"A man who stops advertising to save money is like a man who stops a clock to save time" - Henry Ford

Searching for a job can be tedious if you constrain yourself to the typical tools such as online job boards, trade publications, craigslist & kijiji etc. In this day in age your best bet to find a job is online… but many people overlook or do not know the power of LinkedIn.

LinkedIn has over 35 million members in over 140 different industries, most of them are adults, employed and are looking to network. Executives from all fortune 500 companies are are on LinkedIn and most of them disclose what they do, where they have worked in the past. Talk about a target-rich environment… Did I mention LinkedIn is FREE?

1. Get the word out. Tell your network that you are looking for a job. The bigger your network the better your chances… LinkedIn now offers status updates like Facebook.
2. Get LinkedIn Recommendations. A good recommendation from a past employer increases your chances of finding a job… Get them to highlight your strengths and imply you are a good employee.
3. Find out where people with your background are working. Find companies that employ people like you by doing an advanced search for people in your area who have similar skill sets. For example if you are web developer in Toronto, search profiles in your postal code with keywords such as html, java, flash, css, php etc.
4. Check if a company is hiring. Company pages on Linkedin include a section called “New Hires” that lists people who have recently joined the company. You can easily message these people to see how they got their job… Was it from a contact? employee agency? etc. If you don’t want to contact these people at least examine their profiles to see if you missed something for your own profile.
5. Get to the right HR Person. The best case scenario is getting to the hiring manager directly or via someone who knows him. This is not always possible so try to contact someone inside the company who can refer you.
6. Find out the job requirements. Job listings rarely display exactly what the hiring manager is looking for. Find a connection at the company who gets the inside scoop on what really matters.
7. Build your network. Having a strong online network is always a good idea. Even if your not currently looking for a job it doesn’t hurt.  remember its not what you know… its who you know

For more information visit my personal Linkedin profile.