The 12 Days of Christmas Job Hunting 2010: Day 7

{Hummed to the tune "The 12 Days of Xmas}

On the 7th day of Christmas - Guerrilla Marketing for Job Hunters 2.0 revealed to me -

“Seven Social Networks”

 

The key to expanding your network and finding job leads is, of course, to add more people to your network. Fortunately, the Internet has made it easier than ever to meet more people – and you never have to leave your keyboard!

I’d like to tell you about seven of the best online networking sites. Each is based on the “six degrees of separation” principle – you’re never more than six contacts away from any person you want to meet, anywhere on earth, including Kevin Bacon.

Check out these sites if you want to “e-network” your way to a new job …

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MySpace and Facebook are several magnitudes larger than the largest job boards and LinkedIn – combined.  If MySpace were a country it would be the 5^th largest in the world by population.  Facebook has undergone similar growth and don’t think for a moment this hasn’t gone unnoticed by recruiters who are always trying to find people who don’t want to be found by conventional methods.  In fact, there are multiple courses on line which expressly teach recruiters how to find whomever they need using MySpace and Facebook.  So a little known secret... MySpace and Facebook have a lot of their jobs fed to them by SimplyHired.com  so it you want to tap into Facebook and MySpace for jobs without setting up a profile.. go to

SimplyHired.com   Linkedin.com – From a headhunter’s standpoint, LinkedIn has it all. It is the opportunity of a lifetime to establish a powerful network of influential colleagues and friends – can you tell it’s one of my favorites? Free to use, Linkedin.com first requires you to set up a profile, then invite your friends to join your network. After those people join, they can ask their friends and colleagues to join, etc., etc. For job hunters this can produce a treasure trove of leads.

Classmates – This may be the grand daddy of online networking sites. At Classmates.com, you can join a network of alumni who share an affinity with you – they went to the same school (high school, college or university), or were in the same military branch, industry or company. The challenge, when finding potential contacts, is that you must search by state. But, if you want to reconnect specifically with people you went to school with, Classmates is the way to go.

ExecuNet – If you make $100,000 or more in salary, this networking venue is for you. ExecuNet was founded 18 years ago as the premier networking web site. They make it easy for senior-level professionals to connect directly with business decision-makers, executive recruiters, and peers. Not is this site chock full of helpful advice that’s not found anywhere else, they also host well-known speakers and authors. Of course, I’m biased because founder Dave Opton wrote the foreword for my book, Guerrilla Marketing for Job Hunters.

Here are two more networking sites with benefits too numerous to list. The first one you’re absolutely not supposed to know about unless you’re a headhunter so I wouldn’t go and join...

6 Degrees from Dave – this Dave is Dave Mendoza the ubber connector A classic social engineer Dave’s network spans the globe.  Dave’s a wealth of information and his site is too.  Want to know how to maximize LinkedIn.  Dave’s the guy to know.    Want to connect with the LinkedIn LIONs?  Dave’s your guy.   And so it goes.  Want to know what’s hot in recruiting...   

Spoke -- Great for connecting with sales people of all types and Fortune 1000 companies in particular. Sales people, by the way, are great resources for job hunters – they’re naturally outgoing and often willing to help. This site boasts more than 30 million contacts and 900,000 companies.                                                                                                                   Double bonus! Here are two more sites to help grow your network … The Social Networking Web Log is loaded with tips to help you reach inside target companies.

Quintessential Careers isn’t a social network. OK, so sue me. But it should be on your networking read, especially if you’re a college grad. There’s an encyclopedia’s worth of advice there. 

Article by David E. Perry, author of Guerrilla Marketing for Job Hunters and the Guerrilla Marketing for Job Hunters Blog. Kevin Donlin, also contributed.