Job Searching with Social Media For Dummies
Book image
Explore Book Buy On Amazon

Facebook is a great tool for putting yourself out there during a job search. When people say, “I only use Facebook for personal networking,” a good response, “What’s more personal than getting referred into a new business opportunity?” After all, who else would feel the most comfortable putting their neck on the line for you than your closest friends and family?

Guess which social network is filled with your closest friends and family? Facebook! Remember the movie The Graduate? In it, the main character’s father has a party filled with his closest friends. One family friend finds the 21-year-old graduate and offers to introduce him into the plastics industry, uttering those famous words, “Plastics, my boy! Plastics.” These days your Facebook network is full of people who can help you.

Using a networking app, see if any of the companies you’re targeting are represented in your network at all. You may stumble across a second- or even third-degree connection you had no idea about.

If you try to send a message to someone you aren’t connected with and directly message the contact at Google through Facebook, then your message will wind up in that person’s Other folder. Basically, this is how Facebook deals with spam prevention. Chances are your message won’t get read. So be sure you let your main contact initiate the first message.

About This Article

This article is from the book:

About the book author:

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.

This article can be found in the category: