Job Searching with Social Media For Dummies
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Job seekers of earlier generations had one main tool at their disposal: the résumé. But thanks to the hundreds of social media sites out there, you have access to a lot more tools that can aid you in your job search — if you don’t become distracted.

If you’ve ever spent hours on Facebook by accident, checking out what your friends are up to, then you know just how easy it is to forget all about why you got online in the first place. Fortunately, you can keep yourself from becoming distracted (and, therefore, make progress toward finding a job) by doing a little prep work before you begin your job search.

First, establish clear goals for yourself. Start with your end goal (getting an interview), and then work your way backwards, step by step. Each step must be clear and simple to complete. By breaking down your goals into smaller chunks, you’re less likely to feel overwhelmed. These steps become the basis of how you spend your time, so every time you sit down to work, you know what to do.

It also helps to have some ideas for how you’re going to manage your time. One way to go about that is by looking at your job search as a job in itself. Define the hours of the day you plan to work on finding a job and figure out how much time you’re going to spend on certain tasks, such as profile writing, researching, or reaching out.

Naturally, you also need a way to keep all the information about your various contacts organized. After all, you’re going to be meeting new people in person and adding them to your LinkedIn contact list, and then you’re going to use Twitter and Facebook to discover what your network is up to.

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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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