I hear you; it all depends on how you use it. Everything you implement in your job search campaign (a resume, cover letter, Linked-in or Visual CV account, interview strategies, and Twitter) is a tool and it will take you as far as you strategically position it and maneuver it. Don't ever sit back and wait for any tool on auto pilot to produce a job for you!
Twitter Micro Summarized: Twitter is free and it is a micro blogging tool. Micro, because you can post short messages (tweets) of 140 characters to be exact. Although, "What Are You Doing?" is the question above the box in which you insert your 140 characters / tweet -- I like to think of the question like this instead, "What do you know and what can you share (links, advice, audio files, etc.) that is of interest/value to others?"
Really think about this, you can post/tweet about irrelevant and mundane activities that will lead you nowhere in your job search or you can utilize these 140 characters to:
1. Establish yourself as an expert in your industry; 2. Provide vital information to others; 3. Network, follow career professionals and recruiters, and respond to career opportunities!; 5. Announce your new resume or on-line portfolio. You decide; they are your tweets.
How to Use Your Twitter Account to Job Search
Establish Yourself as an Expert: Develop your online Twitter bio by promoting your key qualifications such as years of experience. Name the industry you are targeting. Make sure your bio announces you are job searching. (How else will they know?) Additionally, your tweets should always include industry keywords, because each tweet becomes a new page in Google and you want to optimize your ability to come up in topic-related searches on the web.
Provide Information to Others: Who are you talking to when you send out a tweet? Well, every one that will follow what you are saying. What should you tweet? I say, imagine you are speaking to your new boss and providing information that will help her/him and will demonstrate how perfect you are for a position in that company. You also want to answer other tweets and offer free (yes, free) information on the topic you are so qualified in.
Network: Find other Twitter folks to follow, respond to their queries, engage in micro conversations, respond to your followers with a follow back, send direct messages, create a #followfriday list. (On Fridays, recommend other people to follow on Twitter.)
Here is a list of recruiters you can follow on Twitter. (This is the kind of valuable information that comes your way when you follow the right people on Twitter. Via @DarrylRMSG).
Announce Your New Resume: Once you have gained a good following, announce your resume with a direct link to it. Don't overdo this. Although you are on Twitter to job search, you don't want to annoy every person that follows you and lose their interest or worse -- convince them to unfollow you. Self promotion in moderation!
So now that you have an idea, set up your Twitter account, then follow me @resumeservice and follow these career professionals (101 Twitter Career Experts: list compiled by Online Job Search Expert Susan P. Joyce). You should also check out my list of people to follow on Twitter.
Know that major online job boards can also be followed on Twitter such as Monster.com, Careerbuilder.com, Indeed.com, Simply Hired. Just Google your favorite online job board + on Twitter and follow them. (You can do the same for companies you may be interested in working for -- many, tweet!)
How to Optimize Your Twitter Account for a Jobsearch
Subscribe to this blog as next time, I will offer you more detailed advice on how to optimize your Twitter account and tweets for job searching. For now, let me touch upon just a few more things, just in case you get going right away.
1. Choosing Your Twitter Account Name: Keep it professional, career or industry relevant.
2. Include a Picture! Don't be shy: Although you are job searching, this is also a social networking site. Besides, no matter what hang-ups you have about your looks -- interviews are still face-to-face!
3. Don't Protect Your Tweets: How will I be able to decide if you are tweeting interesting and vital information? You are asking me to follow you before I even know what you are talking about. Besides, what are you hiding?
4. Be Selective with Your Tweet Topics: Remember that every tweet you send out becomes a Google page and will remain in cyberspace forever –- so don't talk about things that will come back to ruin your reputation or employability (yes, I made that word up!).
5. Want to Connect with Friends via Twitter?: Keep your Twitter account for job searching professionally branded. If you want to connect with friends and discuss more personal topics, create a personal account and tweet whatever you want, but use a nickname or pseudo name for that account. You want your professional account to be the one to come up in Google when someone searches your name! Right?
I will elaborate on the above five points in the next blog post and bring up a few more. As always, if you need assistance, please email rvargas@creatingprints.com.
Rosa E. Vargas
Certified Resume Writer
Master Resume Writer
Job Search Consultant
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