Twitter isn’t just a tool to find out when people are eating a sandwhich or walking their dog, it is a powerful newsfeed that can be harnessed to find jobs. How you ask? Here are three ways you can harness Twitter for your job search.
Method 1: Establishing a Presence and Following
First of all, if you aren’t on Twitter, you need to get a Twitter account. If you already have an account, you need to make sure you present yourself professionally. Your account name should be the name you consistently use on your resume and all other social profiles for brand consistency. You should put your micro resume on your Twitter bio which is 160 characters in length giving you more space than a tweet. Use the same image for your profile that you use for all your social media accounts for brand cohesion and make sure the image is a professional representation of you. Most importantly, tweet about your job search, tell people about your awesome work by posting images or links to your videos, LinkedIn profile, or whatever other digital tools you are using in your tool belt. Create a professional Twitter background that brands you as you’d like to be seen. If you’re a Graphic Designer, you should have an originally designed background and it should be awesome! If you’re a photographer, consider using some creative photography for your background. Be creative! Your profile needs to have a link to your online home page which should be a portfolio site, LinkedIn page, VisualCV page or something similar that promotes you to an employer.
Following
With the basics out of the way, you need to follow people to add them to your network. Who do you follow? Identify companies of interest and follow them on Twitter to stay informed and to pay attention to any job postings from them shared on Twitter. However, you should also build your PLN with other individuals who can help you with your professional development. Depending on your career goals, who you follow will be different but they should be thought leaders and experts in the areas in which you’d like to be educated. For instance, you can start by following @robertstarksjr on Twitter to maintain information on career development topics to help you with you professional development! (I had to put a plug in my own blog!).
Method 2: Twitterjobsearch.com
A relatively new tool currently still in beta is Twitterjobsearch. You can use Twitterjobsearch to find jobs posted on Twitter. The tool is pretty awesome because you can do an advanced search and filter through keywords, find exact wording or phrases, find leads from specific users, and tell the search engine what words are unwanted.
Method 3: Tweetmyjobs.com
Tweetmyjobs.com (also Jobamp.com) is another tool that allows you to search for jobs using Twitter. It works differently than the search engine, Twitterjobsearch.com, because it doesn’t have similar search features. I have found the best way to use the tool is not to type your own key words but rather, click on “Find Job Channels on Twitter.” Once you do this, begin typing a key word such as a Title, skill, or company and as you type, suggested channels will display. Click on one that best matches your search and type the location or leave it blank for more options. Tweetmyjobs.com will produce a list of channels to follow which allows you to get job leads sent to your Twitter stream. Take this a step further and organize your Twitter streams into lists on Twitter to stay organized about your search.
Do you have any other methods of finding jobs on Twitter you’d like to share? Leave a comment. Otherwise, if you felt this was helpful, please “like” it and follow me on Twitter.
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