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:

Tip #2:  Turn Social Media into Your Job Search’s Best Friend (not its worst enemy)

Online social networks are both underrated and often misused as a job search tool.  Facebook and Twitter can be amazing avenues to network or follow job leads, but it’s easy to forget that socializing with your friends can lead to comments or pictures that will kill your chances when the hiring manager sees it.  Sanitize your pages—you will be Googled.

But the Big Daddy of online networks, and the place you need to spend most of your time, is LinkedIn.  You must be on LinkedIn, with a high-quality profile that includes a business-appropriate photo.  (Career Confidential offers a LinkedIn Profile Tutorial for this.)  There are over 70 million professionals on LinkedIn—that’s a lot of job leads.  And, at least 80% of employers and recruiters use LinkedIn to look for potential hires.  You can’t afford to miss this.

You can join LinkedIn groups specific to your field and learn tremendous amounts of vital information, make connections to grow your network, and make a name for yourself by joining discussions and contributing useful comments.  Companies maintain pages that are invaluable when researching for your interview.  Perhaps most importantly, you can get ahead of the job-searching crowd and find “hidden jobs” by contacting hiring managers directly on LinkedIn.

Here's another tip for you to make the most of LinkedIn:

 Link to this page

 Link to this page