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There are also the occasional social networking horror stories when it comes to job hunting. “It always amazes me how many people act one way on LinkedIn and another way on Facebook,” says Pegine Echevarria, a leadership, diversity, and motivational speaker and owner of Team Pegine Inc., Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. “You have to be consistent in the way you present yourself.”

Echevarria says she knows of about four people who were not hired because “the language that was posted on their Facebook pages was not reflective of the culture of the organizations where they were interviewing.”

“Google yourself once a week,” advises Echevarria, especially if you are in the market for a new job. “You need to know who is ‘tagging’ you in photos and what is being posted about you online.”

The Old Rules Still Apply

For those who are new to the social networking scene, the experience can be overwhelming at first. How much time should you spend engaging in online communities and working on your profile? What groups should you join, and whom should you link with? When is it OK to ask for a recommendation?

While there are no hard and fast rules for social networking, “it's sort of common sense,” says Ball. “You wouldn't ask someone you don't know to be your friend [in the real world]. Social networking is a little bit different, but it's not that much different.”

“It has to be a give and take,” adds Joan Eisenstodt, a meeting and hospitality consultant and chief strategist at Eisenstodt Associates LLC in Washington, D.C. “Nobody wants someone to join a group just to take from the group. But if someone is very visible and answers questions within those groups, that person is going to be seen as smart and helpful and others are going to want to return the favor.”

If you are out of work, don't be afraid to mention you are looking for a new position when you communicate online. “Remember who you helped, and say, ‘By the way, I'm looking for a job,’” advises Eisenstodt. “Or add a line to the end of your posts that says, ‘I am a meeting planner with so many years experience and am looking for a job in XYZ city.’” Just be sure to be specific, she advises.

And when it comes to online recommendations or introductions through LinkedIn, most people are happy to lend a hand. Hilliard says she often makes introductions for her connections on social networking sites, provided the requesters are people she knows well and respects. “I try to link only with people I know in a professional capacity,” she says.

There are ways to approach people you don't know via these sites too, however. Echevarria says she recently posted a question through a LinkedIn group and got a response from someone in the meetings industry who was out of work. “He went and did all this research about [my company] and wrote me a phenomenal letter with some resources he thought I might be interested in.”

After joining each other's networks on LinkedIn, the two began communicating. “After about five e-mails, he said, ‘Just in case you were not aware, I am currently looking for a position,’ and he sent me this great résumé through Visualcv.com [a Web site that allows job seekers to post their résumés along with digital portfolios].”

Echevarria was so impressed by his background and résumé presentation that she began sending him job leads. “I have already referred him to five jobs I know of and I've never met this guy!” she says.

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