Media Sonic

     Social media can be a great resource to any job hunter in this rough market. With Facebook and Twitter, you are able to search out who’s hiring, post resumes on your profiles, talk to complete strangers about your work history, and make a wonderful first impression. This article will be especially important for the older generation of job hunters who did not grow up in this digital and internet age. Social media, such as Facebook and Twitter, is not as daunting as it might seem.

     Sure, you could post your resume on CareerBuilder and Monster.com and hope that someone just happens to see it, and then just happens to make the first move, but it’s probably not going to happen. You could also spend hours diligently searching these two job giants, send a few resumes out to potential jobs, and hope that they take the time to look at yours as well as the thousands of others they received for the same job.

     Gone are the days of simply posting your résumé on CareerBuilder, e-mailing former colleagues and trolling company websites for open slots. These days, if you’re serious about being hired, you really put your computer and PDA to work. That means getting word out on social sites like Facebook and MySpace, sending instant job-search updates via messaging feeds like Twitter, and meeting new people who might be able to lend a hand through Web-networking outfits like LinkedIn. - Time Magazine

     Using LinkedIn to Find a New Boss

     One of the greatest free tools that you can use as a job hunter is LinkedIn. It’s a social networking platform, much like Facebook, that allows you to update your job history and basically create a resume on a personal profile. LinkedIn will also hook you up with networking groups, people you might know, employees at jobs you’d like to work for, and employees of past jobs you’ve held.

     How-To Get Started on LinkedIn

     Getting started with LinkedIn requires nothing more than your name, an email address, and your password. It’s that easy. There is no reason to fret about not knowing what to do, because LinkedIn, as every other social site, walks you through set-up step by step. Once you log in, you will be directed to enter your personal and professional information. Have fun with it. Be professional, but also be light and approachable. It’s ok to gloat about your achievements, but it’s also advisable to be humble. If it’s easier, you can even import your resume directly to your profile. read more »