We just wrapped up a two-part series called, “Balancing Technology with Life”. Technically, today’s Post isn’t part three, though an argument could be made for it to be. You see, unless you’re extremely fortunate, you have to work for a living (you retirees reading this don’t count, since you did work for a living). To work, you first must find a job. If you’ve been out of the job market for a while, as is the case with most things in life, times have changed. Thanks to technology, the rules for job seeking have been completely rewritten. Gone are the days of scouring the classified ads in the newspaper. The first place to turn today is the Internet. Let’s take a look at two of the most powerful tools available when looking to further your career: LinkedIn and Indeed.
I’m sure most of you reading this belong to at least one social network. Facebook boasts 1.94 billion total active users. Instagram is extremely popular, particularly among young people. 700 million active monthly users are found on Instagram. Twitter has 328 million active monthly users. Needless to say, most people are very familiar with social media. These social media platforms are fun and all, but what if you’re looking for a place to post your resume and work experience, and connect with co-workers and people in your industry? It sounds like you’d be interested in joining the 500 million members on LinkedIn. From its debut in 2003, LinkedIn has become the top professional network service on the Internet. Upon signing up (for free), users create a profile, complete with their skills, experience, and qualifications. Next, you’ll want to begin adding connections to grow your LinkedIn network. To add a person as a connection, you can search by name, and click “Connect”. Once you’re “connected” to one person, you can receive introductions to connections of that person (think “friends”). It’s also possible to search by business name. follow that business’s page to keep up-to-date on the latest news and openings, and learn who works for that company and what their title is. Connections can suggest job opportunities, and put you into contact with decision makers. Additionally, the “Jobs” tab is an excellent resource. It’s possible to search job listings by title, keyword, or company, and you can specify a location. From there, you can drill down further, and set the distance from a location that you wish to include in the search search, the date the job was posted, experience level the opportunity is seeking, industry, as well as job function. Look through the results, and click on a job for more information and a link to apply for the position. To get started, go to https://www.linkedin.com/. Fill in your first and last name, e-mail address, and create a password to begin your LinkedIn experience. There is a LinkedIn app available for both iOS and Android devices.
If you’ve had your fill of social media and want to get down to business and find a job, Indeed.com is where you should head. Indeed’s job search is similar to LinkedIn’s: you can search by job title, keyword, or company name, and add in the city, state, or zip code to begin your quest. The “Advanced Job Search” gets much more detailed, with the ability to enter jobs that match every word you’ve typed, with the exact phrase you’ve typed, with at least one of the words, with none of the words, with specific words in the title, from a specific company, full-time, part-time, contract, internship, or temporary, a salary estimate, age of the listing, and within a certain number of miles of a given location. Can you get very specific? Indeed! Sorry, I couldn’t help myself. You may also upload your resume (if you’re unsure of how to upload a file, read this), and if you’re on the other side of the desk and want to list potential jobs in your own company, you’re welcome to do that as well. Indeed is also free to use, and with 727,524 jobs posted in the last seven days, it’s safe to say that Indeed.com gets plenty of traffic as well.
As Bob Dylan once sang, “The Times They Are A-Changin'”. Put your scissors away because you probably don’t need to be cutting job listings out of the classifieds anymore. Thanks to technology, the search for your dream job is only a mouse click away.