Great guest post today from Dan Finnigan of Jobvite.  He offers some smart & useful tips on how job hunters can leverage social media in their job hunt.  Every little bit helps….

WG-In 25 words or less, how can social media help me, the job hunter?

Dan-Social media can help the job seeker in two ways–to find job information and to be found by companies who have jobs.

WG-What are the most important social networking sites to be on?

Dan-LinkedIn is widely used for professional networking.  Plaxo is another site people use to stay in touch with their networks.  Facebook and Twitter have become increasingly valuable in the job search as a way to engage with companies and recruiters and identify open positions.  More and more people are providing professional background and work experience in their Facebook profiles.  Twitter provides a very immediate way to get news of job opportunities in your network–or from companies you follow.  Now people are creating Google profiles as well, so that when people do a search on your name, they find the latest information.

WG-Is there a downside to social networking? What’s the worst thing that can go wrong?

Dan-I think people are fairly well educated now about the dangers of providing too much information or information of the wrong kind on social networks.  If you care about your personal brand online, be genuine, be helpful, and think twice before you hit “share.”

WG-Isn’t this just a new way of doing the same old thing?  What’s different about social networking online?

Dan-Social networking is an enhanced, real-time version of networking.  With social networking, you can find and connect with more people to help with your job search or career development.  Most people jump-start social networking by connecting with their offline contacts online, making it easier and faster to meet new contacts in your field.

By getting involved in social media, you’ll learn about job opportunities that you would never find offline and find information to help you interview and evaluate opportunities.  Social networking online can not only help you with a one-time job search, but can add value throughout your career.

WG-I know about the usual social networking sites (LinkedIn, Twitter), but how do I find the more obscure, industry-specific sites?

Dan-The best way to find more obscure, industry-specific sites is to look into your network for that information.  Start on sites like LinkedIn and connect with people that are in your industry or companies that you wish to work for; see what social networking sites they use or what blogs they read.  You can search for industry terms on Twitter and see what sites people are talking about.  Ning enables groups to create social networks and you can search for groups that address your industry or area of interest.

WG-Do I have to have a blog or website to use social media networking?

Dan-You don’t have to have a blog or website to use social media.  Social media accommodates a range of activity level and investment time.  Online networks make it easy to start small with occasional status updates.  You can gradually invest more time, providing more content and commentary.  You can start micro-blogging on Twitter and then take on a full-fledged blog when and if you’re ready.  Or you can just provide useful commentary on blogs you read.  The more you contribute, the more opportunity will find you.

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 23rd, 2009 at 12:03 pm and is filed under job hunting. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.