Monday, February 20, 2012

Facebook + SimplyHired

I continually stress the importance of networking in your job search (at least 80% should be devoted to this). However you do need to also check out jobs posted online (about 10% of your time) and apply as qualified. I have talked previously about using Indeed.com to conduct a search because it is an online job aggregator and saves you time that would otherwise be spent searching numerous job boards. Well another option is to use a combination of social media and an online job aggregator with the service Facebook and SimplyHired have teamed up to provide. Here is how it works:

Go to SimplyHired, then login in to your Facebook account through this site. Once in, this service allows you to research specific companies to see if any of your Facebook friends work at any. This functionality only works with Facebook friends who have listed their employer in their profile, and one obstacle currently is that many people do not list much professional information. However, if you do locate someone on the inside, this now affords you an opportunity to network much like you would on LinkedIn. I have not found the Facebook and SimplyHired partnership to be earth shattering by any means, but you never know. And it is far more worth spending a few minutes learning how to utilize this function to perform quick searches versus surfing all job boards out there and trying to cross reference companies with Facebook friends on your own.

A much better way to use Facebook as part of a job search in my opinion is to reach out to your network directly. Just be sure that if you use Facebook as a professional networking vehicle that pics, status updates and comments not be anything that could be considered risqué, thus hurting your ability to be portrayed professionally. You may want to consider cleaning up your page a bit, or create a new one altogether that is used solely for professional purposes.

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