 If you are looking to change jobs, a three-pronged strategy using Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn works best. 

 Use Twitter and Facebook to learn about the brand and the needs of the customers of the companies you are looking to work for. Companies today are using these forums to enhance their online brand and connect with customers.  For example, if you are preparing to transition from a law enforcement executive to a corporate security executive, following companies you are targeting in your search on Twitter and Facebook can enable learning about the branding strategies and the industries in which the companies operate, which is helpful because this will be one of the primary risk management objectives in your role as a security executive.  More specifically, with Facebook, you can learn about the company through the eyes of its customers.  Indeed, to be a successful security practitioner, you must understand the business and the companies’ most profitable product lines now and for the future.  Doing so through social media is an easy way to learn about the individuals who are buying the products of the companies on your target list. 

 LinkedIn is useful when looking for a new professional opportunity because you are able to follow the company on LinkedIn, connect with recruiters from the company, follow and interact with influencers within the organization, and gain access to the company’s sphere of influence through LinkedIn interest groups.  You can set up news alerts for articles naming the companies you are following and then post the links. 

To successfully use social media, I recommend engagement every day.  Easy ways to do this are to re-tweet other tweets, leave intelligent comments on Facebook, and post interesting articles about the company on LinkedIn interest groups.  This may seem like it takes a lot of time, but it is literally minutes. You can re-tweet with one click on your way to get your next cup of coffee.  For example, a client made a positive impression with an interviewer by using Twitter to stay current about a new product offering of the company.  By simply following the company on Twitter, she was able to leverage real time information to demonstrate her interest in working for the organization.  With a little proactive planning, it only takes minutes per day to engage.