Job seekers use social networking sites for career moves

Most people know networking can be key in finding a new job, but with the Internet buzzing with social media outlets like Facebook.com, Twitter.com and Linkendin.com, a growing number of people are opting to network with a click of the mouse instead of in person.

And the current recession and the flood of mass lay-offs nationwide has left a lot more people looking for work.

Since December 2007, 2.7 million U.S. residents have lost their jobs, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. And more than 25,000 people currently are receiving unemployment benefits in Tarrant County, according to Workforce Solutions of Tarrant County.

In answer to those swelling unemployment numbers, U.S. web traffic to employment sites has increased 20 percent across the board in the past few months and 4 percent in February 2009 compared to February 2008, according to Hitwise. Traffic to MySpace accounted for 52 percent of those visits, the highest in the category; Facebook visits increased 149 percent in February compared to the same period a year ago; and Tagged received 2.47 percent of visits in February.

And if youÂ’re not sure about finding a legitimate job by using social networking sites, you need only talk to Internet marketer Tom Howard, who landed an interactive marketing director gig a few weeks ago with the help of Facebook.com.

Howard, who was recently hired at Dallas interactive marketing agency NetSuccess.com, also founded GeekMeet.com, a social networking group for local technology professionals. Through some networking at geekmeet.com as well as his Facebook account, Howard said execs at NetSuccess contacted him on Facebook a few weeks ago and after a few exchanges (followed by an in-person interview) he got the job.

“NetSuccess didn’t find me because I was on some job port. They found me through social networking because more and more it’s the best way to find the job you’re looking for,” Howard said. “Twitter is one of the best in town now and it’s not a generational thing; it’s a success thing.”

Interestingly enough, not all web-based social networking is done online. Howard, for example, hosts monthly happy hours via the GeekMeet group, a group that has been around for about 10 years, routinely invites technology-based workers in the Metroplex – as well as technology recruiters – to get to know each other.

Another area group is LaidOffCamp.com, an online based network of people who are either laid off or fearful about getting laid off. LaidOffCamp holds regular get-togethers in the Dallas-Fort Worth area fully equipped with sessions on using sites like Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook as “lead generation devices,” according to a staff report.

Other local gatherings have been spotted at area bars, for casual resume exchange parties.

“There are certainly more opportunities out there for this type of thing and they work,” Howard said. “There’s been an uptick in people searching at our GeekMeet happy hours. We all actively participate in the new social marketing realms, but the old stuff still works. It’s just that today, you have to be active in everything.”

Workforce Solutions of Tarrant County Director for Capacity Building and Training Debby Kratky couldnÂ’t agree more. By day, Kratky helps out-of-work people look for jobs and job leads throughout Tarrant County. And by night, she does the same thing.

In her spare time, Kratky started a blog called Surviving A Layoff, which is accessible at www.site.google.com/site/survivingalayoff or by clicking on a link on the Workforce Solutions Web site. The site offers tips on job searches and resumes, lists available area jobs she has come across and directs people to her Facebook page, where she posts even more jobs.

“My Facebook page is for anyone, but I really try to friend as many area social workers as possible so they can help spread the word,” Kratky said. “It’s like the old-fashioned gossip game, but it’s written down so by the end it doesn’t lose its meaning.”

Kratky said her Web site gets about 500 hits a week and the Facebook posts spread “like wild-fire.”

“Think about it. There may be someone looking for work and going out on job sites, but that person has friends or relatives on Facebook and if they hear about a job, they can pass it along,” she said. “In the end, it’s all about connecting that employer with a good employee and it doesn’t matter if they heard about it by word-of-mouth or by word-on-Facebook. As long as they heard it.”

There are countless blogs and Internet stories with step-by-step guides, for employers and unemployed alike, explaining how to use the social sites as job tools. One such blogger, Kevin Donlin, who is the creator of The Simple Job Search Institute, wrote the key to finding work in this economy is “to look beyond job-listings sites like Monster.com.”

“If your search consists mainly of scouring available jobs and sending in your resume and cover letter, you’re on the wrong path,” he advised. “I can’t tell you how many job seekers I talk to every week who think a job has to be advertised on Monster or elsewhere for it to be real. No, no, no. … The most forward-looking job seekers I spoke to said they’d all but abandoned job-listing sites in favor of social networks like Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. For a few people, job-hunting on these sites paid off; for others, the social networks showed some promise – at least more promise than sending in resumes. For a couple of others, social networking proved useless.”

Kratky said in her experience, traditional job networks are not completely dead in Tarrant County. In fact, she has seen a resurgence of churches forming social networks to help connect its business owner members who need to hire and its out-of-work members looking for employment.

“My church is doing it. It’s coming back with a vengeance,” she said. “So the old ways of doing things aren’t dead, they’ve just been expanded with the Internet social networks.”