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"Sharlyn Lauby, SPHR, CPLP, is the HR Bartender, whose blog is a friendly place to discuss workplace issues. When not \"bartending,\" Sharlyn is president of Internal Talent Management, which specializes in leadership training and human resources consulting.\nThere\u2019s no denying that the world of work is evolving. Telework, productivity tools and our perceptions of work are changing the way organizations do business and treat their employees. Managing our own career options is not only important \u2014 it\u2019s a must.  \nFrequenting online career communities is one way to keep up to date on what\u2019s happening in the working world and how it impacts your career. Many of these communities post job openings, but that\u2019s not all they offer. The information and dialogue between community members can provide a valuable real-life perspective. Here are five career communities worth checking out.\n1. LinkedIn\n\n\n\n\n\nMore than 90 million people around the world are using LinkedIn to connect with other business professionals. In the past, LinkedIn might have been viewed as just a site to list your professional qualifications or connect with former colleagues, but recent changes are encouraging a greater amount of dialogue.\nToday, users can leverage their LinkedIn profile by showcasing their skills and expertise, adding a Twitter stream, feeding blog posts and being active in groups. By joining a group, you can interact with other professionals in your industry, geographic area, alumni network and other categories (see above). Groups can be a great way to understand trends in your profession, learn about the key skills in your industry and get the scoop on job openings.\n2. Beyond.com\n\n\n\n\n\nBeyond.com is the network for career communities. If you\u2019re wondering if there\u2019s a network in your geographic location or industry, Beyond.com is the place to look. There\u2019s a lot of information on this site, and if you\u2019re looking for a new career and want a comprehensive overview of a job, Beyond.com offers volumes of information in one location. For example, a search under industry will tell you Beyond.com has a technology channel with over 250 individual communities. \nThe technology channel also highlights companies that are hiring, technology schools, free IT publications, career videos and trends in the technology sector. As you dive deeper, one of those communities is GeekCareers.net, which offers job seeker tools in the areas of interviewing and self-assessment, in addition to a recruiting blog.\n3. Monster\u2019s Career Advice Forums\n\n\n\n\n\nMonster is one of the top websites both for job seekers and for companies who are looking for great people, and it has a global presence in nearly 50 countries, including China. Beyond job listings, Monster also offers resume writing services, a free salary wizard and a relocation data center.\nThe Monster Career Advice Forums are another useful feature of the site. The forums are divided into topic areas such as getting the job, career planning and industry insights. Forum users can ask questions and answer others. For example, one thread was about finding a job after being fired and how to explain it during an interview. Responses were candid and the forums appear to have some level of moderation, as there are not a lot of spam replies.\nMonster highlights the most active forum conversations, so that you can read what people are saying even if you don\u2019t have a specific question. After all, another job seeker in the forum might bring up something you never even thought about.\n4. Glassdoor\n\n\n\n\n\nIf you\u2019re interested in specific companies or you just landed an interview there, look them up on Glassdoor. Glassdoor is a community site where individuals can anonymously post the \u201Cinside scoop\u201D on companies, jobs, salaries and benefits, based on their firsthand experiences. The comments answer the questions we\u2019re all dying to know: Does the company offer advancement opportunities? What\u2019s your impression of the management team? Does the company encourage in work-life balance?\nIn addition to learning the pros and cons of working at a given company, community members can gain insight to the company\u2019s recruiting process. For example, comments will tell you whether the recruiter asks behavioral interview questions or opts for a panel interview format \u2014 all helpful things to know as you prepare for an interview. Glassdoor also publishes aggregated salary data, if you're interested in seeing such information.\n5. BranchOut\n\n\n\n\n\nBranchOut is a new career networking site that integrates with Facebook, so it's very easy to set up. You can also import your LinkedIn profile, which eliminates the need to double-enter information. BranchOut allows you many of the same features as other career sites \u2014 you can search jobs and give recruiters the ability to search for your profile. If you like giving and receiving recommendations, BranchOut also offers the option of endorsements.  \nWith more than 500 million people on Facebook, the stats are in your favor that someone you know (or are connected to) can help with career questions, information and recruiting. BranchOut could be an option for people trying to utilize Facebook in both a personal as well as professional way \u2014 just make sure your Facebook profile is well-maintained.\nOnline career communities are becoming more than just places to list jobs. They are growing into information repositories to help people with their entire careers. What other career communities are you participating in?  Leave us your experience in the comments.\nSocial Media Job Listings\nEvery week we put out a list of social media and web job opportunities. While we post a huge range of job listings, we've selected some of the top social media job opportunities from the past two weeks to get you started. Happy hunting!\n\nCommunity Manager, La Mer at The Estee Lauder Companies in New York, NY.\nCommunity Manager for Microsoft Social Media at Uptown Treehouse in Los Angeles, CA.\nSocial Media Sales Consultant at Social Lift Inc. in Troy, MI.\n\n\nInterested in more Jobs resources? Check out Mashable Explore, a new way to discover information on your favorite Mashable topics. \nImage courtesy of iStockphoto, francisblack"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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