Photo by tarotastic

Last weekend, my husband and I found a new fishing spot. It’s clean, easy to get to, pretty to look at, and we caught fish. We tried several different baits and lures before we found something the fish wanted to bite on, but once we got the magic formula we were set.

It’s exactly like looking for a job in this economy. If you want a job, you need to figure out where the hiring managers are hanging out and what they’re eating.

For the past two years, I’ve been preaching to clients, colleagues, hiring managers and anyone who would at least pretend to listen.

If you’re looking for a job and you aren’t using social networking, you might as well stay home with your head under the covers. Because you’re wasting your time.

Some people get it, and want to learn more and take action. Unfortunately, many file the idea away as silly or just not in their frame of reference. They continue scouring job boards and want ads, and then wonder why they’re still unemployed or slogging away at a job they hate.

This morning I found an illuminating survey by JobVite about how valuable social networking has become for both recruitment and job search.

There’s a ton of good info in the survey results (get your own free copy), but here are the key points everyone looking for a job needs to know (my italics):

• 46% of respondents plan to spend more on social recruiting in 2010 than in 2009


• 36% will spend less on job boards


• For candidate quality, respondents rated social networks significantly higher than job boards who landed in last place

The stats from companies that are “actively hiring” are even more significant.

• 92% of those hiring in 2010 currently use or plan to recruit via social networks


• Of this group, 86% use LinkedIn, 60% use Facebook and 50% use Twitter for recruiting


• 50% of hiring companies plan to invest more in social recruiting while…36% will spend less on job boards

So, it comes back to the main rule of fishing. Fish where the fish are, and feed them what they want to eat.

If you’re fishing for a job in 2010, drop your line in LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and more. Learn how to use social networking effectively and make it a major part of your strategy. People who understand and use these tools to their best advantage are the ones going home with a full creel.

Need help finding your way through the job search jungle? Drop me a line and I’ll get you going in the right direction.