After multiple layoffs and an endless job search, speaker and author Joshua Waldman choose to turn his job search into a business. One of the things Joshua noticed among job seekers was that they were not ‘digital natives’ so they were unfamiliar with the tools used today that connect people quickly.

Joshua saw his opportunity to write a book Job Searching With Social Media For Dummies (one of the For Dummies group’s best-selling titles) and his writing has appeared in Forbes, Huffington Post, Mashable and the International Business Times. His career blog, CareerEnlightenment.com, won the About.com Reader’s Choice Award for Best Career Blog 2013. When he’s not writing, Joshua presents keynotes, trainings and breakout sessions around the world for students, career advisors, consortiums and professional organizations.

One of the pieces of advice Joshua gives to job seekers to stop the “spray and pray’ method of job search where they just send out tons of resumes to every one. That’s doesn’t work anymore. In fact, he says that relying on job boards for openings is not effective. He encourages a more targeted approach and going directly to the top by contacting the company owner rather than getting lost in the crowd of generic resumes in the HR’s inbox. He’s a proponent of using today’s tools – social media and email – to create personal connections.