Cutting-edge technology. More money. A culture that inspires and fosters innovation.  In my conversations with IT professionals these are recurring themes as the most important considerations when exploring new opportunities.  So how do you ensure life changing career opportunities don’t pass you by?  You could post your resume on Monster or Dice.  But honestly, unless you are unemployed or your project is ending in the coming weeks, who wants to be inundated with hundreds, yes hundreds, of phone calls from recruiters?  You can always scour the web searching for great opportunities and apply away, but if you are anything like me, free time to just browse the web doesn’t really exist.  A relationship with a local recruiter is still critical, but there is more that you can do to advance your career.  It starts with your professional social media presence.

Last week I attended the Social Media Recruiting Summit at Microsoft’s HQ in Redmond, WA.  I had the pleasure of networking and learning from my peers who manage technology recruiting operations for Facebook, Microsoft, Google, Starbucks, Intel, and Disney, just to name a few.  The common theme was evident.  Companies are investing heavily in Social Media.  They are using social media to track employee sentiment, position their employment brand, and most importantly, craft their overall talent acquisition strategy.  Technology professionals continue to be some of the hardest to attract and social media has emerged as the best way to find, network, and build relationships with YOU, the passive candidate.  That’s right, some of the most innovative, technically advanced companies in the world are spending millions to create social media strategies to attract IT talent just like you.

For any technology professional this is great news.  Add a few minutes of your time each week, sprinkle in a little strategy, and you will have a credible, powerful social media presence which empowers great career opportunities to find you.  LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook (they are commonly referred to as the Big 3 in the social media community) all offer unique benefits to building your social media presence.  And in the mind of employers, all three offer unique opportunities to position their employment brand and recruit directly from their targeted demographic. 

So what do you do? 

Well most of you have taken the first step.  According to a recent survey I read, roughly 75% of IT professionals have a LinkedIn profile.  That’s a great start.  In addition to employer’s ability to search the LinkedIn network for individual profiles, the majority of leading tech companies now create corporate profiles and corporate sponsored groups (nice article here on TechCunch discussing some of the cool features LinkedIn is creating).  Simply follow the corporate profile and join the groups of companies you are interested in, and you just drastically increased your visibility to a potential employer.  However, as the saying goes, “Content is King”.  Check out a previous blog here on how to ensure your LinkedIn profile is relevant, attractive, and searchable.

Twitter is also continuing to advance as a recruitment strategy for leading tech companies.  Developers and corporate recruiters alike are now using Twitter as an image and employment branding strategy.  Without you knowing it, reading tweets about free lunches, free swag, and bring your dog to work days are convincing you that this is a company where you want to work.  And of course, the will tell you about their career opportunities.  Now, I admit, there is significant propaganda in this space, but if certain companies excite you, follow their recruiters and techies on Twitter to stay abreast of the latest happenings and most critical positions they are trying to fill.  And don’t forget, as you heard here first, you can get a job on Twitter.

The social media space continues to be one of the most innovative and evolving industries in the world.  Its reach will only continue to grow and its power as a recruiting tool is increasing every day.  Be social. It is the best way to ensure that life-changing career opportunities don’t pass you by.