One of the reasons you may not like to network is because, in asking others for help with a job search, you feel you're imposing on your contacts (and their contacts). But viewing networking as an imposition demonstrates several common misconceptions about the practice: that only one person benefits from the exchange; that job seekers have nothing to give to the people with whom they're networking; and that the people being contacted don't want to meet or see the job seeker.

IT people with skills and experience in server virtualization, cloud computing or both have a far greater chance of getting and keeping jobs than most other IT people now, according to recruiters and analysts. But what do you call these gurus?

In their haste to differentiate themselves during the worst job market in decades, job seekers are making personal branding mistakes that can undermine their job search efforts. Here are six things that you should never do.