As much as I love the social tools that have been built over the last few years they do not replace the need to actually do in person networking.  I have found that some of my friends over the last 9 months have had to look for jobs.  Many of these people I never thought would be in that position, but it turns out they were.

When I first talk to someone that is looking for a job there are few bits of advice I ask them to do before I can do much to help them.

First I ask them to fill out two profiles online.  Linked.com and VisualCV.com.  I bet you are wondering why I do that.  The reason is that both of these profiles help promote yourself and helps you network.  Make sure you let people know what the links to these profiles are in your resume, they aren’t going to find them on their own!  Also pick profile names that are easy to remember like your name.

• Linkedin.com - allows you to put your resume online and connect with other people that you have worked with in the past.  This gives a potential company a way to see if anyone recommends you, what you job history is like and lets them find you.  If you let them find you and they are interested they are more willing to talk to you when they reach out to you.
• VisualCV.com – this might seem like something not needed, but this is a critical step in getting into the job search.  It provides a number of valuable results if done right.  The obvious result is that it provides a nice looking resume that is better than 90% of the word only ones out there.  If you can get a company to look at it and the content is good you will probably get a call.  The other thing it does, is make you think about your positive skills and accomplishments.  It is very hard to get it right the first time and will take a good bit of time if done right.

Next you should make a list of what type of job you want.  This would be jobs like Consulting, Small Business, Medium Business, Enterprise.  All of these different types of companies have needs, but you need to figure out what type of company fits your life/work style.  If you get it right you will love your job and work much harder.

Once you have selected your type of job, pick 5 companies that you would like to work for.  Go to their site and make sure you know about them.  Submit your resume directly to them on their site and follow up with them if that option is available.

Lastly get out and network with people.  When you are out ask them if they mind connecting with you on Linkedin.com.  This is your critical first step in them really looking at you and reviewing who you are so make sure it looks good.  Online tools have made it easy to sit back and not work as hard on our networking, but meeting someone in person will be much better than just trying to connect online.  Go to meetings on topics that are similar in interest to what you are doing and find the local community in the area for what you do.  Remember that the online tools are just tools, use them wisely and correctly and they will improve and help your life.  Use them poorly and the results will be the same.

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