How People Use Social Networking Sites For Job Searching
Using Social Networks to Find People in Your Field
Social networking is one of the newer buzzes to hit the business world. At first limited to people keeping track of their friends, sites like Facebook have spawned numerous copies and imitators. Now there are social networks set up for nearly any purpose. One of the more popular business social networks is LinkedIn.
How to Use Linkedin For Job Hunting
LinkedIn is a network where you “link” with people who you are friends with. You only need know your friend's email address to request to link with them. Once you are linked with your friend, you can view their profile and see their links as well. Links go out to the third degree, so you can see friends of your friends of your friends. LinkedIn also features an extensive search interface, so you can search for specific people in your network. If you pay to use LinkedIn, you can search anyone in their entire database.
Since its inception, LinkedIn has spawned multiple customization options. You can join groups to meet even more people in your field; groups range from “Real Estate Professionals” to “People in Austin Who Work at Target”. They have also introduced the ability to put up a profile picture, as well as extensive profile customization options. Many people who use LinkedIn post their entire resume into their profile. A user can also post recommendations about the work they performed with another person.
How to Land Your Dream Job Using InMails
InMails are how you send messages to other users. To prevent rampant spamming from free accounts, you must supply the reason for which you are contacting the person, and their email address if they are not already connected to you. This is a popular way to get your message forwarded onto someone else. If your friend has an opening in their department, you can send them a message asking them to recommend you to their boss – this allows a warm introduction and is more like a job referral than sending your resume in through the company's application system.
Other features include indicating what you are looking for – if you're looking for job opportunities, if you're open to giving advice, or if you're a power connector. Recruiters have jumped on this like hotcakes, since having a bigger network gives you more opportunities to reach out to people with job opportunities.
Jigsaw.com and Spoke.comOnline Contact Sharing
Another site that isn't so much a social network as a service is Jigsaw.com. This company offers people ways to “purchase” contact information about people they want to find, in exchange for either real money (offering as many searches as you pay for), or on a free basis. To look up people's information for free, you must first supply unique data about other people. It's a one-for-one exchange of contact information. This is popularly used in conjunction with LinkedIn. People will find names and companies on LinkedIn, and then take that information to Jigsaw and look up names.
Another company that is similar to Jigsaw.com is Spoke.com. Spoke instead pulls information from publications and web articles. This is the least like a social network you can get, but will still provide you contact information if you need it. Spoke is usually charged via a monthly subscription.
For more great articles on career advice & much more please visit the career section on GKBusiness.
