'Net working: navigate the Web to connect and communicate with people who may lead you to a job

Career World, Oct, 2007 by Carole Moore, Anne Flounders

You've heard it over and over from parents, teachers, and counselors: The best way to get a job is to network. Fortunately, you have a great networking tool at your fingertips: the Internet.

"I see the Internet as an endless possibility of making connections with any[one] and everyone," says New Orleans musician Jamelle Williams, who uses several Web sites to line up gigs.

So how can you use the Internet effectively and safely to make the connections that can lead to a great job opportunity?

Linked In to MySpace

When actor-turned-musician Malcolm-Jamal Warner was traveling to New Orleans, he needed some musicians to play with his band. Warner's manager connected with Williams through his MySpace page. "I put a band together for him," says Williams. "I didn't even know Malcolm-Jamal Warner played music at all. ... I only knew him as Theo on The Cosby Show!"

MySpace and other social networking sites can be valuable for trading information and finding professional opportunities. Williams has found MySpace to be the perfect avenue for finding music gigs all around the country. "If I book a tour, I'll try to extend the tour as much as possible at the front end and the back end by using MySpace to message musicians in those cities that I might know," explains Williams. Then he's able to expand his in-person network by meeting and jamming with musicians before and after his scheduled gigs. "It's quick and easy. It's a huge music network on MySpace," he says.

Every day, people make connections on social networking sites, such as MySpace and Facebook, and on professional networking sites, such as Linkedln and Jobster. Sites such as those make it easy not only to reach out and network with others but also to market yourself.

Nicholas Aretakis is also enthusiastic about online networking. "Linkedln is a great tool," says Aretakis, a successful technology executive and the author of No More Ramen: The 20-Something's

Real World Survival Guide.

Linkedln offers a ready-made network of people who are already connected to an industry. If you're looking for a job, Aretakis explains, you can go to your contacts and send out a note explaining what you're looking for. "I don't have to send 100 e-mails, I don't have to make 100 calls, I don't have to send out 100 resumes," he says. "I've made contact in one location, and I've contacted potentially hundreds of people instantaneously."

You.tom

A personal Web site can be another great tool for marketing yourself. You control the design and choose what to put on there. You also can control who sees the site by sharing the URL only with selected contacts.

Kate Levinson, a recent graduate of Ithaca College, is using her own Web site to look for a job in the nonprofit field. "I use my Web site primarily as an online portfolio so that potential employers can easily see examples of my work," she explains. "I list the URL on my resume so that even if a particular application does not request, for example, a writing sample, someone reviewing my file could access one quickly."

Jamelle Williams, who is an educator as well as a musician, has a presence not only on MySpace and Jobster but also on his own personal Web site. He's able to share recordings of his performances, news of his gigs, his resume, and photos. He sees his Web presence as an indispensable marketing tool. As a musician, Williams says, "There's a lot of things ... to do as far as practicing the craft, but the business side is just as, if not more, important."

Please Leave a Message

A good strategy is to find message boards that center around the industry you're interested in and watch the posts. See which companies are mentioned, which are hiring, and which are good to work for--and not.

The Vault (thevault.com) is one such site recommended by Carly Drum, managing director of Drum Executive Search. The Vault has a forum where people talk about their work experiences--but, Drum warns, take the posts with a grain of salt. "What provokes people to write is extreme good or extreme bad," she says.

Blog It

Kate Levinson is building her job-related experience by blogging. "I keep a blog about the nonprofit industry that follows news and trends and gives advice on how to find and get nonprofit jobs," she explains. "I have actually gotten several responses to my blog, including one comment from a great organization I discussed, asking me to send ... my resume!" Levinson says. "That proved to be a worthwhile connection."

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Posting smart, relevant comments on nationally respected blogs is a great way to get noticed. But keep those comments on target, and remember this road travels both ways--snarkiness or vulgar comments also make an impression.

Connect Carefully

Be careful with the information you share on message boards. Don't give out any personal information--and that means phone numbers, photos, and confidential contact info, such as home and e-mail addresses. "There's a lot of ways people can use and abuse that [information]," says Harish Rao, chief executive officer of EchoDitto, an online communications firm.