On the 7th
Day of Xmas - Guerrilla Marketing for
Job Hunters revealed to me: 
7 Social Networks
The key to
networking, of course, is to find people you can network with. Fortunately, for those of us who are
terminally shy the Internet has made it possible to network from our computer
keyboard and avoid those awkward mixers. There are many of online networking sites. All of the sites are based on the “six
degrees of separation” principle which recognizes the actor Kevin Bacon as the
center of humanity. Each site has slight
variations on how you build and grow your network. The following are the leading sites for job
hunters who want to e-network their way to success.
Linkedin.com From a head-hunter’s standpoint,
LinkedIn has it all. From a
job-hunter’s standpoint LinkedIn represents an opportunity of a lifetime to
establish a powerful network of influential colleagues and friends Linkedin.com
is my favorite. You can open a linked in
account for free. It works by first
requiring you to set up your on-line profile and then invite your friends to
join your network. After people join
they ask their friends and colleagues to join. For job-hunters this is a treasure trove of leads.
Classmates is the grand daddy of online community-based
networking. Using Classmates is closer
to traditional networking because it’s based on your alumni. At Classmates you can join a network of
people you went to school with [high school, college or university] as well as
military, industry or company alumni. The challenge with using it to source contacts is that you need to
search by state. On the other hand if
you want to reach out to people you went to school with to reconnect then
Classmates is the way to go.
ExecuNet – If you’re in the 100k or more salary range then this
networking venue is for you. ExecuNet was
founded 18 years ago as the premier networking site on the internet. ExecuNet still holds that title. They make it easy for senior-level
professionals to connect directly with business decision-makers, executive
recruiters, and their peers. Not only do they have a web site full of
information and advice YOU CAN NOT
find anywhere else, they also host 5-STAR speakers and authors. Of course I’m biased because founder Dave
Opton wrote the Foreword for Guerrilla Marketing for Job Hunters. It was either him or Trump and with Dave
you’re more likely to hear “You’re Hired!”
Here are
other online networking sites which all have unique benefits too numerous to
mention here. You should choose at least
two on-line networking sites and be as aggressive [staying within the rules of
the site] and as creative with it as you can.
Ryze – is a classic. Easy to use and robust. It’s for connecting online and in person
because it also has a real life networking component maybe even in your
town. The best of both worlds really.
Spoke - great tool for connecting with the Fortune 1000 in particular and sales
people of all types. Sales people
by-the-way are great resources for job hunters – they’re naturally helpful and
often talkative. They boast over 30
million people and 900,000 companies.
MySpace – the Groups Home page clusters
people by interests. The site also has a
career space.
Heartless
Bitches – this site
is just for the women. Seriously though.
Need career advice and an opportunity to hobnob with some of the most
intellectually stimulating and informed women on the planet ? Then this site is
for you.
Your
network will grow as quickly as you can recruit members who can then recruit other
members. Your ability to e-Network your
way to a new job grows exponentially as your network develops – a social
pyramid scheme so-to-speak. For all the
latest on social networking you should read what else? The
Social Networking Web Log- which just happens to be loaded with tips
on reaching inside the companies you want.
Social
networking sites where designed to help people with common interests
connect. However several sites like FaceBook
MySpace Friendster Blogger Flickr and YouTube have become popular “adjunct referencing” tools for recruiters
lately, so I’d check them all out and see if your potential employer is going
to find anything embarrassing about you. If they do there’s a new service [thankfully] which deals with this
called Naymz.
Bonus:
Quintessential
Careers. Ok. Quintessential Careers isn’t a social network
.. But it should be... At least for college grads. There’s an encyclopedia’s
worth of advice here.
