It used to be that you had to go from place to place and search for jobs or you had to know the right people. Now people all over are using social networking sites to find jobs. It can be extremely effective and is a great way to find ample opportunity. However, while using these sites one should be careful on how they are using it. LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook are now three platforms to find a job. They are all about networking and meeting the right people. Jobs are found everyday using these networking sites.

Here is a short overview of each and why they are a good place to look for a job along side the more typical ways to find a job.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn is a networking site for professionals. It can be used quite effectively to find work and is also great for recruiting. They recently upgraded some aspects of their site to cater specifically to recruiters as well. You can find work there as well as find someone to do work for you. LinkedIn currently has around 40-45 million users and growing and that certainly provides a lot of opportunity for anyone looking to find a job through this platform.

However it is a bit different then Facebook or Twitter in that it requires a bit more etiquette to use properly. It is a platform that many use to showcase their skills and grow their professional network as opposed to their personal network.

While the other two are about networking, LinkedIn is about networking professionally. You won’t get away with adding people randomly. You have to pick the right people and when you do send an invitation give them a good reason to accept your invitation. Adding someone just to add them just isn’t going to fly here. With that said, LinkedIn is great for networking with highly professional people. You can make some great connections on this platform. In a way, not being able to add everyone makes it that much more dynamic, you will end up with better quality people.

But if you walk into LinkedIn thinking you can add anyone and everyone you will soon find out that’s a big mistake. You will probably end up being blocked if you start adding people without considering first whether or not they fit into your circle of network.

It’s a bit restrictive in a sense, but in the end it makes for high quality connections.

LinkedIn Resources

• A Visual Guide To LinkedIn For Job Seekers
• 10 LinkedIn Groups Every Job Seeker Should Join
• The “Don’t Do It” Guide To Using It LinkedIn
• 10 Ways To Use LinkedIn To Find a Job

Twitter

Twitter is huge (check this link out where it shows what Twitter would be if it was printed). It has had quite a huge growth spurt in the last two years. In 2008 it had about 6 million users compared to 2009, which jumped up to 18 million users, Twitter has had a huge growth spurt that rivals most networking sites. It seems to be the place to go both for personal and professional networking. Updating with 140 characters is simple, short and to the point. And easy. There are even third party apps that use twitter to help you find jobs and it certainly seems to be a goldmine of opportunity.

People can also retweet your tweets. This can cause tweets to go viral and will spread across the platform giving your 140 characters as much visibility as possible. It can be a great thing, but can also be a bad thing. This ease of use seems to be a curse in itself for some people though. It’s very addictive and can suck up a lot of time, even worse people have lost jobs over twitter.

Just like most social networking sites, what you put out there is there for the world to see. There have been several people that have lost their jobs because of what they put on their tweet.

There are several examples of people badmouthing their boss on Twitter. Word spreads quick and there are many eyes on this platform due to the fact that it’s so popular. Even if you were to block the person you are talking about, someone that retweets your message will still make it go public if they have a public profile.

Lesson here is to be careful what you say online. Twitter has an ease of use and a high potential to be viral, this can be a great thing, but can also hurt you in the end.

Twitter is great for networking though. And gives you a good chance to be seen and find opportunities as it seems like every company, brand and almost everyone on the web is using it.

Twitter Resources

• An Illustrated Guide To Using Twitter
• 30 Profiles and Sites Every Job Seeker On Twitter Should Follow
• 5 Ways Twitter Can Get You Fired
• 50 Ways To Use Twitter as a Job Search Tool

Facebook

By far the largest of the three networking sites, Facebook has over 350 million users. Originally used by college students and the like, it has grown into a full fledged social networking site that can be used to find old friends and is used even by brands known all over the world. It’s a great way to connect with friends and find opportunities. The sheer size of it’s user base has made it a popular place to network for business as well. It’s a great place to network and use for a job searching tool.

Just as before, the ease of use and popularity can get you in trouble if you don’t watch what you put out there. Just take a look at the Cisco Fatty Job and you can see how easy it is to say the wrong thing and lose a job. Big businesses have even been burned by this huge social media site. Wal-Mart was basically attacked by the web crowd when they made a facebook page. There were many comments about low pay and bad benefits from former employees and so on. While obviously a big company can survive something of this magnitude, someone else won’t be able to. Once again, you have to watch what you say online.

Facebook is a great way to network and is an extremely popular platform. It’s used for networking, job searching, marketing, and everything else in between. This monster of a networking site should give you great opportunities to connect and find work.

FaceBook Resources

• How To Lose a Job via FaceBook
• The Ultimate Guide To Using Facebook as a Job Search Tool

When it comes down to it, it’s not a matter of which one you use. You can use all three if you want. How you use it is what’s important. They all have their pros and cons but each of these are critical in your job search. It’s just a matter of how wise you are when using them. Our advice is to get your feet wet on all three sites. It’s hard to compare these there behemoth of a networking platforms simply because they all serve a slightly different demographics and purpose. In the end though, your best best is to give them all a shot and see which one yields you the most benefit.

Your Turn To Share

What do you think? If you had a choice between these three platforms which one would be your first choice and why? Have you landed any job opportunities through any of these platforms? Share with us.

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Related Posts

1. 10 LinkedIn Groups Every Job Seeker Should Join
2. 30 Profiles (And Sites) Every Job Seeker On Twitter Should Follow
3. A Visual Guide To LinkedIn For Job Hunters
4. The “Don’t Do It” Guide To Using LinkedIn
5. The Ultimate Guide To Using Facebook as a Job Search Tool