What would we do without Facebook? We’d be free from those humiliating “tagged” photos from drunken nights out, that’s for sure. Aside from the unflattering pictures and trifling statuses about what people had for lunch, though, the social network is an integral part of our lives. It keeps us up to date with friends all over the world, brings important news to our attention, and it can get you a job.

Yes, you read that correctly. Browsing Facebook isn’t all that counter-productive; it can actually help you find work. There’s plenty of pages that give regular updates on job vacancies: with everything from healthcare roles in the NHS to energy jobs at Npower careers available on your newsfeed. While Facebook is great for job-hunting, it’s not the best for interaction, and utilising the rest of the social media world is vital to being spotted. So, where to start?

Show off your skills

The go-to work platform is LinkedIn - the professional network that connects you to key people in your industry. It’s pretty much an online CV; showcasing your employment and education history as well as giving previous employers and work colleagues the chance to endorse your skills and give recommendations. Like Facebook, you can follow companies on LinkedIn and keep up to date with vacancies. For each industry you’re involved with, there will be thousands of groups on LinkedIn to take part in discussions and keep up to date with the latest news in that sector.

Get hashtag happy

Twitter is a gold mine when it comes to finding work. You can follow companies and job sites so that your feed is regularly flowing with fresh job postings, or search for career-related hashtags to pinpoint open roles directly. You can even set up a regular alert for new jobs using software such as Tweetdeck - keeping your finger indefinitely on that proverbial pulse.

It even has it’s own job search engine, where you can type in your desired market and scour through recent job listings: typing in “energy jobs”, for example, brings up a December vacancy for a project manager. Many companies use Twitter to find new staff, and who knows, if you have the right things on your own profile, things could do a 180 and end up with an employer contacting you.

Keep it professional

Businesses often check your social networks for a better insight to the person they’re employing. If you’ve got a photograph of you half-naked drinking a bottle of tequila as your profile picture, and regularly swear like a pirate on Twitter - you might want to consider keeping personal and professional sites separate. If you’re going to tweet, make sure it’s interesting and (generally) related to the market you’re looking into. Employers will look at your social media, and seeing your keenness on the topic will shoot you to the top of the CV pile.

So there you go - everything you need to get spotted on the world wide web - without going through the traditional channels of emails and word documents. If you’re not on the social networks in question yet, what are you waiting for? Sign up today, and bag that job!