When you think about a social media site to grow your professional network, LinkedIn is probably your first thought. While it’s an important site that shouldn’t be ignored, here’s another option to consider: Facebook.

A study by Jobvite found that 92 percent of recruiters turn to social media for assistance in the recruitment process, with 55 percent using Facebook, putting it in second place right behind LinkedIn. Knowing Facebook can help you land a job, it’s time to start wading into the professional groups to help your career.

Decide what group is for you

When you begin your search, use terms related to your industry and look for groups that seem to correlate. With an open group, you can click a button to join, but closed groups require approval from administrators.

Because Facebook is a larger site catering to more demographics, finding the right groups will take more time than LinkedIn, especially because you’re looking for the ones that will benefit you the most. You’ll encounter many that aren’t relevant, but the ones you need are out there.

Most importantly, before you click ‘join,’ check to see if it’s still active and thriving. You’re likely to stumble on many that have been abandoned and won’t do you any good.

Edit your notifications

This is important, especially if your group seems very active. One day with all notifications can make you want to leave the group before you got started. Use Facebook’s settings to decide what you want to be notified about and how frequently. This will make sure you’re seeing everything important without being overwhelmed.

Introduce yourself but don’t stop there

Once you join, you want people in the group to meet you and see how you can connect. Don’t let this be the last post you make. To get the most out of your group, you must do more than post once and read through everything else. Grow your knowledge by contributing and responding to conversations. Message people directly with more questions and deepen relationships.

Take it offline

If there are a number of people in the group in your area, creating an in-person event helps you establish a firmer connection and grow your network beyond people on the internet.

Jumpstart your career

Growing your network is essential, but we have another option to help IT professionals boost their career and begin working in top-notch IT jobs. Smoothstack’s tech talent incubator takes your talent and work ethic over 12 weeks and leaves you with the equivalent of 1-2 years of work experience. Even better – we help place you with a national employer, all at no cost to you. Contact us to learn more!