Using Social Media to Find a Dream Job

You’re in the market for a new job, but if you’re also in the social media world you may be in the job-searching market even deeper than you realized. The web is the place to meet and connect not only with friends, but also future work associates.

Social media profiles are quickly replacing the traditional resume. Let’s take a look at four social media websites and how you can utilize these communities to launch your job search and further your career.

LinkedIn

It’s like a Facebook specific to job searching, and if you are not comfortable with adding your coworkers to your Facebook profile, then a LinkedIn profile is a an excellent choice for managing your professional relationships separately from your personal ones. Whether you are searching for a new employee, researching a specific company or looking for a job, LinkedIn offers an online starting place for all of these scenarios.

LinkedIn is full of high quality, professional jobs and the best part is, you’ll likely come across them through a mutual contact… even better! If you are currently working and updating your profile as you actively seek a new position, the site also lets you turn off your activity updates; this is a good idea if you don’t want your current coworkers alerted to the work you are putting into updating your profile.

Letters of recommendation are practically a thing of the past with LinkedIn’s feature that allows users to recommend one another inclusive of posting comments about a person’s work ethic.

Facebook

Sure Facebook may just be your family and friends, but do you really keep up with where all of your friends work? Posting a status update letting your friends know you are job hunting can open more doors that you may realize.

Use the note feature that allows you to post much more information that a status; you can even include your resume highlights and more details about the type of work you are looking for.

Monster’s Facebook app, BeKnown, allows its users to keep their personal Facebook information private but still job search and apply for jobs without leaving Facebook. Your BeKnown profile is an online version of your resume (which can also be printed as a PDF) and you’ll be automatically matched to jobs that match your profile! BeKnown allows you to leverage your networking on Facebook, and it is for any and all job levels and types of job seekers.

Twitter

When you are using Twitter in your job search, think of it as online networking not based on just people you know or people who know the people you know, but rather connect based on common interests.

If you find that you do not know the person who may be able to put you in touch with a company, job or another person, go ahead and ask. In general, people who participate in social media are very open to conversation, networking and making new friends and connections.

Doostang.com

This invite-only community allows users to share a profile, resume and post and search for jobs. This social networking site is also available to applicants through select school networks (with a verified .edu e-mail address). Employers can post jobs for free on doostang.com, but will need to ‘request an invitation’ to participate in this community.

This site also claims that “ 1 in 4 recent graduates from the Top 30 US Universities is on Doostang ”.