Navigating Your Online Job Search

We’re not in Kansas anymore, and this isn’t your mom and dad’s job search either. With the advent of mobile technology, social media, and digital marketing, finding a job is no longer as easy as opening the newspaper and scanning the wanted ads. It’s competitive, it’s frustrating, and it can take a long time. But did you know that the social media outlets that you browse while you’re procrastinating on your online employement search can become the very tools that help get you your next great job? Here are my three favorite places to look for jobs online, and they’re not what you’d expect.

Twitter

Twitter is great for connecting with friends, staying updated on the latest online deals, and learning more about your favorite celebrities, but did you know it’s also one of the best places on the internet to search for a job? Twitter is like a constantly updating job board, except that when you connect with a company or recruiter on Twitter as opposed to somewhere like Craigslist or Indeed (where you’ll often get lost in the shuffle), there’s more often than not a community manager or social media strategist running that account, who will engage with their followers, answer questions, and keep you as updated and informed as possible.

For a great example of what job searching on Twitter can be like, you can check out the two pages that I run, @Russell_Tobin & @Pride_Health.

Facebook

There’s a lot more job search possibilities on the world’s most popular social networking site than you might realize. For one, there’s BranchOut, a Facebook partner that takes all your listed work experience, connections, and profile information on FaceBook and converts it into a professional, LinkedIn-esque profile, and also puts you in touch with thousands of job postings on Facebook.

There’s also thousands of company Pages on Facebook, allowing members to connect with potential dream jobs.

Plus, it always helps to keep your educational and job experience updated on your personal profile. You never know who a friend, or a friend of a friend, might know!

LinkedIn

LinkedIn may be the most obvious social networking site you can use to find a job- but that doesn’t mean it’s the most straightforward or requires less work than Facebook or Twitter. Having an up to date, fully filled out LinkedIn profile is incredibly important in a job search, as is having the right connections. Connect with former classmates, teachers, and employers, and encourage them to provide you with recommendations as well as provide them with some. Recommending others, as well as having them recommend your work, will show that you’ve engaged in previous jobs.

LinkedIn also has its own job boards, where companies post open positions. And like Facebook and Twitter, companies create LinkedIn pages, allowing job seekers to connect with the companies they’re most interested in working for.

Where has your online job search taken you? Tell us in the comments.