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Reflecting the shape of job search now and job search to come, social networking dominates Internet use. At a half-billion strong, Facebook alone claims 72 percent of the world’s Internet population as visitors. Bigger than most countries, Facebook has more users than the United States has citizens.

What’s more, the growth rate of social networking is startling: The number of people visiting social media sites keeps rising in all age brackets. Social networking is not a fad but an honest-to-goodness paradigm shift in the way people do business around the globe, including the business of finding employment.

Think about how to harness this power that offers a double rainbow of job-search help – from direct access to hiring managers and quick identification of potential allies at prospective employers, to easy look-ups on company profiles and obtaining posted endorsements from your network. Just to keep it interesting, different services offer different features. (Similarly, some charge fees, and others are free.)

But, at root, the many benefits of using social networking services for career management and job-hunting fall into two basic categories. In signing on with one or more social networking services, you are

✔ Showing the world how hirable you are. By filling out profiles and listing your credentials, you advertise your potential or immediate availability on an “e-billboard” that helps recruiters and employers find you.

✔ Gathering supporters to hold open doors. When you collect, connect, and network with friendly contacts, you gain a potential source of referrals, get updates on their employers’ hiring modes, receive insider fill-ins on company culture, and uncover other useful information.