When Servicemembers transition from a military career into a civilian career, there are often obstacles.

Hire America's Heroes, a locally based nonprofit organization, is striving to help address that problem. In May, it hosted an event on Joint Base Lewis-McChord to entertain companies that were open to hiring veterans. During the course of the day, however, one panel discussion stood out: where recruiters are looking for their new hires and what stands out.

"Social media is my number one resource for finding new job candidates," said Amazon recruiter Philip Dana, a former Sailor who now specializes in hiring military to work at the online retail giant. "From LinkedIn to Twitter to Facebook, I am out there searching, all the time."

Finding employment goes beyond activating a profile on those sites, however, and can extend to creating a blog that showcases your experience.

Job seekers should also monitor the pages of the companies they really want to work for by actively following the communications put out by the associated recruiters.

"If we use these tools, though, isn't there a danger of employers looking into our lives?

Should we advise younger Servicemembers to be careful what they put forward?" asked audience member Navy Capt. Steve Vincent, commanding officer for the Navy Operational Center in Kitsap.

"As a recruiter, I do look at these things and evaluate if that person seems professional," answered Rachel Brown, senior recruiter at Puget Sound Energy.

She went on to explain that people should use their best judgment and be sensible when considering what information and photos to post, because they can often change a recruiter's mind. Along the same cautionary lines, all the recruiters on the panel admitted to Googling job candidates as part of vetting their resumes.

Yet, despite the buzz surrounding the virtual job market, the key to the words ‘you're hired' might still remain in face-to-face contact. In fact, studies have shown that an estimated 80 percent of jobs are still gained through networking, rather than just replying to a standard job listing.

"In the end, you need to have your online data sorted out, but it is nothing more than a vehicle, albeit an excellent one," said Mick Jones, a hiring manager for Starbucks. "You should spend less time in front of a computer and more time meeting people and networking,"

Joe Wallis, Microsoft's program manager for military recruitment and a former Marine, agreed. "You can't be passive in this job market," he said. "You need to make it happen."