Tweet your way to a new job

I’m just not that into Twitter.

Am I missing something?

By Todd Nilson@talentline411

What’s Twitter?

A primer

Why tweet?

Twitter and job search

WHAT’S TWITTER?

twitter.comGet started in

minutes

What are you doing?

Type here.

What are you doing?

OK.

Offering interesting content is better!

Notice how your follower tweets

appear like Facebook’swall updates.

Your profile name, location, link and bio

appear here.

Is it a fad?

Source: compete.com

While there has been some fall-off, Twitter

remains a great resource for your job search.

Huge growth in

2009

Who has time for all this nonsense?

Source: Businessweek “Tweets from the Chiefs”

(And over 40 more CEOs)

A PRIMER

@

@ is Twitter’s way of recognizing account names, replies and

mentions

@JimSmith

As a job seeker, you may not want to get too fancy with account names.

@cooldude37 might work for a personal account but it won’t fly for a

professional search.

Here’s how a reply looks.

RT(Retweet)

#(Hashtag)

You can track topics by using the hashtag.

More on that later.

Lists(Organize groups and conversations)

WHY TWEET?

EasyCompared to a LinkedIn

or Facebook setup, starting with Twitter is

very easy.

FreeTwitter costs

nothing but the time you put into it.

Fast

Photo Credit: Flickr.com Jason Gulledge

Fast is a double-edged sword. Twitter has immediacy but it can be a fire hose of

information, too.

DirectTwitter is especially good at forming and mantainingrelationships.

MobileTwitter can be

accessed via SMS on your mobile

phone. In addition, many popular

smart phones have Twitter apps.

TWITTER AND JOB SEARCH

Optimize your profile

• Use your real name

• Link to your blog (or LinkedIn profile)

• Highlight skills, education, job search keywords in your profile

• Post a quality head shot picture

Find relevant trending topics

• #jobs

• #jobsearch

• #JobHuntChat

• #jobsearch

• #career

• #jobseeker

Follow (and unfollow) wisely

• Connect with recruiters

– In your area

– In your industry

– In your profession

• Connect with fellow job seekers

• Connect with career coaches

• Beware high followings with low tweet numbers!

Don’t be a twit!

• Avoid shameless self-promotion

• Provide context whenever possible

• Remember to say thank you

• Avd extrm abbrv b/c its annyng!

Images from Monty Python’s Flying Circus

Connect LinkedIn

Use Tweetdeck to stay organizedOrganize

conversations by using columns.

Tweetdeck.com is a free

download!

@talentline411 Many thanks to the nice people at Right Management for inviting me to talk

about Twitter for the job search today!

sprcompanies.com