10 Ways to Use Social Media to Get a Job

How to use social media to land that dream job

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Traditionally it was employers who had to make themselves visible when looking to fill vacancies – posting adverts in the press, then choosing a pool of candidates from a veritable tsunami of applicants. But not any more.

There's mounting evidence that personnel specialists are now scouring social media sites and job boards for potential employees.

If you're wondering how to draw attention to yourself in the right way on social-media sites, help is at hand. We've put together a comprehensive action plan for you to follow:

10 expert tips on using social media to get the job you want:

Step 1: Set up multiple accounts

The first rule of successful professional networking is to keep business and pleasure strictly separate. Multiple social networking accounts will help you to present your best face to recruiters.

The first and easiest strategy is to use business oriented networks like LinkedIn, BrightFuse and Naymz for work while reserving MySpace and LiveJournal for mates.

FRIENDFEED: You can update and manage multiple social media accounts via FriendFeed

However, with Facebook and Twitter accounting for the lion's share of media attention and internet traffic, that approach will exclude access to a lot of influential contacts. Setting up two separate accounts for friends and business on these networks will enable you to compartmentalise your image.

To stop all these accounts getting out of control, use tools that are capable of managing more than one account. Both TweetDeck and Twhirl let you post to more than one Twitter account without the need to continuously log in and out.

Seesmic Desktop does the same job, and it handily also allows you to update your Facebook status at the same time.

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Your Student Loans Will Affect Your Credit Score

A financial lesson to for new graduates

This guest post was written by Go Banking Rates, bringing you informative personal finance content and helpful tools, as well as the best interest rates on financial services nationwide. Visit them online to read more student loan articles.

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Student loans are a form of debt, which means having one will affect your credit score. Of course, it's pretty hard to get through school without one.

If you're worried about the impact a student loan could have on your credit, know that how you handle it will determine whether that effect is positive or negative.

How a Credit Score is Calculated

Your credit score is an extremely important number. As a soon-to-be or recent college grad, your credit score will play a huge role in your financial future. Basically, it gives lenders and creditors an idea of how financially responsible you are--how heavily you rely on credit and whether you pay bills on time, for example--and helps them judge the level of risk you present as a borrower.

Your credit score will play into how easily you can obtain credit cards, loans and even an apartment, so taking care of it now will save you a lot of grief in the future. Here's a breakdown of how your score is calculated:

• Payment History: Your ability to consistently pay bills on time makes up 35 percent of your score.
• Amount Owed: Coming in at a close second, the amount of debt you owe is 30 percent.
• Credit History: At 15 percent, the length of time you've been using credit is also considered.
• New Credit: 10 percent of your credit score is reliant upon how often you open up new lines of credit.
• Types of Credit: Also at 10 percent, the varied types of credit you possess (credit card, student loan, auto loan, etc.) will affect your score.

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How New Grads Can Find Jobs Through LinkedIn

Jobs on LinkedIn are easier to find than you think

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LinkedIn is a great resource to find jobs online if used effectively. However, many people do not know how to use it - especially new college graduates! Watch this video to find out how to network effectively, create an attention-grabbing profile, search for relevant jobs, and use LinkedIn as a job-hunting resource the way it is meant to be used.




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The Best Ways to Make Contact with an Employer (Video)

How job seekers can get through to employers

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Sure you might have the education, skills, experience, and go-getter attitude, but this all means nothing if you can't actually get in CONTACT with an employer. In fact this is a huge obstacle to many job seekers looking for work - but it shouldn't be! Watch this video and learn some inside tips on how to make contact with employers successfuly.




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7 Phrases to Leave Off Your Resume

Resume writing - less is more

This post was written by Rick Saia, a Content Writer and Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW) at PongoResume.com.

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So you're writing your resume and figure the structure is fine, but what about the content? With more and more resumes being sent to fewer positions, employers see the same phrases come up over and over again. In order to write a resume that stands out, job seekers should avoid using the following seven phrases:

1. "Effective Communicator"

This phrase on resumes doesn't distinguish you from other job applicants, but that's exactly what you need to do today to be called in for an interview. Hiring managers assume you can communicate well, so, if you don't know how — either by e-mail or with your voice — you have about as much chance of getting hired as a tree.

2. "Detail-Oriented"

Every job requires a certain level of attention to detail. So, again, this won't help your resume — or your chance at landing an interview. The best thing to do here — if you know the job you're applying for calls for this trait in particular — is to be ready to explain in an interview how your high level of attention to detail resulted in a key accomplishment in your current or previous job.

3. "Highly Skilled"

This is a nothing phrase. You have skills, and you can use some or all of those skills in some kind of job that calls for them. The only way you don't have skills is if you've been doing — here it comes — nothing. Do you believe you have more skills than the average applicant? Show, don't tell.

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5 Subliminal Tricks That Make an Employer Adore You

Speak in a job interview physically, not just verbally

By Landon Long

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Okay, we know everyone adores you anyways, but even you Brad Pitts and Angelina Jolie’s can’t get everything you want on looks alone. Sure, some of that physical attraction counts, but what counts even more is your subliminal body language. Even if people don’t realize it, this is the thing that creates the vibes people love.

Here are 5 ways to get people hooked on you in one sitting.

1. Maintain Good Eye Contact

Eye Contact is huge. Imagine talking to someone who never looked at you, not even once. Rather, they scanned the room with their eyes: the walls, the floor, the ceiling—anything but you. Would you feel like they were listening? Even an unusually long look in the other direction would throw the whole conversation off.

Good eye contact establishes rapport. The listener should be giving more eye contact than the person speaking, as if receiving the information not simply by listening but through sight as well, which is sort of what is going on with all the body language involved.

Be careful, though, being too intense can have the opposite effect. Try to maintain good contact throughout about 70% of the conversation. Gentleman, the ladies are a lot better about making eye contact when listening, so if you’re having issues watch the way they do it. Many have it down to an art.

2. Posture: Not the Time to Practice Your Gangster Lean

A confident, able individual has good posture, and a slouch creates the impression that you are unorganized, unambitious, and undisciplined. Good posture says a lot about someone, so this is something you should work on long before you walk into an interview. Use posture exercises to learn how to master this skill.

Also, a good listener leans towards the speaker, as if trying to get closer. This is a temporary submissive gesture to ease the exchange of ideas. Don’t get so far up in their grill that they can diagnose your halitosis; just lean forward a bit as if making a conscious effort to hear their words.

When its your turn to speak, remain in a more neutral position. Don’t lean back as if you own the place or you might seem unnecessarily arrogant. Sit up straight and save the leaning for when you’re listening.

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10 LinkedIn Mistakes You Shouldn't Make

Reprinted with permission from http://windmillnetworking.com/

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LinkedIn is the place to not only find others but also to be found as a job seeker. And that is why you need a LinkedIn Profile that not only helps you get found but also will entice people to contact you once they view your profile. I see many people making fundamental mistakes as job seekers that actually work against them in this aspect. If you’re going to spend time putting together a LinkedIn profile, I assume you want to maximize your chances of being contacted by the right people, right?

With that in mind, I have created an easy-to-understand list of a few things to check for with my reasoning. Just like any website owner, you want your LinkedIn profile to stick out and be found! As a job applicant, you want the same thing, so read on.

Enjoy my LinkedIn Profile Tips!

1. Not Displaying Your Personal Photo

It all really comes down to having social media credibility or not. There are too many fake profiles on LinkedIn, so you want to show that you are real. If you have taken the time to complete your LinkedIn profile, why wouldn’t you display your photo? It just raises too many potential questions. And company logos or photos of pets obviously have no value here

2. LinkedIn Profile Headline is Not Branded Enough

See that space underneath your name? That is your “Professional” or Profile Headline. It will appear in search results next to your name, as well as next to any questions you ask or answer. It is, in essence, your elevator speech in a few words. Are you just putting your title and company name here? Don’t! This is the place where you need to appeal to anyone who finds you in a search result to reach out and look at your profile. Your Profile Headline is the single most important piece of real estate on your LinkedIn Profile, and you need to brand it as such. This really ties into personal branding as a job applicant.

3. LinkedIn Status Update is Not Appealing

This is that “What are you working on?” box that I refer to as a “Status Update.” Assuming someone finds you and looks at your profile, chances are they are going to be looking at what you write here simply because that it appears just underneath your Headline Profile. What do you write here? Many people in transition note that they are looking for a job here. What do you use your LinkedIn Status Update for? It is part of your branding exercise, and it should be something appealing that will both inform the reader of your latest activities as well as hopefully add to, not subtract from, your LinkedIn Brand.

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