing. You can learn from their mistakes and apply their best practices to your job search. Similarly, you can follow certain HashTags (#Jobs, #msdynamics) and converse with those who share similar interests.
8. Search for jobs!: LinkedIn has a wide variety of job search functions. Employers/recruiters can post open positions to groups, to company pages and to discussions. Search through all of them! Also use sites like Indeed.com and SimplyHired.com, these sites index results from other Job Post boards like Dice.com, Careerbuilder.com, LinkedIn.com and many, many others.
9. Reach out to Recruiters: You can’t always just assume that a recruiter will find your information and contact you. Use tools like LinkedIn and Google to find your local recruiting agencies. More often than not, recruiters will be openly displaying their contact information, making it easy for you to reach out. A quick "Hey, I’m looking for work doing xxxx. Here’s my resume, let me know if you think I might be a fit for any upcoming positions!" is really all it takes. Also, don’t work under the assumption that just because you are working with 1 or 2 recruiters from different agencies, that that is enough. Many agencies have exclusive clients, whom will only list positions with them. The broader exposure you have, the better.
10. Make sure your contact information is displayed: Setup a job search email and a Google Voice number for use in your job search efforts. I would be hesitant to recommend you put down your actual mobile number or email on a site that can easily be harvested by less than honest marketers. However, not every employer/recruiter will have free "InMails" on LinkedIn to contact you, so it’s important that you give them some option to contact you outside of the standard method. Also make sure your preferred contact method is posted on your blogs, Facebook and you can even Tweet it!

Links to some of the more commonly used Social Networking sites: Last, but not least: Good luck in your search!