This Element is an excerpt from Rebound: A Proven Plan for Starting Over After Job Loss (ISBN: 9780137021147) by Martha Finney. Available in print and digital formats.

A leading career consultant reveals the right ways to use social networking to move your career forward and find the job of your dreams.

Play nice, follow community rules, and social networking can open up surprising opportunities for you. You just need to know how to work the system to your best advantage--and stand out from crowds of milling networkers, all wanting to keep each other up-to-date on their most trivial doings....