“Here I was four hours into being unemployed and I already had a phone interview,” he recalls. “I was like, Wow, this is going to be impressive.”

“Welcome to the new rules of the job hunt. Gone are the days of simply posting your résumé on CareerBuilder, e-mailing former colleagues and trolling company websites for open slots. These days, if you’re serious about being hired, you really put your computer and PDA to work. That means getting word out on social sites like Facebook and MySpace, sending instant job-search updates via messaging feeds like Twitter, and meeting new people who might be able to lend a hand through Web-networking outfits like LinkedIn and Ryze.”

So says a recent article in Time that details the job hunt of Brian Ward, a software architect. Brian lost his job on a Friday and found a new one in only eleven days.

Eleven days!

And who does Brian have to thank for his speedy success? The old world wide web. And of course, his own perseverance and quick reaction time.

“As the sole breadwinner for his wife and three kids, Ward knew that he had to get a new job quickly. He found himself unemployed at 5 in the afternoon; by 8 that night, he’d called four people he knew in Ohio who did the same sort of computer work he did, as well as his college buddy Lyell, down in North Carolina. “I’d been using Twitter and Facebook and LinkedIn, but in a very passive, extracurricular way,” says Ward. “I knew Lyell was big into the Twitter scene. He immediately began blasting information out to contacts he had, sending them back my way.” Over the weekend, Ward updated all of his online profiles. He uploaded a fresh résumé to LinkedIn, the professionals’ networking site, and sent out a message to all 200 of his Facebook friends, letting them know he was looking for work.

One of them, a pal from high school, wrote back Sunday night. He now worked for a tech company in Louisiana, and asked if Ward would be interested in being put in touch with the Web-development group. Ward eagerly agreed and had a phone interview the next day. “Here I was four hours into being unemployed and I already had a phone interview,” he recalls. “I was like, Wow, this is going to be impressive.”

Ward didn’t end up with that job and although he did find one soon after, he says it wasn’t easy. Getting laid off still stung and rejection upon rejection wasn’t the best feeling either. But to fight those blues, Ward says the social networks he was tapping into helped him form a support system. Some didn’t turn up any job leads, but he came across a lot of other people in his shoes to commiserate with.

Ward only slept a few hours every night and woke up at 4 or 5 a.m. and tweeted. He joined groups in LinkedIn, many that didn’t even have to do with his industry and soon he had a myriad of different types of people sending out his resume or putting in a good word. In the end, the job came through an old Facebook friend, and get this, it was one he hadn’t imagined would provide any leads. It’s the perfect example of why Facebook can be a valid business tool. Reconnecting with old acquaintances, colleagues, and friends made all the difference for him and it can for you, too.

Ward was also upfront when he got the interview with his soon-to-be employer: “He said he needed to find a new job quickly and was interviewing at other companies, too. The next day, he had an offer. “It’s still all about connections,” says Ward. “What’s changed is how you do it.”

Read the full article here.