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How To Use Internet Socializing In Your Job Search
By DAVE BONTEMPO, For The Bulletin
It used to be that you sent an invitation to a specific event—a birthday, graduation, anniversary. These days, you’re just as likely to receive an invitation to join a network—a group of like-minded people looking for contacts through the internet.
Social networking sites like MySpace have long been an internet staple for teens and college students looking to keep in touch with friends. But business people have jumped on the bandwagon, adding to the success of sites such as LinkedIn, created to increase business contacts and share professional information. Even traditionally social sites like Facebook have been accessed by professionals to increase business connections.
So now that you’re looking for a job, how can you utilize this relatively new internet tool to your advantage? Simple. Join the sites, create your profile and get busy making contacts.
Let’s start with LinkedIn, a free networking site geared to businesses and professionals. Yes, “free.” Many sites offer at least a basic option for use which costs nothing. Of course, more in-depth use can require payment, but basic plans work well to start.
To join LinkedIn, simply go to the site and fill in the blanks on the “Join Today” page — basic info required to get you started. Next you’ll be asked how you want to use the site, for example, find a job, find information about industries, find consulting positions, etc. Once you fill in the information on the forms pages, you can get to work on your profile, which will serve to introduce you to other LinkedIn users.
When you click on your profile page, you can provide a resume-type listing of current and past employers and positions held at those companies. List your education and any additional information such as Web sites, interests, groups and associations and honors and awards.
Keep your information concise, but be certain to utilize business and industry oriented key words which will allow others to find you based on your experience. Also, adding information about past jobs and school contacts will enable LinkedIn to alert you when anyone with a shared background joins —another way to increase contacts.
Sub-groups exist on many sites which are industry related and provide a valuable outlet for increasing contacts as well as trading industry information. Go exploring and find associations which will connect you to new sources and industry trends, then join them through the site. Adding groups to your contacts also beefs up your profile, which may provide incentive for others to accept your invitations to connect.
Since these sites sell themselves as connectors, exploit that aspect of the site to the fullest. Once your profile is complete, begin to add contacts. Click on the “Contacts” tab on the left side of the screen. On the next screen, locate “Add Contacts” on the upper right side of the screen. Clicking this tab will then allow you to add contacts specifically, should you know names and email addresses.
More likely, if you’re new to LinkedIn, you’ll employ the “Import Contacts” option, which allows the site to mine your email address book for contacts. Simply follow directions on the screen and your imported address book will indicate who is already a LinkedIn member. You can then invite those contacts to join your network via an invitation sent through the site.
Now, how to use those connections? There are several ways. Once you connect with an individual, you then have access to their connections. It’s time to do some hunting. Go through your connections and select someone who works in your industry or a related field. Next, check out your contact’s connections to find additional people you might reach out to in your job search.
Other ways to utilize these sites involve the use of mining the site database with key words. With LinkedIn, you can employ this tactic while searching under either the Jobs or People category. Click on either tab and you’ll be directed to screens which will allow you to enter key words relative to your job search. Use job titles, computer languages, specific company names … anything which applies to an area of interest career-wise. By typing in key words you’ll come up with not only jobs, but in the “People” category, individuals who work in your industry as well as companies of interest—all potential new connections to aid you in your search.
Allow yourself time to investigate and don’t get discouraged if you have difficulty initially. Play around with key words, inserting various combinations to see what pops up. Depending on your industry, don’t always specify geographical locations—many “virtual” jobs allow you to work from your geographical location for a company in another. Go broad, then narrow and see what surfaces. Odds are, you’ll find something or someone which may turn out to be a bona fide lead on your job search.
Facebook, while more genuinely a social networking site, can still be utilized in your job search in ways similar to those of more career oriented sites. Here, it’s all about your “Friends,” as they’re called on Facebook. Facebook Friends are simply your contacts. And again, by connecting and adding friends, you increase your number of potential leads in your job search.
As with LinkedIn, the site is fairly self-explanatory to join. Go to www.facebook.com and simply follow along. Once you’ve joined, you’ll create a profile allowing you to post contact information, employment status and past positions, education, interests, etc. A word of caution: Although Facebook is a more personal site than LinkedIn, avoid putting too much personal info online — on any site. Remember, if it’s out there, people will find it. It’s always best to err on the side of caution and remain as professional as possible on any site where you’re “promoting” yourself.
Once you’ve created your profile (which you can edit at any time) it’s time to add friends. Go to the “Friends” tab at the upper left side of the page and click “Find Friends” on the drop down menu. As with LinkedIn, the site allows you to mine your personal email contacts to see who you might already know with a Facebook account. (No longer merely a kids’ place to congregate, you’ll be amazed at who’s on Facebook.) Invite folks you know—you have to be confirmed as a “friend”—and once you’ve developed a network, check out not only your friends, but your friends’ friends for contacts to assist you in your job search.
These sites also allow you to pose questions to your contacts as well as to provide updates as to what you’re currently working on. If it’s finding a job, say so. “Currently seeking opportunities in the marketing industry,” will do for a start. You can also join groups, as on Linked In, which will again connect you with individuals sharing similar interests.
Social networking Web sites make connecting with potential employment leads easy, fast and efficient. LinkedIn and Facebook are two of the biggest and best, but there are tons of sites out there. Be careful, though, with a world of information available a mere click away, it’s easy to drown in the internet ocean. Yes, you need to use these sites, but don’t spend all your time socializing. You’re looking for a job, remember? These sites are tools, but they won’t build the house for you. Utilizing a combination of efforts and resources will be the best way to get you back to work.
Dave Bontempo is the owner of The Bontempo Group, a full service executive search firm in Feasterville.
Social networking sites like MySpace have long been an internet staple for teens and college students looking to keep in touch with friends. But business people have jumped on the bandwagon, adding to the success of sites such as LinkedIn, created to increase business contacts and share professional information. Even traditionally social sites like Facebook have been accessed by professionals to increase business connections.
So now that you’re looking for a job, how can you utilize this relatively new internet tool to your advantage? Simple. Join the sites, create your profile and get busy making contacts.
Let’s start with LinkedIn, a free networking site geared to businesses and professionals. Yes, “free.” Many sites offer at least a basic option for use which costs nothing. Of course, more in-depth use can require payment, but basic plans work well to start.
To join LinkedIn, simply go to the site and fill in the blanks on the “Join Today” page — basic info required to get you started. Next you’ll be asked how you want to use the site, for example, find a job, find information about industries, find consulting positions, etc. Once you fill in the information on the forms pages, you can get to work on your profile, which will serve to introduce you to other LinkedIn users.
When you click on your profile page, you can provide a resume-type listing of current and past employers and positions held at those companies. List your education and any additional information such as Web sites, interests, groups and associations and honors and awards.
Keep your information concise, but be certain to utilize business and industry oriented key words which will allow others to find you based on your experience. Also, adding information about past jobs and school contacts will enable LinkedIn to alert you when anyone with a shared background joins —another way to increase contacts.
Sub-groups exist on many sites which are industry related and provide a valuable outlet for increasing contacts as well as trading industry information. Go exploring and find associations which will connect you to new sources and industry trends, then join them through the site. Adding groups to your contacts also beefs up your profile, which may provide incentive for others to accept your invitations to connect.
Since these sites sell themselves as connectors, exploit that aspect of the site to the fullest. Once your profile is complete, begin to add contacts. Click on the “Contacts” tab on the left side of the screen. On the next screen, locate “Add Contacts” on the upper right side of the screen. Clicking this tab will then allow you to add contacts specifically, should you know names and email addresses.
More likely, if you’re new to LinkedIn, you’ll employ the “Import Contacts” option, which allows the site to mine your email address book for contacts. Simply follow directions on the screen and your imported address book will indicate who is already a LinkedIn member. You can then invite those contacts to join your network via an invitation sent through the site.
Now, how to use those connections? There are several ways. Once you connect with an individual, you then have access to their connections. It’s time to do some hunting. Go through your connections and select someone who works in your industry or a related field. Next, check out your contact’s connections to find additional people you might reach out to in your job search.
Other ways to utilize these sites involve the use of mining the site database with key words. With LinkedIn, you can employ this tactic while searching under either the Jobs or People category. Click on either tab and you’ll be directed to screens which will allow you to enter key words relative to your job search. Use job titles, computer languages, specific company names … anything which applies to an area of interest career-wise. By typing in key words you’ll come up with not only jobs, but in the “People” category, individuals who work in your industry as well as companies of interest—all potential new connections to aid you in your search.
Allow yourself time to investigate and don’t get discouraged if you have difficulty initially. Play around with key words, inserting various combinations to see what pops up. Depending on your industry, don’t always specify geographical locations—many “virtual” jobs allow you to work from your geographical location for a company in another. Go broad, then narrow and see what surfaces. Odds are, you’ll find something or someone which may turn out to be a bona fide lead on your job search.
Facebook, while more genuinely a social networking site, can still be utilized in your job search in ways similar to those of more career oriented sites. Here, it’s all about your “Friends,” as they’re called on Facebook. Facebook Friends are simply your contacts. And again, by connecting and adding friends, you increase your number of potential leads in your job search.
As with LinkedIn, the site is fairly self-explanatory to join. Go to www.facebook.com and simply follow along. Once you’ve joined, you’ll create a profile allowing you to post contact information, employment status and past positions, education, interests, etc. A word of caution: Although Facebook is a more personal site than LinkedIn, avoid putting too much personal info online — on any site. Remember, if it’s out there, people will find it. It’s always best to err on the side of caution and remain as professional as possible on any site where you’re “promoting” yourself.
Once you’ve created your profile (which you can edit at any time) it’s time to add friends. Go to the “Friends” tab at the upper left side of the page and click “Find Friends” on the drop down menu. As with LinkedIn, the site allows you to mine your personal email contacts to see who you might already know with a Facebook account. (No longer merely a kids’ place to congregate, you’ll be amazed at who’s on Facebook.) Invite folks you know—you have to be confirmed as a “friend”—and once you’ve developed a network, check out not only your friends, but your friends’ friends for contacts to assist you in your job search.
These sites also allow you to pose questions to your contacts as well as to provide updates as to what you’re currently working on. If it’s finding a job, say so. “Currently seeking opportunities in the marketing industry,” will do for a start. You can also join groups, as on Linked In, which will again connect you with individuals sharing similar interests.
Social networking Web sites make connecting with potential employment leads easy, fast and efficient. LinkedIn and Facebook are two of the biggest and best, but there are tons of sites out there. Be careful, though, with a world of information available a mere click away, it’s easy to drown in the internet ocean. Yes, you need to use these sites, but don’t spend all your time socializing. You’re looking for a job, remember? These sites are tools, but they won’t build the house for you. Utilizing a combination of efforts and resources will be the best way to get you back to work.
Dave Bontempo is the owner of The Bontempo Group, a full service executive search firm in Feasterville.
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albertparsons14 wrote on Sep 14, 2009 2:57 AM: