10 Tips for Social Networking Your Way to a Job

It’s not just a load of Web 2.0 hype—you can find a job using social networks, according to Brad and Debra Schepp.

“ We’ve spoken to many people who use LinkedIn, Twitter and even MySpace to find jobs—regular 9-to-5 jobs or consulting gigs or freelance work,” says Brad, who with his wife authored How to Find a Job on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, and Other Social Networks.

I get pitched a lot of job-hunting books. Most of them should have been made into pamphlets instead. But after my first glance through the Schepps’ book, I quickly made a few adjustments to my LinkedIn profile—and I’m not even looking for a job. Here are ten of their tips for getting the most out of social networks.

Get on LinkedIn

The site has become so widely used, that if you don’t have a profile…

Healthy—and Free—iPhone Apps

In a recession, health can become a much bigger issue. We get more stressed out, we have less money to spend on keeping ourselves healthy, some people have lost our healthcare coverage and many of us have more time to obsess about whether that new freckle might in fact be skin cancer.

That’s why we were psyched to find FierceHealthcare’s list of 15 free healthcare iPhone apps. Yes, some should be on a list of Apps Your Hypochondriac Boyfriend Shouldn’t Have…

Living the Weisure Life

Thanks to the fadeout of 9-to-5 workdays and technology that keeps us reachable 24/7, more people are able to work hard and play hard … at the same time.

“Weisure” is the cute buzzword coined to describe the combo of employment and enjoyment. Not only are we Facebooking in the office, but we’re also checking our Blackberries on dates and emailing clients while watching “The Office.” NYU sociologist Dalton Conley, who created the word, explains that Americans’ increased workloads make it easier to take a quick work phone call after hours than wait till you get to the office in the morning when you have more to do.

And now, our “social” networks like Twitter, Facebook and YouTube are tools we’re using at work, too …

5 YouTube Clips to Beat Recession Blues

Some days, the last thing I need is an “inspirational” tale of a blind, deaf quadriplegic who wrote his Ph.D. dissertation one letter at a time by wiggling his ears. But Sunday night, in a funk of worry about my finances, my future, the economy, and Iran, I ditched my work and instead made a dent in the sofa. I let myself get weepy over the story of Chris Gardner, a single father with ambition and fortitude who went broke and came out on top in the movie The Pursuit of Happyness.

Whether you tend towards sap or cynic (I do both), feel-good stories can help you beat the blues. I tracked down five classic YouTube clips, for a quick pick-me-up. Um, no—that’s just dust in my eye.

This version of Jason McElwain’s first basketball game has gotten more than 400,000 views. I only account for half of those.

Screwed: Up to 300 at Intel

A daily review of the employment fallout around the country and the world.

Intel attempting to lay off between 200 and 300 employees in Ireland…Gulfstream Aerospace Corp. will be cutting its Dallas work force by 219 employees… Trinity Marine Products has laid off 190 workers… IBM Taiwan will be laying off about 100 employees from late May to early June…

Screwed: 1,500 at Medtronic Inc.

A daily review of the employment fallout around the country and the world.

Medtronic Inc. is shrinking its global workforce by laying off 1,500 employees… In another round of layoffs, Lloyds Banking Group announced plans to layoff 625 employees in Britain… Nokia will be laying off 490 employees in its Finnish firm… Georgia State University is laying off 300 staff workers…

Lemonade Maker: Jim Dowd, IT Entrepreneur

Profiles of people who are seeing opportunity in a pile of economic lemons.

Jim Dowd, 40
Gloucester, MA

Before recession: Technology Strategist
Now: Entrepreneur and Co-founder, HelpGuest Technologies. HelpGuest connects people who need tech support with people who can provide it.

How are you making lemonade?

A. We want to be the good guys. Remember Jimmy Stuart’s character George Bailey in “It’s a Wonderful Life?” How he used his business to make people’s lives better during hard times? That’s who we want to be.

With all of the layoffs and companies going under, a lot of people have been cut adrift. Either they have been pushed out from under the corporate IT support umbrella or they have support to give but no means by which to offer it efficiently without the context of a corporation. That’s the niche we fill.

Digital TV Hits a Recession Hurdle

Let’s just bring out this unpopular view right now: We don’t think the digital TV switch delay from February 17 to June 12 is a good idea for anybody. Especially consumers.

Here’s why: right now, digital televisions (the only kind they make now) are selling for all-time lows. Flat-panels have dropped to as low as $400 for 32 inches and smaller, sometimes as low as $300 or less for lower-end brands.

Screwed: 8,000 at Sprint Nextel

A daily review of the employment fallout around the country.

Sprint Nextel plans to cut 8,000 jobs in the first quarter, or about 14 percent of its work force…Corning is slashing 3,500 positions…Philips Electronics is eliminating 6,000 jobs this year after swinging to its first quarterly loss in five years…IBM is cutting 2,800 jobs in sales, software units…Fox Interactive Media is laying off about 100 people…Reed Business Information sacked 7 percent of its work force.

Read about layoffs at the sites compiled on our Layoff Tracker page.