Are you LinkedIn?

By using LinkedIn I have found that I have a better chance at getting hired after college. This site offers different resources in finding and being found for jobs.

A little history about the site

It was started in 2003 and it's hiring solutions were used by 69 of the Fortune 100 companies. Plus all the executives from 2010 Fortune 500 companies are members. LinkedIn is the world's largest professional network on the internet. It is currently available in six languages and more than half of the members are located outside of the United States. The picture below reiterates some of the things I just said and a few other fun statistics.

What you can do on the site

This site lets you create a profile for the business search. It allows you to add where you may have worked before, your résumé, you can even ask for recommendations. The more complete your profile is the better chance you have at being found by companies that you may want to work for.

The best part is you can follow companies that you are interested in. If you are looking for a job you can even specify what position you may be looking for and it'll pull up companies that are offering that position. It also takes you right to the hiring site for that company.

Networking on the site

Networking is the best thing to do now a days with the current technology and the given economy. Once you have joined the site and start looking for friends or colleagues, you can begin networking. The people you follow follow other people who may be able to put in a good word for you down the line (remember those recommendations I mentioned earlier?).
Every time you log in it will tell you how many connections you have and how many new people are in your network.

Why you should join

Just by joining you have a better chance of being found in the job world. You can find jobs or they may find you. When you update your profile, Linkedin shows you jobs you may be interested in. It also lets you decide where you want to look for jobs, whether it is local or half way across the country, you may find something right for you. Also once you join and you find yourself in a company and have questions, you can ask right on there and someone within your realm of work will answer. There are even applications where you can upload powerpoint presentations you may have created for a job before and even a portfolio for your work. This site gives you every opportunity to look for jobs and be seen by top companies through searches.

There's even a mobile app for the site so you can check in even when you're on the go and not near the computer.

By recently joining LinkedIn, my network is growing and I'm finding jobs that peak my interests. So if you want to get a head start on looking for jobs I would definitely suggest checking this site out!

4 Online Job Search Sites Every College Graduate Should Use

I am soon to graduate from the University of Mississippi with a degree in Criminal Justice. Throughout these four years of college, I have learned everything from time management, exceptional organization skills, to public speaking. Now that I have a few new skills to prepare me for the rest of my life, what am I supposed to do now? This is when we start looking for careers, my fellow grads. Once we have acquired a sheet of paper worth thousands of dollars (also known as a DIPLOMA), we can now utilize the internet to surf the cyber world for full time jobs to pay off that framed sheet of paper.

I am here to show you four websites and applications that can jump-start us into any field of work we want! Sounds much easier than physically removing ourselves from our college town, flying to a city, and literally filling out applications, right?

1. First, let me introduce you to Indeed.com. As most job hunting websites, it allows you to choose a keyword or title to help narrow a search to your needs, as well as a blank to choose your city of choice. I especially liked Indeed because the initial search is so simple and not as "busy." Many sites post advertisements and ads all over the initial page, but to my favoring, this one does not.

Since I am in the particular mood for warm weather, I am choosing to search by city: Miami, Florida. The results brought up several options in which I could review. Initially, the site lists the titles of each position. If I choose to, I can narrow my search more. Some of the options Indeed allows you to choose from are salary ranges, titles, company name, location, job type, and by employer. This allows you to find the ideal job for the ideal candidate, the Ole Miss graduate!

2. Speaking of graduate, let's look at a website that is more closely related to our level of schooling. This leads us to Monster College. This site is an example to what I was referring to earlier when I was describing the "busy" initial page. There are links everywhere, images galore, and of course there is a picture of a college graduate, smiling ever so happily because he has used this website to find a job to pay for his ever so extensive student loan debt.

This site, however, does offer several more options for the job seeker. This site allows you to post a resume for employers to review. It also has a template section to help you build a resume (if you have yet to build one this far into you college career...). The tab labeled Career Advice allows you to view chat forums, article pertaining to job hunting, quizzes, as well as submit your own forum relating to your brutal experience job hunting. I highly recommend this site for anyone who is prepared to start from scratch throughout their search. My only advice, do not to what Michael Scott did in The Office, when he searched Monsters.com.

3. The third site a college graduate should consider visiting is USA Jobs. This is operated by the government, and allows you to search jobs that are directly related to the Federal Government. This site is recommended for anyone who will pass a drug screening, and wants a job that looks nice on a resume for the next time one chooses to find a new job.

This site has a Student and Recent Grads link as well. Following this link takes you to another page that allows you to also choose keywords, choose a location, as well as something new. This new slot allows you to search all student jobs, student temporary employment, student career experience, federal career intern, summer, or other student. This may help you if you are open to settling for anything other than a full time position. You may also create an account on this website that also allows your resume to be reviewable, as well as receive notifications for position openings.

4. Lastly, I have stumbled onto a website that goes well for anyone wanting to work in athletics. TeamWork Online allows you to search jobs with several different teams, venues, or leagues in which you may choose. Listed are also career fairs, new job listings, as well as sports news so you are prepared for a potential interview question perhaps.

Setting up an account with TeamWork Online is free as well. You can receive periodic e-mails listing job openings, as well as notifications when anything on your profile matches a job opening. I decided to see what this site was more about in depth. Since I am from Memphis, I chose the Memphis Grizzles tab leading me the Grizzlies website. Keep in mind that selecting a team does lead you away from TeamWork Online and to the sport's official website. From there, I am already on the Grizzlies job opening section where I can review how well my very expensive Degree does not match any of the openings with my favorite sports team.

Perhaps it as this point where I can go back to any of the other websites and search for jobs that I may be better qualified for. Even better, I can sit back on my weekends, and instead of searching for job openings, I may just buy tickets to Grizzlies game and be ready to pass a drug test for my Federal job.