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Are you using social networking in your career?

Social Media: Changing Job Searches and Career Management Forever

Are you using social networking groups in your job search? In addition to LinkedIn, Facebook, and MySpace, there are several more job-related social networking sites, including MyWorkster, VisualVC, and Virtual Job Coach, that let members see jobs posted on these networking Web sites—and post their resumes.

Why not use this phenomenon to capitalize on career networking? Here’s an overview of what these networks offer.

LinkedIn—a social networking site mainly used for professional networking. As of March 2009, it has more than 35 million registered users, spanning 150 industries. Registered users can maintain a list of contact details of people they know and trust in business. Users can invite anyone (whether a site user or not) to become a connection.

A contact network includes your direct connections, connections to their connections, and connections to second-degree connections. Use these connections to gain an introduction to someone you wish to know through a mutual, trusted contact.

LinkedIn can also help you

find jobs, people, and business opportunities recommended by someone in your contact network.
list jobs and search for potential candidates if you are an employer
review the profile of hiring managers and discover who of your existing contacts can introduce you to them
use the searchable LinkedIn Groups feature to establish new business relationships by joining alumni, industry, or professional and other relevant groups.

Did you know that Yankee IABC has a LinkedIn Group?

Facebook—you can join networks organized by city, workplace, school, and region to connect and interact with other people. Add friends and send them messages, and update your personal profile to notify them about your current status.

You can also connect to professional groups. For example, IABC has a Facebook page, too.

Several applications have been added that enable you to post your resume on your Facebook page. The resume is then available to people in your network.

MyWorkster [www.myworkster.com] separates personal and professional life by keeping embarrassing and unprofessional MySpace and Facebook photographs or wall posts away from your work life. Like Facebook, users can create a network of people who they know or want to get to know on a business level and they can post resumes and work samples.

VisualCV [www.visualcv.com]—started by a group of investors, primarily search firms—it began as a way for top-level executives to stand out from the standard resumes. Now anyone can use VisualCV, but it’s more than a written recap of your work experience. It is a multimedia resume that can include blogs, embedded images or samples of your work, and videos.

VirtualJobCoach [virtualjobcoach.com]—personally manage your online job search. This career management site requires a paid subscription of $9.95. It allows the user to track interviews, schedule appointments, and store resumes and cover letters. It also automatically updates its users with job opening that match their criteria.

As a security precaution when posting personal information on the Internet, review each Web site’s filtering options to manage who sees what on your profile.

Written by Rich Young, Chaloner Associates, rich@chaloner.com