How BeKnown Will Make Facebook Work for You

Monster has just launched a new professional networking app for Facebook users: BeKnown. BeKnown lets you identify and connect with friends and professional contacts from multiple sources to grow your professional network, enhance your online professional identity and discover new jobs.    

BeKnown allows users to build a professional network on Facebook -- the world's largest and most active social network-- while keeping personal and work-related contacts and content completely separated. BeKnown brings together the 700 million Facebook users and the 97 percent of Fortune 500 companies that use Monster to find candidates.

If you're on Facebook, you can now use BeKnown to:

• Create professional networks within a professional environment created by Monster -- without ever leaving Facebook. (No more need to switch back and forth between sites.)
   
• Easily invite contacts from other social networks to expand your BeKnown network beyond your existing Facebook friends. You can add contacts to BeKnown without having to become their Facebook friends.
   
• Keep social activity with friends and family separate from work-related activity with professional contacts.
   
• See Monster's millions of job postings -- and see who among your professional contacts on BeKnown is connected to the companies you're interested in.
   
• Connect professional networking to Monster’s job search and browse tools and import your Monster or LinkedIn profile to BeKnown from within the app.

BeKnown Invites

Joining BeKnown is easy -- the app guides you through a quick set-up process. You can opt to use your Facebook profile information and/or pull information from other networking sites and your Monster profile.

To invite contacts to join you on BeKnown, click on the Network tab and then on the Invite Friends button. You'll see there that you can invite contacts from your Twitter account, Gmail address book and Yahoo! Mail address book -- just click one of the icons and follow the instructions to grant BeKnown access to those accounts. (No one will be contacted without your permission -- you choose the contacts you want to invite.)

To invite contacts from a platform or program that doesn’t allow access to contacts, export those contacts as a CSV file. Here are the steps:

1. Export Your Connections As a CSV File: In LinkedIn, for example, go to the address-book export page, choose Microsoft Outlook (CSV file) from the Export drop-down menu, enter the security code and click on Export. This creates a new CSV file containing all your contacts’ information.
   
   Similarly, Microsoft Outlook and other programs let you export contacts to a CSV file.
   
   If you receive an error message during upload, you may need to reformat your CSV file. Learn more about CSV files here.
    
2. Import Those Connections into Your Gmail or Yahoo! Mail Account: In Gmail, click on Contacts, choose Import from the More Actions drop-down menu, click on Browse or Choose File, and then choose the CSV file you created in the first step. Finish by clicking on Import.
   
   In Yahoo! Mail, click on Contacts, click on the Import Contacts button and choose Others from the Source menu. Then select "A desktop email program" -- this will allow you to choose your CSV file.
   
   If you don't have a Yahoo or Gmail account, you can create one for free.
    
3. Access the Contacts from BeKnown: Now that you've added contacts to Gmail or Yahoo! mail, follow the instructions in BeKnown for inviting those contacts to joun your BeKnown network.

Reference:  Charles Purdy, Monster Senior Editor

Consider Signing Up with A Staffing Firm

Considering a  Staffing Firm

According to a survey I reviewed, Staffing firms fill more than 50% of all open job orders. Being aligned with a staffing firm is a good idea. Often times, staffing firms have direct access to the hiring manager, they act as the liaison between you and the client. Staffing firms, in many cases can get you an interview sooner than you would be able to secure on your own.

What a staffing firm will do for you.
A good staffing firm will get your resume and set up an interview to talk about your skills, your goals, and the job you are applying for. Resumes don't always do a candidate justice, and a good recruiter is almost like a job therapist - and will draw out of you information relevant to the position that you may not have thought to mention in your resume. A good recruiter knows a lot about the job you are applying for too, which can be helpful. Job descriptions are notoriously bland and don't really give you all of the useful inside scoop it would be useful to know before you actually interview. Recruiters also have jobs that aren't posted, and after talking with you may recommend you for something you didn't even know was out there.

There are many benefits with working with a staffing firm

Staffing and recruiting companies are committed to bringing the right people and the right companies together. Whether you want a temporary, contract, part-time, or permanent position, working with a staffing company is an easy way to improve your job search.

Regardless of the industry or geographic location in which you want to work, there is a staffing company to help. Staffing companies match millions of people to millions of jobs in the U.S. and abroad every day.

Reasons to work with a staffing firm

Staffing companies are not only looking for administrative and short-term manual labor positions but also for executives, clinicians and professionals searching for full-time employment. Below are a few of the reasons you should work with a staffing company during your next job search. Also, please read the American Staffing Association's graph of the best reasons to work with a staffing company.

1. Get the inside scoop on new openings: Staffing companies work with a variety of companies. Many businesses turn to staffing companies to fill certain positions and never advertise the opening themselves.

1. Save time: Staffing companies specialize in position types, areas, industries, or even companies. Thus, they know the job market and know the cultures on the companies for which they are recruiting.

1. Put flexibility and work in the same sentence: If you are looking for time to live life while still making ends meet, working with a staffing company could be the best career move you ever make. Staffing companies place you in part-time or contract work that fits your life.

Maybe you want to take a trip to Europe for a month or maybe you need the summers off to watch your kids while school's out. Either way, a staffing company can help you find a project or company that is right for you.

4. Work part time and get benefits: When you go on temporary assignments for a staffing company, you are normally employed by the staffing company and could be eligible for vacation, holidays, health insurance, retirement plans, and more.

4. Free training: Temporary employees get free training from staffing companies to improve their skills and go on more assignments. This is a great way to boost your knowledge and experience before looking for a permanent gig.

4. Never get bored: As an employee of a staffing company, you get to select the short-term assignments you want to take. You get the opportunity to work in a variety of industries and with different people on numerous projects and tasks. The opportunities are endless.

4. Go from temp to perm: According to the American Staffing Association, about 75 percent of temporary and contract employees move on to permanent jobs. Thus, a temp job can be a great way to try out a company's culture

Reference: http://www.generalemployment.com/career-resources/article/top-ten-tips-for-using-staffing-firms