Using Myspace / LinkedIn / Facebook for effective networking for your job search

Social networking has become the next best thing after the invention of the Internet. Indeed, social networking is the top business on the Internet today. Just think about for a second about how many social networking sites that you are a member of?

We register with social networking sites for many reasons. Socializing with the friends is one of the main things. This way, you build a primary network with the friends you already know and then get to know the friends of friends’. This way, you keep expanding the network of friends. As an example, I have about 500 friends in Facebook and it is quite a big network. Usually you get to know about fiends, events, parties and many more through these social network sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and Myspace etc.

How can we use our network of friends and social networking platforms for our job search? Yes, there are a few ways of doing this. And let’s discuss them in detail.

First of all, you need to build a good network of friends. The number does not really matter but the quality does. I simply meant that the people in your network should be well networked and professional. Through social networking you get to know many new people. Whenever you add a new friend, see how he can help you to find a job. If the new friend is an executive or a manager of a company, you can talk to him about looking for a job once you get to know the person well. Keep a note of the people who can help you in your objective. Approaching them and asking for help does not mean anything negative for you and there’s nothing you’d lose!

Secondly, if you are a job hunter, you need to convey the message to your network of friends. Only then will they be aware of your needs. You can do this in few simple ways. First, almost all of these networking sites have a personal profile for the member. There is a feature for indicating what you do these days / right now, and this is just to indicate others how you are occupied. Use this to broadcast your message. Update your status with something similar to ‘Joe is looking for a job as a Java programmer’. Just try this and see how many people will get back to you with positive responses.

Next, you can broadcast a message to your friends. This message can be an informal message which says ‘ Hey, I need a job’ or something descriptive; ‘I’m quitting my current job by the end of this month and now looking for one. I’m good at Java programming and I’m a Sun Certified Java Programmer. I have 5 years of experience in IT industry and looking for a senior developer position in an IT organization. Please let me know if there is any opportunity. Thanks!’

Another good tip is to look for interest groups in these social networks. As an example, joining the ‘Java Programmers Guild” group will give you more chance to build contacts with the people within the niche that you are interested in. People in the group may have a lot of contacts that can be golden for your need. Therefore, get connected with as many groups as possible which will help you to build the right network.

There are many paid notifications displayed calling for candidates for various jobs. You need to keep an eye open for those. These are paid advertisements by companies and broadcasted site wide. Whenever you see such an advertisement, be sure to send a resume if the the job description fits you.

Last, but not least; the profile in social networking site is very important. If you are trying to find a job through a social network, then you need to maintain a professional profile. There are chances that your potential employers may peek in to your social networking profile to see who you really are. I’m sure you do not want to miss a one-in-a-million chance due to a crazy profile picture on your social network site. So it is important to be cautious too!

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