When searching for a position using an online job database, job hunters can quickly and easily submit a resume with just one click. While online job databases have made it easier for applicants to submit resumes, the only confirmation you will receive after submitting it is an auto generated “thank you for applying” message. Chances are, you will never really know if your application made it to the right person, if at all.

“I’ve heard stories of hiring managers [meeting applicants after the fact] and saying ‘You’re perfect! How come I never got your resume?’” said Liz Lynch, career expert and author of “Smart Networking: Attract a Following In Person and Online” (McGraw-Hill, $16.95).

According to Lynch, online applicants may feel like they’re at the mercy of the database, but there are steps they can take to increase their odds of being noticed. The best option is to find a friend, acquaintance or even a friend of a friend who works at the company and can physically walk your resume to human resources (HR) department.

If you do not have a connection to the company you are applying with, there are tactics you can use to help increase your chances of making it through the databases’ prescreening process. Databases prescreen applicants based on keywords, so you should always customize your application and resume. Forget cutting and pasting. You should incorporate keywords into your application and resume that match what the position is looking for. For example,

“If your resume lists ‘social networking’ under your skills but the job posting says ‘social media’, change it.”

If you change even a few words, this could increase the chances of your application reaching a real, live person.

There are other ways to make your web search work for you. Consider using every online tool you possibly can, such as LinkedIn and Google Alerts. Make sure your LinkedIn profile or others are up-to-date, professional, and set up to receive emails. With Google alerts, you should choose several companies you are interested in working for and stay current with what’s happening within the company and which jobs are available. If you hear of an opening, apply right away. If you hear that the company plans to hire, don’t hesitate—submit your resume. And remember, it’s perfectly ok to send a follow-up letter in a week or so after clicking “submit.” This small gesture just might attract a significant amount of positive attention to your resume.

Hopefully you’ve already heard this from others and you already have a profile. In that case do research on how to beef it up and get more prospective employers to find it.

If you haven’t heard this, or you’ve just been lazy about getting going, then get on there now and put up a profile!

Here’s some interesting information from a recent Fortune article on how LinkedIn will fire up your career.

If you need a job, or just want a better one, here’s a number that will give you hope: 50,000. That’s how many people the giant consulting firm Accenture plans to hire this year. Yes, actual jobs, with pay. It’s looking for telecom consultants, finance experts, software specialists, and many more. You could be one of them — but will Accenture find you?

To pick these hires the old-fashioned way, the firm would rely on headhunters, employee referrals, and job boards. But the game has changed. To get the attention of John Campagnino, Accenture’s head of global recruiting, you’d better be on the web.

To put a sharper point on it: If you don’t have a profile on LinkedIn, you’re nowhere. Partly motivated by the cheaper, faster recruiting he can do online, Campagnino plans to make as many as 40% of his hires in the next few years through social media. Says he: “This is the future of recruiting for our company.”

Facebook is for fun. Tweets have a short shelf life. If you’re serious about managing your career, the only social site that really matters is LinkedIn. In today’s job market an invitation to “join my professional network” has become more obligatory — and more useful — than swapping business cards and churning out résumés.

Companies explain that LinkedIn is more effective at finding qualified candidates, but it’s also more cost effective as well since employers don’t have to pay a recruiter.

Now it’s time to get started!

At one time or another all executives have experienced that special horror—the moment when they realize they’ve hired the wrong person. For Justin Moore, the revelation came during his chief financial officer’s first week on the job. As Moore, CEO of Axcient, a data storage company in Mountain View, Calif., was scrawling out scenarios at the whiteboard, he started to feel as if he were pulling the new guy up a hill. “I was constantly having to lead him into a high-level discussion and say, ‘Come on, get high-level again. Let’s think more strategy here.’”

Moore had an out. Like a number of executives, he has scotched standard operating procedure in favor of a new hiring strategy: trying before buying. Once Moore finds a potential candidate, he auditions him or her before making a permanent offer. Sometimes tryouts last weeks, sometimes months. Why get married after only a few dates? “It’s foolish of any of us to think our interview skills are so great we can predict how well someone is going to work in terms of the dynamics of a team,” says Moore.

The idea of interim executives also has some benefits for the employee. In today’s world of instant information, you can wait to update your LinkedIn profile until the job becomes permanent.