Networking and social media are the "in" things right now. Unless you've been hiding under a rock, you've probably noticed that. It is no accident that social media is now a critical tool for major businesses today.

What do sites such as LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter (let's call them The Top Three) have in common as compared to Monster and CareerBuilder? (At this point you should be gleefully humming your favorite game show theme to get the full effect of my question).

The answer is…they are FREE. FREE for you and FREE for companies. (There are ways to pay a little more to get a little more functionality on both sides, but the basic level is currently free). With the recession causing companies in almost every industry to look long and hard at their bottom line, there is nothing better than a FREE tool. Have I mentioned that it's FREE?

Traditionally, tools such as Monster and CareerBuilder have always been free for you, whereas recruiters have spent big bucks to use them. Now, as they try to cut costs, The Top Three social networking sites are now becoming excellent sourcing solutions. I recommend that you post a profile on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter if you are a job seeker. A colleague of mine offers a course on how to use LinkedIn as part of a strategic mix in your career campaign. You can check it out here: http://www.hireeffect.com/linkedin_webinar.

When you join LinkedIn and Facebook, make sure that you join any relevant job seeking groups, networking in your industry. For example, if you are an IT Technician on LinkedIn, join the "IT Specialist" Group. If you are in HR, join the Society of HR Management (SHRM) Group. If you are in the pharmaceutical industry, join the "Pharmaceutical Professionals Worldwide Network" Group. Why should you join a group? It makes it easier for recruiters to find you - they use the groups to starting point when searching for candidates.

This is probably a good time for me to warn you to be careful of what you post to these sites.  For example, avoid posting pictures of you dressed up like Spongebob on Halloween. Make sure the pictures you post present you as a professional person, worthy of hiring. And, keep the crude language to a minimum. With the power of search engines nowadays, you should assume that everything you post could be seen by a recruiter this week or years and years from now.

So am I telling you to stop using Monster & CareerBuilder? Quite the contrary! Many organizations continue to use these sites so you need to be on there as well. These sites offer you the opportunity to post a full resume and choose your detailed work-related preferences whereas The Big Three are less robust when it comes to resumes. Don't just search on these sites - post your resume there so you can be found by people that you didn't know were hunting for you (that's why they call them headhunters).