How to Use Social Networks to Find Your Dream Job

Looking for a new job? Don’t miss out on the numerous benefits available to you through your online social networks. Most job seekers continue to use the same job search methods over and over again and never end up finding that perfect job. The world of job searching has changed in the past five years and you can no longer overlook the online network at your fingertips. You must be willing to expand your online social media knowledge and find new ways to broaden your online network.
Here are 5 tips that you can use to use expand your online social network and help you find that dream job:
1) Join a group: You might be surprised to know that professional networking organizations don’t just meet in person anymore. Instead, organizations now have online communities through sites like LinkedIn that anyone can join. By joining a LinkedIn group, you can get weekly or daily discussion updates and ask or answer questions with people with similar interests. Also, connecting to a group through LinkedIn gives you a unique opportunity to send a message to people you may not have had an opportunity to connect with previously.
2) Stay in touch: The most important part about networking is remembering to stay in contact with people that you meet in person. After you meet someone at an event, send them a quick email, LinkedIn message or facebook post saying how much you enjoyed talking with them and what you enjoyed learning from them. Another good idea is to send a quick happy birthday message to someone in your online network. Stay in touch by providing a quick update on what you are doing and the type of job you are looking for. You can also use facebook to advertise that you are looking for a job in a certain area and ask if anyone knows someone that you can contact for an informational interview.
3) Post your resume: There are many sites that you can post your resume online such as Monster, CareerBuilder and LinkedIn. Make sure that all places you post your resume are consistent and that the information is current. Recruiters will be searching your information online to verify that everything is consistent. By posting your resume on LinkedIn, you also have an advantage of being able to have your colleagues write you recommendations that will link to your online resume. This can give you an extra edge when recruiters and hiring managers view your online resume. The best part about posting your resume online is that recruiters can easily find your profile in a keyword search instead of you having to search through hundreds of job postings.
4) Stay up to date: Make sure you read everything online that you can about your industry in order to stay up to date. Sign up for Google alerts, read blog posts and contribute in forums so that you can be knowledgeable about industry trends at your next interview. LinkedIn, twitter and facebook offer you the ability to follow companies that you are interested in to see what they are doing. What better way to learn about a company that you really want to work for! Many companies also advertise job postings on their social media accounts so by following these companies you will be the first to know so you can get a head start on your competition.
5) The Hiring Zone’s 2011 Top Company Database: In order to help you build your online network, we have put together a list of hiring managers and decision makers just for you. To make your job search even easier, we can send you a database of hiring managers that will allow you to network with these hiring managers directly in order to find the perfect job for you. We believe that there is no better way to find a job than through networking and that is why we want to provide you with the benefits of this company database.
I hope that you found these tips useful. Best of luck to you in your job search and building your online social network!

http://thehiringzone.com/jobseekers.html