“I’M AS MAD AS HELL, AND I’M NOT GOING TO TAKE THIS ANYMORE!” A sentiment any frustrated job seeker can latch onto. While the market is not nearly as dire as July 2009, or say November 1929, they are still as frustrating as ever if you find yourself scouring the earth for an occupation. But have no fear…we have all got a secret weapon at our disposal, and it comes at no extra cost (most of the time). It’s called a social network!

The theory of Dunbar’s Theory regurgitated simply states, on average, a person can maintain 150 stable social relationships at any given time. Sadly Dunbar does not have a Facebook page, or he would see that over the last 20, 10, even 5 years, this limiting idea has been stretched beyond its…limits. It’s no wonder Peter Finch was so angry…he was trapped inside a box in the technology deprived 70’s.

When it comes to professional networking, there is no better resource than LinkedIn (in the interest of full disclosure, that’s coming from the bias of someone without a Facebook page). Networks are very much intangible, but LinkedIn brings that visual element to the mix. If you really want to work for Kevin Bacon, you will be able to find the degrees separating you from him. A few tips to take home for free…
• Join groups relevant to your job search…could be job or industry specific…either way this opens the door to messaging in-house recruiters and HR, and becoming connected with folks who share similarities that might just be cordial enough to help you out
• Keep your profile complete and up-to-date…this is your resume after all
• Follow target companies so you know the latest happenings (i.e. news updates, job postings, etc…)
• Search for your interviewer…you can bet they have searched for their interviewee
• Keep it professional, but have fun with it…after all, this is not your facsimile-style resume

The average time spent on Facebook is around 6-7 hours per day…convert a few of those hours into doing something more constructive like building your resume on LinkedIn to help with your job search, and you could be spending 9 hours a day Facebooking at work in no time.