Facebook claims collective usage of over 700 billion minutes per month and more than 700 million users and this presents a goldmine of opportunity for job seekers. With the new video chat feature, not only will you be able to find people and be found, but you willl be able to have a conversation (aka interview) quickly and easily without ever leaving your desk or your Facebook account.

Networking, sourcing, and hiring could be significantly streamlined with this new functionality and I’m excited to see where things go from here.  Right now the chat feature will only be available for one on one conversations, but I’m hoping that this evolves to group video chat which would make group interviews a snap. Google’s recently released Google+ Hangouts product currently  allows up to ten people to video chat at one time, but it would be great to see something similar offered on Facebook’s platform

You may be thinking, “I already have a LinkedIn profile for professional networking. Why do I need another one?” While it’s true that most professionals have been using LinkedIn as their main professional networking site, LinkedIn only has one million users compared to Facebook’s seven million. In addition, users tend to spend a lot more time on their Facebook accounts than their LinkedIn accounts. This means that your chances of gaining an introduction through a strong or weak tie could be significantly higher via a Facebook platform than through LinkedIn.

Some of you may have recently heard about BranchOut, another Facebook application that allows you to connect professionally by leveraging the power or social networks on Facebook. I like BranchOut a lot, especially because of its ability to easily show you how you are connected to people at other companies, but BeKnown has some features that neither BranchOut or LinkedIn offer including:

• The ability to claim and manage company profiles.
• The option for employers to make referral payments for hires.
• Specific skills endorsements rather than the generic “Bob’s an employer’s dream.” type of endorsements you sometimes see on LinkedIn and BranchOut profiles.
• The ability to access Monster.com job postings from inside Facebook including jobs posted at friends’ companies.

In addition, the BeKnown app is supported in 19 languages in 35 countries as opposed to LinkedIn (6 supported languages) and BranchOut (1 supported language.

It will be interesting to watch how LinkedIn, BranchOut, and BeKnown compete for users (or even collaborate to build a better platform) and where users’ loyalties will fall. You can learn more about BeKnown here and here.

The latest Twitter “whoops” I just heard about belongs to Scott Bartosiewicz, an employee at New Media Strategies, the marketing firm representing Chrysler. Frustrated about being stuck in traffic, Bartosiewicz tweeted:

“I find it ironic that Detroit is known as the #motorcity and yet no one here knows how to (expletive) drive.”

The tweet was meant to appear on his personal account, but Bartosiewicz mistakenly sent it to the Chrysler brand’s feed. So now Bartosiewicz is out of a job and New Media Strategies is down one account.

This actually happened a few months ago and since I missed this one I did some research to see if I’d missed anything else. I came upon this great post from Mashable on Ten People Who Lost Jobs Over Social Media Mistakes. Read this and you’ll have practically every career-killing social media mistake covered.

Use of Social Networks:
• LinkedIn use grew from 80 percent in 2008 to 95 percent of respondents in 2009 and Facebook use grew from 36 percent in 2008 to 59 percent in 2009
• Twitter, ranked third with 42 percent of recruiters using the tool to source candidates
• 66% of respondents reported that they had successfully hired a candidate who was identified or introduced through an online social network

I think that everyone who is in a job search has to defy gravity in order to gain traction, particularly in a competitive job market such as the one we are facing right now. You need to take a leap of faith, step outside your comfort zone, and do things differently. Because techniques that worked during your last job search might not work today. So here are my five gravity defying recommendations to help you take that leap and still land safely.

• Don’t pull out your most recent resume, slap on your last position, and call that an update. Stop treating your resume like another piece of paper that needs to be in your briefcase when you start interviewing and start acknowledging it for what it is…a marketing tool and advertisement for “brand you”. Forget about what you think are the rules around resume writing…I have news for you…there really aren’t any. The goal is to make a powerful and memorable impression…quickly…and with whatever it takes. This can be achieved by communicating your impact on the organizations you have supported and it can be proven with stories, visuals, case studies, testimonials, or links to podcasts, whitepapers, and even YouTube videos. Resumes that read like job descriptions won’t cut it…they will never defy gravity, but instead will fall flat with the hiring manager.

• Get off the job boards. Job boards cater to the most complacent of job seekers. The ones who expect the jobs to come to them. The ones who think that if they throw enough resumes against the job board wall, one of them is bound to stick. But it doesn’t really work that way. Because the person on the other side of that job board is getting resumes hurled at them much faster than they can catch them. So they are forced to use applicant tracking software to parse the data in your resume and reduce its substance down to a few keywords. And keywords don’t really communicate success. In addition, while that hiring manager is trying to field all the applicants from the job boards, they are also building relationships via other channels. And let’s face it; if someone they know introduces them to a candidate, there is a much greater likelihood that they will check out that candidate first and actually look at their resume while the applicant tracking system does all the grunt work parsing data on the other 500 applicants. Which set of eyes would you rather be in front of…the human eye or the computer one?

• Don’t expect a recruiter to find you your next job. Even a recruiter will tell you that you are more likely to find your next position through a connection than through them. Just because you found your last job via a recruiter, it doesn’t mean you will land your next job the same way. Recruiters are inundated with prospects but don’t necessarily have the inventory of job openings to match the demand. Build your network by becoming an active member of professional and personal communities to extend your visibility and circle of influence. Break away from a reliance on recruiters and start making things happen on your own.

• Don’t turn your back on social media. I’ve heard all the excuses…If you don’t think that social media is relevant to you in a job search, watch how quickly you become irrelevant to the many decision makers using it to find top talent. Dip your toe in the social media water, start some conversations, support others, and learn how to protect your privacy to alleviate any concerns you have about using these tools.

• Don’t purchase a book on interviewing and expect to interview well. Interview books can help you lay the foundation for your interview strategy, but they can’t tell you how you should answer the interview questions. A strong interview strategy is one that communicates your unique value proposition through stories of success. Review interview questions to determine the underlying competency the hiring manager is searching for. Then showcase an example of something you did in the past that proves you have that competency. This strategy builds your credibility and helps the hiring manager gain trust in your abilities. You will never wow a hiring manager by regurgitating the pat answer listed on page 23 of some interview book.

Defying gravity in your job search takes a lot of work and it requires some risk. But if the old methods of job search aren’t working for you, then you need to try something new. And while you are planning your gravity defying job search strategy, here’s the song to get you motivated.

It’s clear that companies are becoming more proactive in their management of social media in the workplace and many will begin to revise their employee handbooks to reflect their social media policy, create employment agreements that clearly spell out company social media rules, and dedicate resources to training employees on the dos and don’ts of social media in the workplace.

For decades, many companies have had a clear policy that prohibits employees from giving personal references for people they have worked with at that company. When employers check references on a potential hire, they are often rerouted to the company’s HR department where very limited information such as job titles and dates of employment are shared. With the advent of new social media policies, I think it’s just a matter of time before companies formalize their policies around giving LinkedIn recommendations because they don’t want to be saddled with the potential liability these recommendations can create.

In addition, don’t be surprised if companies start implementing rules around friending on Facebook. It’s not unrealistic to assume that companies will prohibit bosses from friending subordinates to minimize the potential for creating a hostile workplace and decrease the likelihood of  harassment suits. Or companies may propose strict guidelines for friending or connecting with competitors because this activitiy could result in proprietary company information getting in the wrong hands.

Thinking about writing a blog that chronicles your experiences at your new company? Think again. More companies will start to formalize policies that require disclaimers on personal blogs or prohibit use of the company name or company images on the blog.

I’m certainly not trying to paint a doom and gloom “big brother” picture of social media in the workplace and I believe that many companies will find ways to  embrace social media in the workplace while protecting the rights of employees and employers.

But as companies create more clearly defined social media policies, job seekers may face new challenges in finding advocates for their candidacy. So my motto for right now for sourcing LinkedIn recommendations and building up your contact list is “Get ‘em while you can” because the rules of the game could change tomorrow.

1. You want your resume to scream “Pick me! I’m just like everyone else.”
2. You want to prove to a prospective employer that you don’t have an original thought in your head.
3. You want everyone who reads your resume to realize that your intention was to spend as little time as possible on the project.
4. You want to show just how well you can cut corners.
5. You want people to know that writing was never your strong suit.
6. You want to showcase as many resume cliche phrases as possible.
7. You dig tacky clip art and dated formats.
8. You are “wowed” by the cheap price tag.
9. You are convinced that no one is interested in seeing your authentic self.
10. You want to remain in job search as long as possible.

Writing a compelling resume requires you to be introspective about your past accomplishments. It requires that you communicate your stories of success and put those stories in a forward-thinking context that proves to employers that your past experiences can be leveraged to deliver exceptional results for a new company. Many people need help translating their accomplishments into “resumeize” but a template is not the solution. Find a living, breathing resume professional to help you rather than a digital tool. By collaborating with a writer, you can create a document that represents the real you and is customized for your particular job search goals.

In order to feel productive and not wonder if you are simply “spinning your wheels” I recommend setting daily and weekly goals for your campaign. These goals will help you remain focused and motivated and will help you realize the small successes that can eventually lead to a larger success in conjunction with your job search. Here are some examples of weekly goals.

1. Set up at least 2 networking meetings
2. Research 10 target companies
3. Follow up on 10 cold calls made the week before
4. Search for and follow up on 10 potential contacts on LinkedIn 
5. Offer at least one hour of your time in a volunteer capacity
6. Attend at least one professional networking event
7. Attend at least one social networking event
8. Spend one hour per week monitoring aggregate and niche job boards
9. Complete one marketing document (i.e. resume, bio, personal marketing plan)
10. Do at least one non job search activity that is just for you

Keep track of daily and weekly progress either by keeping a journal or using a job search contact and information management tool such as Jibber Jobber. This strategy will help you monitor progress on each activity, make decisions about what is working and what is not, and uncover where you need to spend more or less time.

View looking for your job as your full time job for now and plan to spend 35 hours per week working your search. Stay focused on your activity list and hold yourself accountable for its completion. Partner with someone else in search if you think you need someone to keep you on track and give you a gentle nudge.

If you are consistently incorporating these types of tasks into your search campaign, you are making progress towards your end goal. It is the consistency of the activities that often leads to the opened door, finding the needle in the haystack job spec, or reconnecting with the colleague you thought you would never hear from again. And if you need affirmation that you are on the right track, find a local job search support group to hear what others are doing and share new ideas and best practices.

• How do you keep the lines between business and social networking from becoming blurry? In a nutshell, you don’t. People want to hire people that they know and trust. By intelligently revealing a snapshot of your personal style on business networking sites you can actually strengthen business relationships. Insights on your personality may be gleaned from your status updates on LinkedIn or a creative Slideshare presentation that demonstrates the value you can bring to an employer. Microblogging sites like Twitter are perfect environments for revealing both professional and personal insights.
• What are some of the pitfalls to be aware of when using social media? Users should refrain from posting their full birthdays including the year on social networking sites, as doing so may make them more susceptible to phishing scams. If you are on a site with a public wall such as Facebook, audit comments on your wall regularly and delete any comments that you feel could be damaging if unearthed by a recruiter or hiring manager. Don’t post comments on Facebook or “tweets” on Twitter that could be construed as discriminatory or smug and don’t badmouth people or companies. And certainly don’t complain about your current job! Only post pictures that you are comfortable having anyone see and untag yourself from pictures if you think they may have a negative impact on you professionally.
• As LinkedIn becomes more and more popular, won’t it become increasingly more difficult to differentiate your candidacy on the site? I think that as LinkedIn continues to grow (it is currently at 39M members) job seekers will have to become increasingly more creative in how they present their qualifications. The specialties section of their profile will probably need to be vigilantly updated and perhaps there will be new applications available to further differentiate one’s candidacy. We may start seeing a migration to more specialized sites such as Ning where more private niche communities are created. Or maybe by then there will be a new business networking tool that some will switch over to. Hard to predict, but fun to ponder!
• Since no one can be on every online community, which do you recommend job seekers create a presence on? I think that where each job seeker needs to be is related to their specific networking goals. Each networking site has its own unique culture and job seekers should be cognizant of how consistent that culture is with the professional brand they are trying to promote. Currently I believe that LinkedIn is the top tool for business networking in a U.S. market. However, Xing and Ecademy have a strong hold with more global audiences. Twitter grew by 130% just last month and it is a site to consider having a presence on. The demographics of Facebook are changing rapidly with women over 34 being one of their fastest growing demographics and more and more people are leveraging Facebook’s functionality to enhance their job search. Students and recent grads should also check out Doostang and Affinity Circles to source job leads and build community.