Whether you are in transition, graduating college, or contemplating a career change, the way in which we used to look and or apply for jobs has changed.

No longer do you print massive copies of your paper resume, get in your car and drive all over town leaving your resume with the gatekeeper of an organization. Things have gone social and so it has with recruiting and headhunting (so to speak).

Companies are looking online for candidates and having an online personal brand is key these days.

If you are on the fence about social media and its use for job search consider this: Bullhorn Reach recently released its “2012 Bullhorn Reach Social Recruiting Activity Report.” The report took a look at social media activity of recruiters and job seekers across the “big three” social networks — LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. According to the data compiled from over 35,000 recruiters:

•  98% of recruiters use LinkedIn, 42% use Twitter, and 33% use Facebook
• 48% of recruiters use LinkedIn exclusively meaning they use no other online or offline source to find candidates
• Recruiters are actively building their followings: The average recruiter has 616 connections on LinkedIn, 245 on Facebook and 37 on Twitter.
• According to SHRM, LinkedIn is the “suit and tie network” and Facebook is gaining interest for the more blue-collar jobs.

So you see, it’s imperative that folks use social media as a job search tool.

My partner in crime Sabrina Baker and I have come up with a way to address this growing trend and the myriad of job seekers that have no idea where to begin in even setting up their social profiles. Not to mention, that Twitter intimidates the hell out of them – and rightly so. Here’s a little about where we are headed:

We will begin our first Discovering Social Workshop for Job Seekers in the Chicagoland area on September 25 – 26 2012 in Downers Grove, IL. Our good friends at Devry University have so graciously agreed to host the event at their beautiful campus. Here’s a little more about the event:

In this interactive day and a half workshop, participants will learn about various social media platforms broken up into three main sessions.  These sessions will cover the most popular sites such as Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin and Google+.  Their learning will include key components of each platform, how to build a profile and how to interact with others.  At the end of each session, attendees will get hands on experience using each site.  Coaches will be present to help individuals who may need one-on- one assistance.

In addition to learning about and getting hands-on experience using the tools, job seekers will also have the opportunity to have their resumes reviewed by industry experts.  A professional photographer will be on hand for any attendee needing a headshot to use in their online profiles.

For more info on this spectacular new endeavor, head on over to www.discoveringsocial.com. We’re both so excited and passionate about helping job seekers and in getting this thing off the ground. We appreciate all the support you guys have shown.

Let’s do this thang.

Photo Credit: CornOnTheJob