Could Social Networking Sites Help You Find a Job?

If you’re hunting for a job, you’re probably already using the JobMonkey job database and other job search websites to look for opportunities.

What you may not know is that sites like Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn can drastically help increase your success rate when applying to positions in your field. If you aren’t participating in social networking sites yet, you’re missing out! This untapped resource could be the key to your next job, no matter what your industry.

First, it is important to understand how not to use social networking sites if you’re job hunting. We all love funny pictures, for example, but a public profile is not the right place to post photographs from your party days in college, no matter how professional you are today. You should also keep it private when you’re being considered for a job. Employers may questions you ability to uphold a confidentiality agreement or keep trade secrets under wraps if you start tweeting about the position as soon as someone responses to your resume or offers you an interview.

What you should be doing on social networking sites is building your community of friends and followers so you can all help one another. If you have 1,000 friends and leave a message that you’re looking for a job in your respective industry, chances are that at least one person will see that message and be able to help you, either directly or by connecting you to one of their other friends who works in your field.

You can also ask for help in the form of recommendations if you’re using social networking sites to help you hunt for jobs. LinkedIn is a great resource to help you connect with previous bosses and coworkers, even if you’ve lost touch otherwise. Many past employers are happy to serve as references or write letters of recommendation, and some may even offer you advance positions that have opened since you left the company.

If you enjoy social networking, you can even pursue this as a work from home job opportunity. Many companies want to have social network presences, so they’re looking for people who have experience in their social networking sites of choice. This is a great job choice for someone interested in working with people on a flexible schedule.