I recently found four examples of job seekers who did something unique. They used the Facebook ads or pages to promote themselves. Boy did it work! Here’s how they did it along with links to their stories.

1) Sam Solomon

After he posted his ad, Sam got an interview the next day: “I decided to take a different approach. Rethink the channel for job candidacy. Using specifically targeted Facebook advertisements, I created different ads targeting companies in industries that interested me. I gave myself $150 and about two weeks to see what would happen.”

Result: 5 interviews, 18 email followups, two blog posts written about it, cost $150. His article about his efforts show you step by step how he did it.

For more details: SamuelRSolomon: How to Get a Job Interview Tomorrow with Facebook Ads

2) Marian Schembari

“After three months of responding to job postings unsuccessfully, I posted an ad for myself on Facebook, and specifically targeted people at companies where I wanted to work. The ad said, ‘I want to work for Harper Collins [or Random House or Penguin, etc…], can you help?’ Anyone who listed that they worked for one of those companies saw the advertisement. If it caught their fancy, they would click on the ad which would then direct them to my resume.”

Result: She picked up freelance work at Harper Collins, connected to over 100 people in two weeks, one of whom referred her to the firm where she was subsequently hired.

3) Ian Greenleigh

“Social job ads are effective because they short-circuit the gatekeepers, both technological and human, to get you in front of the right people in a way that stands out.”

Result: Several interviews, and hired as the social media manager at Bazaarvoice. Cost $150.

For more details: CareerFuel: A New Tool to Find Work and Ian’s blog daretocomment.com

4) Braden Young.

Braden created his own “hire me” campaign to get the job he wanted at Krispy Kreme in Philadelphia. He used a Facebook page and Twitter account to stand out.

Result: He got the job. “What I love about Braden and this story is the fact that he never thought of sending a standard resume & cover letter. ‘I figured that if I was going to go for it, I had to do it right and find a way to stand out,’ said Braden. Oh boy, did it work! The company said they were extremely excited to see his campaign and couldn’t wait to talk to him. Jackpot, baby!”

For more details: CornontheJob: Job Seeker’s Hire Me Campaign

See, Facebook is good for job hunting! But it’s more of a reverse job search. Use it to rise above your job search competition.

Happy hunting.

More About Facebook for Job Search

• Facebook Can Be Your New Resume
• Find Insiders Using Facebook
• Why You Shouldn’t Give Up on Facebook for Your Job Search

About the author…

Chris Russell is the CEO & Founder of CareerCloud.com. An advocate for job seekers everywhere, he is widely considered to be the “mad scientist of online recruiting,” a badge he wears with pride. His long running podcast, CareerCloud Radio has been around since 2007 and is consistently a top 25 show in the iTunes – Career category. Follow Chris online via twitter @chrisrussell.

The post Using Facebook Ads to Land Jobs: 4 Success Stories appeared first on Job-Hunt.

Chris got his start back in the mid 1990’s when he moonlighted as a resume writer after his friends kept asking him to write their resumes. Then, in 1999, he started his first online job board, FairfieldCountyJobs which blossomed into a 20 site regional network.

Last year he sold that company in order to start CareerCloud. Over the years, he’s written a book and launched dozens of job boards and recruitment sites to help job seekers find work. His long running podcast, CareerCloud Radio has been around since 2007 and is consistently a top 25 show in the iTunes – Career category. Its chock full of interesting and practical job search advice, especially about using social media.

Helping to connect job seekers with employers is his passion and mission in life. Follow him on twitter @chrisrussell.

Articles by Chris Russell

Facebook for Job Search:

• Why You Shouldn’t Give Up on Facebook for Your Job Search
  In the early years of Facebook I generally kept my distance from friending everyone and made a rule for myself to just connect with people I meet in real life. But lately my tune is changing. I’m starting to see the power of connections you can make with it.

Meet more of Job-Hunt’s Job Search and Career Experts.

The post Chris Russell, Facebook Job Search Expert appeared first on Job-Hunt.

Best for the employee is that they usually receive compensation, sometimes in the thousands of dollars, if a person they refer is hired and stays in the job, working successfully for at least 3 to 6 months.

Even if you don’t end up with a referral as the result of your contact, you may learn “insider information” about specific employers and jobs as a result of reaching out to insiders for something that may be an informational interview.

So, the result can be a better network, more information, and, possibly, a referral by an employee. All good!

How do you connect with that “insider” if you don’t know one – or don’t think that you know one?

Finding “Insiders” with Facebook

If you are looking to find an insider at a company you want to work for, you can certainly use sites like LinkedIn.

But Facebook also offers that capability if you know how to find it.

From the desktop version of Facebook (not available on mobile) click on the “More” link next to the “Friends” link in the left navigation menu on your Facebook Home page. You may need to run your mouse over the Friends title to see the More link appear.

Then, choose the “Find Friends” button

Which brings you to this page, below.

Then, using the example above, I searched for people who have worked at IBM in the Boston area. The search results return several current employees as well as people who have worked there in the past. Both current and former employees can be great sources of information for you.

Contacting People in Facebook

Job seekers may be able to use a search like this to reconnect with an old colleague or grab the attention of a recruiter or hiring manager by using the Message feature in Facebook.

Contacting a Stranger

Once you have identified the person, you can send them an internal message by clicking on the “Message” link beside the “Add Friend” link near the top of their profile page.

Send a message like this one, if you are currently employed:

“Hi [name]. I see you work at [employer name], and I am hoping that you could give me some advice about finding a job there. I’m targeting positions as [job title] and [job title].

“Currently , I am a [job title] at [employer name]. I have enjoyed my work, and learned a great deal about [whatever you want to do], but it feels like time to move on. Your employer has an excellent reputation, and I would love to learn more about working there and any opportunities at [employer name].

“If you have a few minutes to spare, I would love to talk with you about your experiences at [employer name]. I can make myself available at your convenience and would be very grateful for your insight in a short call.”

Or, send a message similar to the one below, if you are currently unemployed:

“Hi [name]. I see you work at [employer name], and I am hoping that you could give me some advice about finding a job there. I’m targeting positions as [job title] and [job title].

“Recently, I was a [job title] at [employer name]. I enjoyed my work, and learned a great deal about [whatever you want to do], but circumstances made leaving necessary. Your employer has an excellent reputation, and I would love to learn more about working there and any opportunities at [employer name].

“If you have a few minutes to spare, I would love to talk with you about your experiences at [employer name]. I can make myself available at your convenience and would be very grateful for your insight in a short call.”

You can also check for an email address or phone number in the “About – Contact and Basic Info” section on their Facebook page. If they provide an email address, use that email address for your message. Use a short subject line like this: “Inquiry about [employer name].” Keep the message short, clear, and honest.

Depending on their Facebook privacy settings, they should receive your message in their Facebook “inbox” and see it the next time they login to Facebook.

NOTE: Don’t be negative about your current (or former) job and employer. Do be very respectful of the person’s time – ask for another call (or meeting for coffee where you buy the coffee) if the call goes over the agreed amount of time. Ending the call by asking them if there is anything you can do for them is a nice gesture and could lead to a longer term networking relationship.

Contacting Someone You Know

Hopefully, this is much easier to do since you know this person. If you have their email address, you can send to that address, or you can send them an internal message via Facebook that says something like this –

“Hi [name]! Hope all is going well in your world! I wonder if you could give me some quick advice? I’m reaching out because I’m looking for new opportunities and am curious about what it is like to work for [their employer name] and what opportunities may be available there.

“Quick update on me – I am currently the [job title] for [employer name] in [location], and I’ve been doing that for [time frame]. But, making a change feels like a good idea now, so I thought I’d explore other opportunities.

“I would love to talk with you about what’s been happening in your life and what opportunities you may be aware of at [employer name] that might be a good fit for me.“

Don’t make the message too long and, again, be positive about your current situation, and be very respectful of the other person’s time. They are doing you a favor.

Bottom Line:

With millions of members, Facebook can be an excellent way to find and connect with (or at least contact) people who could be very valuable members of your network.

Happy hunting!

More About Facebook for Job Search and Finding Insiders

• Shortcut to a New Job: Tap an Insider
• Facebook Can Be Your New Resume
• Using Facebook Ads to Land Jobs: 4 Success Stories
• Why You Shouldn’t Give Up on Facebook for Your Job Search

About the author…

Chris Russell is the CEO & Founder of CareerCloud.com. An advocate for job seekers everywhere, he is widely considered to be the “mad scientist of online recruiting,” a badge he wears with pride. His long running podcast, CareerCloud Radio has been around since 2007 and is consistently a top 25 show in the iTunes – Career category. Follow Chris online via twitter @chrisrussell.

The post Finding Insiders Using Facebook appeared first on Job-Hunt.

But lately my tune is changing. I’m starting to see the power of connections you can make with it.

If I was out of work today, I would make Facebook a part of my daily job hunting activities.

Facebook as a Good Job Search Tool

A lot of people shrug off the notion of combining Facebook and job hunting. But Facebook is actually a good tool if you use it right.

Now that Facebook is collecting (and asking for) more information from those that join, its data points are going to help all of us connect with one another.

• The new Graph search is proof positive of this trend
• The new ability to add professional skills to your About page

Facebook now has the basic building blocks in place to also help you professionally.

Adding More Facebook Friends

The other day on Linkedin, one of my connections said this about Facebook:

“I’ve always set my FB profile on private and kept certain things for friends only. Before reading similar articles on this topic last year or so, I never really thought FB would be a good way to find standard/corporate-type employment (as I’ve always known it to be a great way to network for opportunities in the entrepreneurial sector), maybe I should give it a try as I’m on a life transition process (changing careers–switching to another industry–relocation to another state, and getting back into conventional corporate-type employment).

I mainly use FB for business networking and social/casual contacts with friends and relatives. Plus networking is the fastest way to get a job anyway, and networking involves building relationships, friendships, etc.

I feel that it’s easier to establish friendships on FB due to its more “social” nature.”

So I have started friending more casual contacts who might be good prospects for my business.

I created a custom list of “business” folks and share various industry related articles and information with them. That way my closer friends and family don’t have to see those posts. Mixed with an occasional personal post or pic, it makes me more likable and friendly.

Using Facebook Search for Your Job Search

Facebook’s new Graph search is still in testing, but you can sign up to join the test at Introducing Graph Search. if you have a Facebook account.

Using Graph Search for your job search –

• Find recruiters
  You could create a custom list of potential companies to work at by doing a Graph search for “recruiters who work at [insert company name].” If one of that company’s recruiters has a FB page, they should show up in the search results. Even if you don’t friend that recruiter you still can message them for $1 to get on their radar.
• Find company pages
  You can follow company pages and get alerted to potential jobs by doing a Graph search for “[insert company name].” If the company has a Facebook page, it will show up in the search results. Many companies are now installing job pages and regularly posting positions on them. That’s your chance to ask questions and connect with them on a more personal level.

Facebook, much like Linkedin, can become a virtual Rolodex for anyone. I know one person (in their 20’s) who has 5,000 friends on Facebook. I can only imagine what his news feed looks like, but those are 5,000 people he can market himself to if he ever needs a job!

Bottom Line

Don’t dismiss Facebook too easily. Browse your friends; see where they work. You just might be surprised how they can help you.

About the author…

Chris Russell is the CEO & Founder of CareerCloud.com. An advocate for job seekers everywhere, he is widely considered to be the “mad scientist of online recruiting,” a badge he wears with pride. His long running podcast, CareerCloud Radio has been around since 2007 and is consistently a top 25 show in the iTunes – Career category. Follow Chris online via twitter @chrisrussell.

The post Why You Shouldn’t Give Up on Facebook for Your Job Search appeared first on Job-Hunt.