Tweet Your Way to a New Job

“The qualities that make Twitter seem inane and half-baked are what makes it so powerful” – Jonathan Zittrain

Who would have thought that Twitter would be leveraged for so many different purposes? When I first joined Twitter as a way to let people know that I had posted a new blog on my website, I was fairly naive in terms of how many people are both tweeting and leveraging job search on Twitter.

Why, you may ask, would you want to use Twitter in your job search? Well for one, you get information “real time” in many cases. One of the more important theories of job search is to “get there first” as this gives you the best chance. How does this work? Just take a look at the links below. Leverage the power of Twitter now.

• TwitterJobSearch – This site is a job search engine for Twitter. Sounds a little “out there”, but it actually seems to work. The main page is a simple screen with a search bar for “What do you want to do?”. Type in your job type (like Finance) and hit enter and you get results immediately (I got over 22,000 opportunities for Finance when I checked). All of the leads are listed in typical Twitter format, but who has the time to look through 22,000 opportunities? Not to worry, this app takes care of that too. To the right of the search results is a section for “Refine By” with quite few choices. And no need to move to the next day. The page adds additional lines at the bottom as you scroll down.
• HOW TO: Find a Job on Twitter – This article, featured on mashable.com and written by Sarah Evans provides a great overview for leveraging Twitter for your job search. Some basics like “make your presence known” and include a link to your resume/cv. There is also a link to a free template for creating a professional Twitter background. At the bottom of the post are links to a few recruiters on Twitter.
• UNEMPLOYED? TIPS TO USE TWITTER FOR YOUR JOB SEARCH | CAREERS – This article, from Ceoworld Magazine, gives a brief overview of what Twitter is and how to use it followed by how Twitter can get a job for you. There is also some tips on changing your background, how to prepare your broadcast, tips on who to follow and a long list of job related sites on Twitter at the bottom of the page.
• 50 Terrific Twitter Tips for Job Seekers – 50 tips from MBA Jobs on how to use Twitter. This article is organized along several topics: Branding, Networking, Etiquette, Tools, and People to follow. There are a number of great tips and, depending on your particulars, you will want to leverage many of these. One, like “add a photo” may not work as well (you will need to decide, like if you look like your 80 when you are really 40). Branding is very similar to the “Market yourself” advice that I often give. My favorite (although you should read all of them) is Tools, (too many to list them all here) but Twittercal is pretty neat. The Tools section has direct links.
• Top 50+ Employers Recruiting on Twitter – Okay, but who is looking for potential employees / candidates on Twitter? Job-Hunt’s article lets you know! The article leads with a brief overview and then goes right into it’s list. No need to follow every company listed here, but you should follow those where you think you have the best opportunity to find a job that matches your criteria. An interesting list which also has some non-US listings.

Good luck in your search.

Article courtesy of the Recruiting Blogswap, a content exchange service sponsored by CollegeRecruiter.com, a leading site for college students looking for internships and recent graduates searching for entry level jobs and other career opportunities.