Build a door - build your professional network

Milton Berle once said "If opportunity doesn't knock, build a door."

On Friday, Statistics Canada announced the national unemployment rate climbed to 8.4 per cent in May. As the number of people looking for jobs grows, so to does the importance of networking.

Traditional networking methods can not be disputed. In fact, in Career Focus Canada, Helene Martucci Lamarre and Karen McClughan suggest that 70 per cent of jobs found today are through networking. Now, through the use of social media, new opportunities to build your professional network are being created - opportunities for you to build a new door.

There are many social networking sites available that allow you to build your professional network, conduct job searches, and manage your career. I recently set-up an account on LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com). Many professionals call it the "business equivalent of Facebook." Here you can provide a complete business profile and invite others to connect with you and view your profile.

Other sites, such as Visual CV (www.visualcv.com) and Virtual Job Coach (www.virtualjobcoach.com), can allow employers to get a sense of who you are. Depending on the individual site, you can post cover letters and resumes, track interviews, or book appointments.

The idea here is not to restrict yourself to the traditional methods of a job search. In the same way that we would incorporate social media as just one tactic in larger communications plan, social media should be considered as one of many tactics in your search for employment - one of many doors that employers could knock upon.