Are you on Twitter? As of a couple of weeks ago, I am! It has been a bit of a learning curve, but I think I'm finally getting the hang of it, and the lists of people that I am following and that are following me are growing! If you are on Twitter, consider following me @michelledumas Besides sending out updates on what I'm doing, I've been sending daily tips to my followers on job searching and resume writing.
How about Facebook? I have to admit that I am a complete Facebook newbie, but at the urging of some colleagues, I have created a Facebook account and am slowing exploring it as I have had time. If you are on Facebook, I'd love to connect with you there as well. http://www.facebook.com/people/Michelle-Dumas/700379993
Finally, there is LinkedIn. I've been building my LinkedIn connections for some months now, so I'm more familiar with it. If you are on LinkedIn (and if you are a professional, there is no excuse not to be!), I'd love to connect with you there too! You can find me at http://www.linkedin.com/in/michelledumas
I've been conducting business on the web since 1996, and have always considered myself to be fairly web-savvy. But, I have to admit that if you blink it is easy to miss the latest, and engrossed in business development issues the past couple of years, this whole social media "thing" was threatening to leave me in the dust. But no longer!
More than ever before, social media and online networking have become essential tools in the job search toolbox. As I will mention in tomorrow's blog post, with a job market that is becoming increasingly competitive, people who are concerned with actively managing their careers and conducting fast, successful job searches need to seize on every available edge that they can grasp.
Have you every "Googled" your name? What comes up? Do you know that nearly all recruiters will Google the names of candidates before contacting them? If for no other reason than that (and there are many other reasons!), building an online presence that reflects the personal brand that you want to promote to the "world" is more important than ever. Personal blogs, Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn help you to do that.
Personally, I already have a well-established online presence, but I'm committed to increasing my knowledge of social media tools as a way to broaden my audience. However, my primary goal is to increase my ability to help you--my clients--better use social media and online networking for your own career management and to speed your job searches.
Will you join me? I'd love to connect on any of the sites, and I'd also love to hear any tips or advice that you might have regarding ways social media has been helpful in your own career.
love twitter but I cannot imagine using it as a job finding tool. About.com choose 3 websites where job seekers got the best results -
http://www.linkedin.com (networking for professionals)
http://www.indeed.com (aggregated listings)
http://www.realmatch.com (matches you to the perfect jobs)
For those looking, good luck!
Posted by: Sarah Evans | March 17, 2009 at 07:13 PM