5 Resources for Leveraging Your Network in Your Job Search - CareerAlley

5 Resources for Leveraging Your Network in Your Job Search - CareerAlley We may receive compensation when you click on links to products from our partners. The friend is the man who knows all about you, and still likes you. Elbert Hubbard, The Notebook, 1927 According to Merriam-Websters dictionary, a friend is one attached to another by affection or esteem. Where would we be without our friends? I suppose we dont give it too much thought until we lose our jobs or are desperate. For job search a friend is anyone who: gives you a lead, introduces you to people who can help in your job search, provides advice, writes a recommendation or is simply there to listen. Then, of course, there are your connections, which are all of the people that you are linked to on LinkedIn (and if you are not on LinkedIn than stop everything you are doing and join now). Todays post is about leveraging your friends, social networks and connections in your job search. Five Strategies for Leveraging Your Online Social Networks Beyond your usual use of social networks, this article (from QuintCareers.com) outlines a few strategies for leveraging your social networks. Most are common sense, but you may not think about them until you read them in the article. The first strategy, Be Selective, is great advice in terms of who you might use for recommendations, but Im not sure I agree if you are looking for people who can provide leads. There is additional advice on the right hand sidebar regarding Twitter which is worth a read as well. Dont forget to visit their Art of Career Networking section as well. Book Corner This book will help you build a great Linked profile which will you help you in your job search [easyazon_link asin=1492291137 locale=US new_window=default nofollow=default tag=caree07-20 add_to_cart=default cloaking=default localization=default popups=default]How To Build the ULTIMATE LinkedIn Profile In Under An Hour: Boost Your Branding[/easyazon_link]. How to Leverage Social Networking to Get Your Next Job This article focuses on leveraging your social network in your job search. The article also touches how to leverage your social network in researching where you would like to work (as in companies) and getting the information you need to help you decide on where to focus your search. more See Job Search Marketing Toolkit Top Social Media Sites for Job Searching Okay, but what are the best job search social networks? Alison Doyle, from About.com, provides a short list in the article. So what are they? Well Im not going to give them all away, but the list does include well known sites such as LinkedIn and Twitter but also includes some sites you may not have heard of. There is tons more advice both on this page (with links) and on the site as well. Dont let friends ruin your job search Like just about everything in life, there is always the flip side (which is always the negative side). CNN.coms living section provides this article. The great thing about this article is that it gives you both the positive and the negative. The article provides some basic advice and then a list of Dos and Donts. Visit the site to view the article. When Social Media Bites The good, the bad and the ugly. This article, posted on Forbes.com, gives you the low down on both the bad and the ugly. The article reminds us that we need to protect our image when using our name on the internet and the statistics provided in the article indicate that almost half (45% to be precise) of employers check out applicants on social networks. Your know the saying, if your mother would be embarrassed by what youve done then there is a pretty good chance any potential employer will take a pass on you. We are always eager to hear from our readers. Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions or suggestions regarding CareerAlley content. Good luck in your search,Joey Google+ what where job title, keywords or company city, state or zip jobs by