Social Networking and Your Job Search

Social networking started out as a trend for just that -- socializing. It's now become part of our society's mainstream expressions. But, employees have been fired when their employer considered their online postings as sharing confidential information, making inappropriate comments about the company, or both. There's even a word for it - being "Dooced", named after the weblog, or blog, Dooce.com; its author was one of the first bloggers to be fired for what she wrote online. Should prospective employers be reading your personal information? Maybe not. But if you put it on the internet and it's readily accessible, they can and they might. Most of us Google people and companies we're interested in knowing more about. There's nothing to stop a hiring manager from doing the same about you. So how do you keep yourself free of "digital dirt"? Following are some tips on blogging, using LinkedIn, and Facebook. These sites can actually help your job search, if you use them right.

WRITING A WEB LOG (BLOG)

Weblogs -- blogs -- are online journals; they became popular in the first few years of the new century with the development of free tools that allow anyone to post their thoughts online, journal style. Blogs are different from social networking sites like MySpace or Facebook in that the owner controls all of the content, and usually writes about a specific topic. There are blogs about parenting, pets, hobbies -- and every subject in between. It's possible that your blog or personal website could impact your job search. If you post photos or stories about that wild party you attended, you may appear less than desirable to a prospective employer. Remember, they don't know you personally, and in a crowded candidate field, what you write about on your blog may be enough to eliminate you from consideration. Remember, if it's on your résumé, the employer will look at it. Even if it's not on your résumé, if your blog, web site or profile contains information on your real identity, the people you least expect, and those that you may not want reading it, may find it - not only your boss and prospective employers, but, also your customers, colleagues and coworkers. Don't list your blog on your résumé unless it's relevant to the career field or position that you are interviewing for. For example, if you are seeking employment as a construction carpenter and you have a blog about personal carpentry projects, include it. If you have a blog about your dog, don't. A hastily written blog post critical of your job or detailing a wild night out can be read today, regardless of when it was posted. You may not even remember posting it, but a potential employer will certainly keep it mind if they find it. Remember that just about anything that is online can be read by someone - or everyone. If you don't want the world to read what you've posted, make sure they can't.

There are several ways you can blog without jeopardizing your job or your job search: blogging anonymously, making your blog not searchable, limiting who can read your blog, and, when employed, focusing your blog on safe topics that you can't be fired for writing about. Blog safely, securely and carefully, so your current and future career opportunities aren't jeopardized.

On the flip side, there are many blogs dedicated to job searching and career building, and these can help you by providing tips and tools you can use in your job search. In addition to the blog you're reading right now, mainstream sites such as Monster and Career Builder have job search blogs, as do a variety of industry-specific sites. Read job search blogs on a regular basis, review the advice that is offered, and pick up tips that will aid your job search.

LINKED IN: SOCIAL NETWORKING FOR PROFESSIONALS

LinkedIn is where companies want to be when they are hiring. Many companies, hiring managers and recruiters are using LinkedIn to post jobs and source candidates for employment. That's good news for job seekers, because you can use your LinkedIn connections to help find a job.

It's important to take the time to build your LinkedIn profile properly, to add to your connections, and to effectively use your connections to help with your job search. It's also important to help your connections, too, when you can - it works both ways. The more complete your LinkedIn profile, the more chances you will have to be found and to be contacted. Use your LinkedIn profile like a résumé and provide prospective employers with detailed information on your skills and experience.

The more connections you have, the better your chances of having a connection that can help with your job search. When you're applying for jobs, be sure to use the connections you have. Someone who is employed at the company you are interested in, or has connections there, will be able to help your candidacy for employment. You should also be willing to help your connections when they need your advice and referrals. If the job is listed directly on LinkedIn, you'll see how you're connected to the hiring manager and you can apply online and/or request a referral from a contact.

FACEBOOK

There has been a significant increase in Facebook users over 25, and the biggest increase is in users age 35 years and older. That's a big increase in the number of users with careers rather than college on their mind.

Most people say that Facebook is for kids and should only be used for social networking. Part of the difference in usage is that the younger generation has fewer boundaries between work and life, and has grown up with Facebook. They are so used to using Facebook that taking the next step to professional networking is a simple process. Someone who has been in the job market for years may find LinkedIn is simpler to use, because it's strictly professional and doesn't have all the bells and whistles that Facebook does.

Part of the difference is that when one looks at a LinkedIn profile there isn't anything other than professional information. With Facebook there's just so much other stuff - gifts you can send, friends you can poke, birthdays, parties and other events, and games and tools for countless other applications. However, that's exactly what Facebook was designed to do and therein lies the dilemma for those who want to keep their personal life separate from their work life.

That line between social and professional gets blurry and it can be hard to know how you should draw it, especially when you're job searching. However, if you're careful, and use your connections wisely, you can use them for whatever you want - helping build your career or figuring out what party you want to go to or movie to watch.

The key is to be careful. Decide early on how you want to use Facebook -- for socializing or career networking. Use the security settings to limit who can see what on your Facebook page, and use common sense when exchanging gifts and pokes with your Facebook friends; similarly, don't post anything on your Facebook wall or on another's Facebook wall that you wouldn't want an employer, prospective employer, or co-worker to see.

Many companies are using Facebook to promote their products and services. If you're interested in a particular company or industry, join a Facebook group (there's bound to be one for your interest area) or become a Facebook fan of that company; you may get some inside information that will be valuable in your job search. At the very least, you'll increase your network of contacts -- people who can give you information about companies or industries in which you are interested.

If companies do reference job openings on a social networking site, often there will be information on how to contact the employer or their recruiter. In many cases, there will be a variety of options for contacting the recruiter, because they want to make it easy for you to get in touch. Employers who set up social networking profiles do it in the language of the people who use it (which can be a different language from those of us who are a generation or two older). Companies like these also understand that the millennial generation is used to instant communications; some employers communicate on the same level by using video, blogs and blog comments, and instant messaging, as well as email and phone.

Remember, don't put up anything you'd be embarrassed to have your Grandma find (she's probably got a Facebook page herself, too!) and consider whether you will want to read what you wrote today twenty years from now, when you're at a different stage of your life. Would you want your (future) kids reading it? Finally, realize that there is a difference between what you and a recruiter might think is appropriate. Always err on the side of caution! If you wonder if something is appropriate to post, be safe and leave it out.

If you keep these tips in mind, you can use social networking tools to help -- or at the very least, not hinder -- your job search.

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Valerie Abshire is a Community Employment Specialist at WorkOne Linton. Got a question about this article or other employment topics? Email her at vabshire@dwd.in.gov.