Your Job Search and Social Media

Do you Yahoo? Social Media is another form of communication that gives users the chance to express who they are. This includes what type of career they want. It has become a viable exploration tool for your next job. Possibly a necessity. Gone are the days when you read about a job in the newspaper or trade publication, mail in your resume and wait to see if you get a call for an interview. Today, with the tight job market, job hunters must be proactive in their search and explore different avenues of finding their next employment opportunity. Networking and creating an online presence is a chance to create your own personal brand and highlight your knowledge, skills and abilities to prospective employers.

Networking Connecting to others whether in person or online may lead to opportunities and job offers.

Getting Started Developing your personal brand Take the time to figure out why an employer should hire you. –What sets you apart from other job seekers? Write a simple paragraph describing your qualities and career highlights. A helpful online tool is It is important to develop your own personal brand. Who you are and how to market yourself.

VisualCV I strongly suggest taking the tour online to learn about VisualCV.

How to distribute your VisualCV

Resume Prepare and save your resume in two formats. Print Resume file extension .doc, docx Online Resume file extension .rft, .txt Many online employment sites cannot upload your resume properly formatted. Uploading a plain text version eliminates most of the problems associated with traditional resume formats. If you decide not to use an online CV program you should create your resume in two formats. The first can be formatted however you wish to design it. The second needs to be formatted in a plain text format such as rtf

Popular Social Media Sites LinkedIn Facebook Twitter

Often thought as the “Professional” version of Facebook Often thought as the “Professional” version of Facebook. Instead of posting your latest vacation photos, career goals and achievements are published. LinkedIn also helps you become connected to former and current colleagues along with connections to possible future employers.

Joining LinkedIn is Free! You will need to collect your resume, photo, and email address.

Summary and Experiences Complete your profile.

Example of LinkedIn Account

Additional Tools to use with LinkedIn There are several applications that can be integrated with LinkedIn. These are just an example of a few.

The Job Board on LinkedIn As you can see on the screen, I sorted jobs within 75 miles of my home zip code. The search came up with 149 job openings. The first job listing is for a Site Director at SAIC in Champaign, IL. If I was interested in this job, I would of course apply, but then I would attempt to network with someone within the company. The site shows I am linked to Taylor Hughes and Lisa Kirchner at a 2nd degree. That means I have a common connection with each of them. After clicking on their profiles, I learned I have a connection with two different people in my employment history. A former supervisor and a former colleague from two different organizations I worked at know the individuals. I would then ask my contacts to introduce me and possible recommend my qualifications to their connection within SAIC. That is how you network.

Facebook and SimplyHired Facebook and SimplyHired.com have developed a relationship to allow users to connect their accounts between the two applications.

Facebook and SimplyHired This is an example of my Facebook friend Brad who used to work at Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield. SimplyHired listed all current job postings with Anthem. If there was a job I was interested in, I would then apply, then contact Brad to inquire if he could introduce me to someone within the company. Preferably someone connected with hiring at the company.

Linking Facebook and SimplyHired You will need to open an account on both sites. The simplest way to link is to click on the link to Facebook button on SimplyHired.

Clean up your image! Your mug shot or even a picture from your wild and crazy young days, no matter how long ago can dissuade an employer and question your work ethics. Of course this picture is an exaggeration, but an seemingly innocent picture of you with alcohol on the table can be detrimental to a career. Story of teacher. This will continue to be a hot topic in the human resource world.

Make sure you take advantage of this format and complete your education and work experience. You can also “Like” companies and follow in person networking groups such as Tippy Connect or community organizations like a chamber of commerce.

Join Twitter Pick a username Pick a password Email Address

Complete Profile

Sign up for different applications and follow companies you are interested in.

TweetMyJOBS is FREE for job seekers TweetMyJOBS is FREE for job seekers. Simply sign up and begin receiving the following benefits: Have access to thousands targeted JobChannels™, so you only get the jobs that match your profile in your feed Receive INSTANT notification of new jobs in your Twitter feed or on your mobile device Learn of new posting from thousands of leading companies Post (and tweet) your resume and custom profile to thousands of recruiters and hiring managers Forward jobs to friends Receive daily job updates via email or RSS Be able to search for jobs using our TweetMap, a Google Maps enabled job tool

2 more twitter job search engines

Other Online Opportunities Research News & Bookmarking favorite sites Blogs- Create your own blog! Video Sharing- Post a video resume on YouTube

Safety Online Unfortunately there are people out there that take advantage of others. Some tips on how to protect yourself. Know what scammers want. They want your personal information. Find a job board you trust. If it looks suspicious, don’t post your resume. Depersonalize your resume. Are you revealing too much? You can't always control who views your resume, but you can control what the public gets to know about you. If you can, open a PO Box instead of using physical address. Protect for your computer. Invest in a good anti-spam, firewall to prevent hackers and unwanted guests.   6 safety tips for online job seekers Leslie Hunt • Bankrate.com