Add Simply Hired and Social Media to your job search

Is it really surprising to see the lines between job boards and social media continue to blur?  Web-savvy job seekers have turned social applications like Linkedin, Twitter, Facebook and blogs into professional job hunting tools that expand their professional connections to increase their online presence.

Simply Hired has stepped up with a new feature that integrates many of the social media tool into the site's job search results pages.

A recent press release from Simply Hired put it this way. "Simply Hired’s mashup with LinkedIn is the first in the industry to enable job seekers to discover their connections at the organizations returned in their search results. This new feature is an evolution of the Simply Hired Who Do I Know?™ tool, which allowed users to connect to LinkedIn from a SimplyHired.com job listing to find out if they had a contact within the organization. With this latest release, job seekers now have the ability to immediately see whether someone in their network is affiliated with a potential employer. As a user’s network grows, their search results will always reveal the most recent and relevant connections."

You are now one click away from connecting with someone at a company that might be able to help get your foot in the door for the job you are seeking. . This development  highlights the importance of building strong social networks for professional reasons. Connecting with only your friends may hamper your job search.

Here is a screen shot of what the results page looks like when you allow Simply Hired to access your Linkedin connections.

  After I signed up for a Simply Hired account and allowed Simply Hired to access my Linkedin connections by clicking on the "Who Do I Know" button at the top of the page.  I conducted a search for Recruiting positions in San Diego. Simply Hired returned not only the jobs that fit my criteria but also who in my Linkedin Network I am connected to who also maybe connected at the company where the open position is. In this example, Simon Meth is a First Level connection of mine, he may either know someone who has worked at the company or may be currently employed by them or has been a former employee.

This gives me the opportunity to contact Simon and explore who might be the best person to connect and contact about this position.

Building relationships using Social Media tools and leveraging the connections you have maybe the biggest return on investment for the time you spend on Social Media sites.

Remember a few key points when using Social Media to find a job.

1. Make good connections, sure connect with friends and family but also look at those people in your professional life who may be a good ambassador for you during your job search.
2. Clean up your Social Media profiles. Make them professional and complete with information that will highlight your skills and experience.
3. Be personable online. Don't use the generic messages that come prepackaged in some of these sites. Connecting with people means expressing yourself and talking to them about why you are contacting them and how best they can help you.
4. Use other tools to help you. There are tons of Social Media based tools out there that can improve the quality of your job search. Ping.fm, TweetMyResume, TweetDeck are just a few.

Whatever you may think about Social Media and networking online, it is time for all job seekers to consider using these tools as part of your job search.

If you have any questions about Simply Hired, Social Media or Linkedin drop me a comment.

 Read the full Press Release: Simply Hired Launches New Social Job Search Features with Expanded Linkedin, Facebook and Twitter Integration.