Some of you might be saying “huh?” to that question….

Well here’s a start on the very basics of Squidoo and why it can matter to you and your job search.

“Squidoo is the world’s most popular site for building free, single pages about your passions.
Highlight books, blogs, vids, online shops, or just spread the word about stuff you love. ”
(From the main page at www.squidoo.com)

There is a new Squidoo lens for the book

Get A Job! Your Guide to Making Successful Career Moves

at http://www.squidoo.com/getajobbook

So what is a Squidoo lens, and why should you care as a job seeker?

(from www.squidoo.com )
“An insanely easy-to-build, single page online.
Your signpost about something that matters to you.
A place to recommend your favorite stuff.
A popular way to get found more on the web.
A free (yes, free) way to earn a royalty. For you or for charity.
Word of mouth at your fingertips.
Squiddylicious.
Something you should have if you care about getting the word out,
about selling something, about changing minds, about sharing info,
or if you just love to create, express yourself, and play. ”

As a job seeker, building a Squidoo lens can be another way to showcase your expertise in something. It also shows that you’re technologically- and trend-savvy enough to be there in the first place, particularly if it’s a good page (mine is pretty new, so it’s not as good as it will be, yet). Of course, if your purpose is to enhance your job search or to get found by recruiters looking for passive candidates, your lens or lenses should be somehow related to your career.

Squidoo, like many other Web 2.0 sites and social networking sites, can be useful for you to help set yourself apart from the crowd of other candidates for a job.

For example, you could share an essay on the impact of Sarbanes-Oxley on IT departments in mid-sized companes, or how outsourcing has impacted your industry, or how Web 2.0 is changing the Internet as we know it, how World of Warcraft and other games are impacting software development and technological innovation, or any number of things related to your job or career.

When recruiters and hiring managers investigate the background of candidates, Google is one of their first stops. Since Squidoo (and Facebook, MySpace, and YouTube, for that matter) is one of the highest-trafficked websites on the entire Internet, it will help you get found more easily online. And since you have control over what you put on your Squidoo lens, you have some control over what a potential employer sees about you.

So if you’re in the middle of, or planning, a job search, setting up a good lens may help tip the scales a little in your favor.

To your success,

David B. Wright
Author, Get A Job! Your Guide to Making Successful Career Moves
www.thegetajobbook.com