Using Twitter for Job Search
As social media becomes more and more popular, companies are catching up to technology and finding ways to maximize their ROI through these new alternative tools. One of the social networking tools, Twitter, catches our attention, as companies begin to use it to recruit.
Twitter, in few words, provides a microblogging service that is transmitted in the way of instant messaging. The technology offers Real Time information, which other media do not. Messages are short and usually newsworthy to the subscribers, as they enter or sign up for channels of their interest.
How does this technology support job seekers? Everyday more, companies see the added value of using Twitter to establish relationships with customers, vendors and now job seekers, and post short information that is relevant to each audience. So if you are a job seeker, interested for example, in positions within MTV, you can sign up to receive updates on new jobs by MTV at MTVNetworksJobs in Twitter. By “following” this account, you will get new job postings as soon as they become available.
If you cannot notice, the added value of this service for job search is enormous. Before Twitter, we had to search online, get into each website and wait until new jobs were posted. We waited until CareerBuilder or other job boards posted a job (which was not free, thus not necessarily available in these portals). We had to surf company sites one by one to know which new jobs had been posted. Now, Twitter sends us new postings to our cell phone, allowing us to get the job postings as soon as they become available, with no hassle.
There are a few Twitter accounts that act like job search engines, following all Tweets regarding new job posts. Some include TwitterJobSearch.com, which matches keywords entered by yourself regarding jobs you are interested in. JobShouts is also a free resource, which provides a similar service to that of Craig’s List, with free job postings for companies, but then automatically tweets these postings once they become available.
You can follow any company you are especially interested in on Twitter, and get new job leads. To do so, go online and create a Twitter account, then go to find people and type the name of the company and jobs in the same line. This will accrue several results out of which you will be able to sort out which ones to follow. Some companies have the twitter link already included on their website, making it easy for you to sign up to receive their corporate updates. Just make sure that if you will be following the company, that jobs are being posted in that account, and not only news.
Another interesting service on Twitter is called JobAngels, which basically allows job seekers to tweet their desired job needs so that “angels” can provide advice, leads and help seekers ultimately find jobs.
According to a study by Russell Herder and Ethos Business Law, 81% senior US marketing, management and HR executives believe social media can enhance relationships with customers/clients, thus, the use of social media is increasing and becoming more important for companies. Also, 69% feel such networking can be valuable in recruitment and 25% check the background of a prospective employee through social media.
It is not only important to participate, but also to ensure that your profile screams professionalism, highlights your strongest values and attributes, to enhance your chances of being hired. Although Twitter does not allow for a lengthy profile, LinkedIn does. Work on your profile focusing on where you want your career to be, and not so much on what your career looks like now. As Dan Schawbel explains, “I tend to examine a lot of online profiles to see whose doing things right and who is less “forward thinking.” Most people seem to be caught up in the moment, without really think about where they are heading in their careers. When this occurs, they tend to stay exactly where they are, without much progression.”
With this in mind, position yourself while targeting the future and not focusing on the present. Be specific on what you want, be thoughtful when tweeting and stay on brand, and remember that Twitter is yet another tool to connect with people, one that can lead to proactive and effective networking that can take you to your next career move.
By Claudine Vainrub
Principal of EduPlan
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