LinkedIn can be a very effective tool for a number of professional and business goals, whether you’re looking for job opportunities, doing basic networking, or uncovering prospects for your business.

If you’re going to use this approach, make sure to think things through before sending out connection requests, and this checklist of tips can help you avoid making some common mistakes.

We usually don’t recommend articles that are structured as slideshows to drive more page views, but this article about the 21 things hiring managers wish you knew. Things like the importance of a personalized cover letter resume tips are very helpful, and reading through the list will give you an advantage as you head into your job search.

One of the downsides of social media sites like Facebook involves broadcasting everything to everyone. Basically, anyone can’t find photos of you drinking like a fool if you or someone else posts the photos.

Many have learned the hard way that your social media footprints can come back to haunt you, particularly when you’re out looking for a job.

Fortunately, there’s a new app called Simplywa.sh that will help you clear up all that nonsense. Check it out, and you can quickly remove things that prospective employers might find. This won’t guarantee success, as even deleted photos can be found through various search techniques, but at the very least you should be able to reduce the chances of having these things get discovered.

Good luck!

Warren Buffett famously declared that the slumping US economy would have trouble rebounding until housing stabilized and we started seeing new construction jobs. Well, there’s been plenty of good news on the housing front, and now we’re seeing good news on construction jobs in the latest jobs report.

After five years of hemorrhaging jobs, the construction industry has become one of the bright spots of the labor market — a hopeful sign that one of the most damaged sectors of the economy may finally be starting to heal.

Overall, the government’s monthly jobs report, released Friday, showed continued modest growth in December. The economy added 155,000 jobs, on par with the monthly average for both 2012 and 2011. The unemployment rate remained at 7.8 percent.

But a closer look reveals that nearly one-fifth of the jobs created were in construction, marking only the third time since the recession ended in June 2009 that the industry has added 30,000 workers or more. The surge capped one of the largest three-month gains the sector has seen since the recession began in December 2007.

The return of construction jobs is an especially critical component of the economic recovery. That’s partly because of the sheer number of jobs lost — more than 2 million since 2007 — but also because of fears that many of those workers’ skills may not translate to other industries, rendering them permanently unemployable.

This should help to turbocharge the overall job market. If you’ve given up looking for work, not is the time to get back at it.

Here’s another area where plenty of jobs are open:

Attention out-of-work Americans: Want to be a trucker?

A worsening shortage of truck drivers is pushing up freight rates and delaying some deliveries, defying the weak economy, high unemployment and falling gasoline prices.

“It’s getting harder to get drivers,” says Mike Card, president of Combined Transport of Central Point, Ore., and incoming chairman of the American Trucking Associations. “I could hire 50 guys right now.” He now employs 393 drivers.
Many Baby Boomers are retiring and fewer young people are interested in long-haul-trucking careers that often require drivers to be away from home for weeks at a time, says Ben Cubitt, senior vice president of Transplace, which manages freight delivery for businesses.

Despite the 8.2% national jobless rate, many unemployed construction and factory workers can’t afford the $4,000 to $6,000 cost of a six-week driver-training course, says Rosalyn Wilson, senior business analyst of consulting firm Delcan.

The training costs are certainly an issue, but this can be a an excellent option for plenty of people looking for work. Do your research and see if this might apply to you.