If you’re in the job search, you need a LinkedIn profile, even if you’re trying to keep everything on the down low.  You won’t be able to manage a high-quality job search without being on LinkedIn.  But what happens when your boss sees it and wants to know what’s up?  That can be a tricky situation, and it’s important that you handle it well.  What do you say?

Watch this video to find out:

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FYI:  Here’s a great article from Kevin Kermes on Connecting with the Hiring Manager – No HR, Recruiters, or Job Boards.  He gives you some great ideas for using LinkedIn to connect with hiring managers, including using OpenNetworker, fine-tuning LinkedIn search techniques, and how Google fits into it all.

(Want to know exactly what to say when you talk to them?  Check out these LinkedIn Ninja Tricks to Bypass HR and Get the Job.)

Times are tough for job seekers, and it doesn’t make much of a difference what your career is—it’s an employer’s market.  When there are thousands of applicants for jobs posted online, it’s virtually impossible to get noticed.  But there are proven strategies you can use to take control and land the job.  We started with Tip #1, Rethink Your Job Search, and today’s tip is:

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There are many, many social networks available online: Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, LinkedIn, niche networks, and many more. Are some better than others? Do they have different purposes? Which ones are worth your time? Watch the video to see what an expert in the job search thinks about the different social networks, and which one is critical for you to be in:

OK–so you’re on LinkedIn…do you know what to do now?  One of the things that perplexes candidates is how to manage their LinkedIn connections.  Kevin Kermes, of Career Attraction, has some great advice for you if you’re in the middle of this common problem:

The LinkedIn Job Seeker Connections Dilemma:  Quantity or Quality?

You’ll learn which one is the best for your job search:  to go after as many connections as you can to maximize your chances of a job lead, or to nurture a smaller number of connections to make it a stronger possibility that someone who knows you will be more likely to recommend you for a job.  These are LinkedIn tips you won’t want to miss.

(How’s your LinkedIn profile?  Make it the best it can be so that you get noticed with this LinkedIn profile tutorial.)

These days everyone is all a twitter about Twitter, or at least so it seems sometimes. LinkedIn is the steady-as-you-go business tool that doesn’t seem to be flashy and isn’t too concerned about attention. LinkedIn has been built on competency. Twitter has been more “faddish” in its appeal.

The question at hand is:  which is better for the job search?

My short answer is:  LinkedIn is better, and the largest portion of your time on social media should definitely be spent there.

However, this isn’t quite fair to Twitter because this sends a message suggesting an inherent inferiority, which isn’t precisely the case. If you have a well-developed Twitter following, Twitter offers tremendously rapid capacity to reach a tremendously wide audience. Instantaneous communication can be pretty attractive when the communication is an opportunity, or when you want to reach hiring managers quickly.  With Twitter, you can follow recruiters, hiring managers, and others who could be helpful to your career.  When they tweet about job leads, you’ll be right there.

But when I say LinkedIn is better, it’s because most job searches eventually require digging into skills, experience, cultural background, work ethic, education, and other points.   Because of LinkedIn’s well-developed professional profile area, contact management capacity, professional groups, and tools keeping members tuned to their network members’ career changes, needs, plans, and development, it provides a great advantage that more often can approach the demands of a hiring decision.  (Having your own well-developed LinkedIn profile can be invaluable here.)  Because of this demand, Twitter will not normally carry the job search across the finish line, but particularly for more junior roles, Twitter can be a tremendous lead-generating tool.

In the end, Twitter and LinkedIn can both have a place in your job search, but if your time is limited, choose LinkedIn.

If you’ve spent much time on LinkedIn, you may have stumbled on the term “Open Networker” and perhaps seen the term “LION”. A LION is a LinkedIn Open Networker. There are thousands and perhaps millions of LIONS on LinkedIN and you may not know any of them personally. However, if you are serious about your job search, you need to devote a portion of your allowed invitations to these networking beasts. Some of the LIONs have tens of thousands of first-level connections. Connecting to a just a few of these allows you to reach far across and deep into the LinkedIn network to reach your networking and job search goals.

What exactly am I proposing and how do you go about this?

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The very best time to look for a new job is while you still have your old one–but what if that means you need to keep it on the down low? Keeping your job search confidential can seem virtually impossible, but it isn’t.

One great way to stealth job search is by using LinkedIn. It’s entirely possible to reach out to others without it being a matter of public record. (And using LinkedIn to contact hiring managers directly instead of going through HR cattle calls is amazingly effective!)

So what do you have to do?

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Online social media is a fantastic tool for job hunting. The Big 3 (LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter) each have their own unique style that you can

what will employers find when they search your name online?

utilize in different ways for your job search. But while you’re working these sites to land the perfect job, employers and recruiters are looking for you, too. And if you get their attention in the early stages of the job interview process, they’re going to be actively searching for more details about you. According to one survey, 70% of hiring managers and recruiters have rejected an applicant based on what they found online. Have you Googled your name lately to see what they’ll find out about you?

You can manage your online identity to control your reputation and your image in the job market in these 5 ways:

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