Online Tool to Get that Job

The internet is quickly becoming the definition of our society. It effects nearly every aspect of our lives. From texting, twittering, and e-mailing to stay in touch with friends and family to shopping and researching future purchases, the internet dominates our daily lives and really molds how we interact with each other. This is both good and bad. It helps us to express ourselves in a way that we can feel more confident and courageous, but it also exposes our opinions and behaviors to those that we may not want involved. This means that current and future employers can find out our deepest and darkest conversations and blog posts as well. Trust me, they are scouring the internet for anything that has your name attached to it.

If you know how, these social network sites and blogs can actually help you to land that new job or increase your chances to get that raise or promotion that you have been looking for. If you do not know how, it can keep you from advancing in your field as well. The process is actually very simple and can be done relatively quickly if you have the time and dedication.

The first thing that you want to do is to use all of the major search engines and search for your name. This is exactly what your current, or potential, employer will do. It is the information that comes up that can be very revealing. After looking at those results, they will head over to the major social networking sites out there and search for you once again. There are many people that think if they only allow friends to view their pages, they are protected from this scrutiny. This is not exactly true. While they can not see that you are doing anything wrong, they may wonder why the secrecy. You can also use these to your advantage, but that comes later. In this research, your employer can really begin to form an opinion of you. Now you will need to make that opinion a good one.

The next thing that you will want to do is set up an account in each one of the social networking sites. You want to make sure that they are directly attached to your name. Do not use a spouses name or combination of names. You can have a separate account for that. This account will need to be specifically yours. If you already have these, then you are a step ahead. Now you will want to clean it up for use as a job booster. You will want to set up an eHow and an Associated Content account as well. These accounts will get you top placement in the search engines.

The next step is the one that takes a little determination and, for some, a little sacrifice. Now you will want to write a handful (2 - 5 is all you really need) of articles about your field of expertise or your hobbies. A nice mix of all of these is preferred to show a more well rounded character. You will want these articles to be well written and grammatically correct. This will show your ability to communicate as well. You may want to stagger these articles by a day or so. This will also allow you to post some comments between articles. You can have your articles published on Associated Content, eHow, or one of the other popular blog sites. If you link your blog accounts to your social networking accounts, it will make your job much easier. You will want to go to these sites between articles and post a comment or two on your wall, or rack up a couple tweets. This will make your sites look more natural and not like they are set up.

One more thing that you will want to do is go to Wikipedia or another social encyclopedia type site and write a little bit about something in your profession. Find something that directly correlates with your job field and either touch it up or write a whole new article. You can then use one of your social networking pages, or set up your own website and quote yourself as a source. This will make you look like an expert in your field and will also increase your search engine results.

A little bit of elbow (or knuckle) grease can really shape the internet in to your own personal career boosting tool. There have been many people in the news lately getting fired for their tweets or blog posts. Negativity about your job is the last thing that you want out there. The internet is open to everyone across the globe. This truly is a small world and your comments will make their way back to the boss. It can also make it to the HR person that is interviewing you tomorrow. By using the internet to make yourself look like the top mind in the world on your job, then getting that job or that promotion can be very easy. You also will want to use these methods to convey your ability to communicate and that you are a well rounded person. This will make you seem like definite management or corporate material. Everything that you can do to make yourself more marketable is always a plus. Instead of your employer or interviewer using the web against you, harness the power of the internet to slingshot your career.