ahos77

Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and other social media sites are not just for staying in touch with that guy you once sat next to in high school chemistry class--they are also helpful job hunting tools.

This post will provide tips for using social media to your advantage when hitting the virtual pavement and setting up your profiles and accounts. To convince your next potential interviewer that you're an interesting and professional candidate, follow these tips:

1. If you don't already have them, create Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn accounts. You want your accounts and profiles to be professional, though. If you or your friends have the habit of posting updates about your Friday nights' misadventures, consider creating separate business profiles--and hide your personal accounts either through privacy settings or the use of a pseudonym.

2. Your profile photo: Your photo should be one of you alone and shouldn't be cropped from a group shot. It's fine (good, even) to appear relaxed, but you shouldn't be wearing club attire and holding a suspiciously bright drink with an umbrella sticking out from it. Not sure if a photo is business-profile-appropriate? A good test is to simply imagine the CEO of your dream job company looking at it.

3. For Twitter, start following Twitter accounts that tweet out job postings, such as TweetMyJOBS. Also, come up with a short list of companies that you would love to work for. A quick search on Twitter will connect you to people who work for that company. Follow the Twitter accounts of the higher-ups to stay abreast of company news and insights.

4. For Facebook, think of your profile as an extended version of your resume. Feel free to include activities like camping or biking in your list of interests, but avoid including things you wouldn't necessarily want your potential interviewer to know, such as your 6-hour-per-night addiction to Star Craft (just saying).

5. Who or what you "follow" or "like" reflects on you, and you can use this to your advantage. Carefully select these connections so they say, "Look, I'm intelligent, well-rounded and interesting." Find your dream company's profile/page and "friend" or "like" it before sending in your resume, but avoid also friend-ing their biggest competitor. Also, consider your dream company's values: Are they focused on sustainability? Potentially ditch your "like" of Shell Oil in favor of the Centre of Sustainable Living.