92% of recruiters use social media sites, like LinkedIn, to find talent.
Networking is among the most important job-search skills; yet most people do it wrong because their networks are either too broad or too constricted, and they are shy about using them effectively. Today, networks include not only traditional word-of-mouth contacts but also the vast array of social media like LinkedIn, Google+, Facebook and Twitter.
By far the most important networking site for professionals is LinkedIn. Use it correctly and it could well help you land your next job and sustain your future professional growth.
When you join a networking site, your goals are two-fold: You want to be discoverable by recruiters and you want to develop professional connections that can help you with your job search and perhaps with the more general issues of career management. With LinkedIn, as with any social networking site, there are certain steps to take that help you get the most out of the social networking experience:
Register and create a profile: This gives you a presence so that others can find and connect with you.
Connect with everyone you know or have worked with in the past.
Expand your network by joining special interest groups that are relevant to your profession.
Engage in social networking activities that will increase your visibility and attract others to you.
Upward of 90% of Human Resource pros say they check out social media profiles, especially LinkedIn and Facebook, before inviting a candidate in for an interview. As the face you show the world, your headshot is the face of your brand.
After your headshot, the next thing recruiters notice is your headline. This headline should say who you are and what you do; it is important to give recruiters focus, and this is one of the areas the search engine rates as important in establishing your ranking in searches. This headline is limited to a 120-character thumbnail description about you and works as a brief biography of the person behind the headshot.
Information in the Summary section should be geared to drawing a concise picture of your professional capabilities. Networks' usefulness extends beyond the job offer to a whole range of career management issues. With proper building and use of networks, you can demonstrate transferable skills and professional values to an ever-widening circle of peer and supervisors---something that will ensure your rapid progress up the corporate ladder to success.
In "Knock 'em Dead Social Networking," Martin Yate provides readers with step-by-step explanations of how to create personal and professional networks through social media. He shows them how to build lasting networks as well as how to use them to get more information about companies, notices of hiring, and names of key officials.
Source: Martin Yate: Knock 'em Dead Social Networking: For Job Search and Professional Success