3 Social Media Job Search Tips

Using social media (facebook, twitter and LinkedIn) is standard in today's job search. But where to begin and how to leverage these tools is overwhelming to say the least! Here are 3 easy tips to get you started:

• Clean Up Your Online Presence. Anything involving heavy booze, strippers or goofy faces has to go. Your recruiter will google you, search your public information on FaceBook and research what others have to say about you on LinkedIn.
• Don't Apply Blind. Don't submit a resume To Whom It May Concern on a careerbuilder.com ad. Instead, use the search function on your LinkedIn account to find someone in your network, or your network's network, who currently works there or who has worked there in the past. Ask to make "introductions" via LinkedIn or in real life. The goal is to eventually have your resume hand delivered to the hiring manager's desk.
• Research Potential Roles. Before a phone or in-person interview, use the Advanced Search function on Twitter to see what people are saying about the organization to which you are applying. Use your FaceBook status to query "who knows someone at XYZ Corporation" and reach out to those people. Again, use the LinkedIn search function to find someone in your network who has an inside connection there.