Job Searching with Social Media For Dummies
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Ten years ago, you would have had to pay hundreds of dollars for the information about jobs that’s freely available about companies on LinkedIn today. Every year, LinkedIn augments its features in the direction of turning company profiles into rich sources of information.

Using LinkedIn, you can follow changes in a company and be alerted to promotions, layoffs, and new hires. Companies also use this social media to display products, make status updates, and address the public. What’s even more useful about LinkedIn is your ability to uncover great places to work and then find the exact people you need to talk to about employment.

Take a look at LinkedIn’s hidden list of recognized industries. (Note that you need to be signed in to follow the link to the page.) From there, follow these steps to start building your list of companies and their hiring managers:

  1. Click on the industry that’s most closely related to the field you want to work in and then filter down your choices by location and company size.

    Play with your filters until you get a list of about ten possible places to work.

  2. Follow each of the companies that appeal to you.

  3. Click on the How You’re Connected tab at the top of the company’s page and then again on the See All link.

    This link brings you to a people-search results page that allows you to filter that company’s employees.

  4. Filter your search by location and add a keyword that’s related to the role your hiring manager may have.

    For example, if you’re hoping for a marketing job, type “marketing.” If you’re going for operations, type “operations.” The keyword opens the search to contacts beyond your current network.

    If you have a paid version of LinkedIn, you can also filter by seniority level to make sure you’re viewing directors and managers.

After you pick out some hiring managers, you’re ready to start gathering some information about them.

About This Article

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Joshua Waldman, MBA, is an authority on leveraging social media to find employment. His writing has appeared in Forbes, Huffington Post, Mashable, and the International Business Times. Joshua's career blog, CareerEnlightenment.com, won the About.com Readers' Choice Award for Best Career Blog 2013. Joshua presents keynotes, trainings, and breakout sessions around the world for students, career advisors, and professional organizations.

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