In today’s economy, it seems to me that people fall into one of two categories:  Lucky to still have their job, or desperately searching for a new one.  Granted this is most likely a very vast generalization, but you get the point.  The good news is, the tools available as a job seeker are more plentiful than ever, and given the rise of social networking, you have more methods at your disposal than at any other time in history.

The fact that you’re reading this blog means that you know, better than a lot of people, that when it comes to success, networking can be a huge part of it.  Networking is key, and the better you’re able to do that, the more success you’ll probably be seeing.  Why would it be any different when it comes to job seeking?  Social networking sites from Twitter to Facebook, Myspace to LinkedIn are making networking easier than ever, and given the current state of our economy, the timing is just about perfect.

How bad has it gotten?  Try this on for size:

“Since December 2007, 2.7 million U.S. residents have lost their jobs, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics…In answer to those swelling unemployment numbers, U.S. web traffic to employment sites has increased 20 percent across the board in the past few months and 4 percent in February 2009 compared to February 2008, according to Hitwise. Traffic to MySpace accounted for 52 percent of those visits, the highest in the category; Facebook visits increased 149 percent in February compared to the same period a year ago; and Tagged received 2.47 percent of visits in February.”

In a word…Wow.  Bottom line is that people are using social networking and social media more than ever to not only find the jobs that are hiding out there, but actually land them.  The time to adopt and embrace new technology is now, and when it comes to your employment, don’t you want every single trick you can possibly find?  Yeah, us too.