As we’ve all said countless times in our lives, “it’s all in how you look at it.” If you see Twitter users as a bunch of self-absorbed people with too much time on their hands Tweeting about what they ate for breakfast, then that’s what you’ll see when you go to Twitter. Not necessarily true…
5 Worst Reasons to Use Twitter for Job Search:
1. Because your job search coach or career counselor told you that you should do it.
2. Because you read somewhere that you should do it.
3. Because “everyone else” is doing it.
4. Because your spouse/significant other/teenager/tweener/neighbor set it up for you.
5. Because you don’t have anything better to do.
Much MUCH better reasons to use Twitter for your job search exist! Below are the first 5 I could think of. Many more exist – feel free to add them in the comments.
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5 Best Reasons to Use Twitter for Your Job Search:
1. To stay up to date with your “field.”
Whatever your field may be, someone is Tweeting about the latest news: products, services, companies (employers!), the latest research, the latest disasters, the latest successes, and much more.
2. To expand your professional network.
I’ve met so many wonderful people through Twitter that I can’t count them all. And I have learned more about what is going on in my field, found wonderful resources to share with my Followers, been offered excellent opportunities to speak and to write, and enjoyed interesting and educational Twitter “conversations.”
3. To find opportunities.
Many, MANY employers Tweet links to their most recent job postings. I identified 500 of them, and put them in my Employers-Recruiting Twitter list. Follow the ones you have targeted. And Follow useful Twitter accounts like @TwitJobSearch and @JobHuntOrg (of course!).
4. To enhance your job search skills.
The experts in the 101 Top Twitter Job Search and Career Experts consistently provide excellent information to make your job search more effective and your career more successful.
5. To appear (and to be) up-to-date with social media.
Demonstrate to family, friends, colleagues, and – best of all – to potential employers that you “get it” when it comes to using social media. Social media skills are in demand (and that demand is growing). Particularly if you are over 40, looking up-to-date is important for your job search.
If those people Tweeting about their breakfast are nuitritionists, dietitions, food or restaurant critics, or FDA officials warning about some contamination in the food supply, then those seemingly self-absorbed Tweets are providing useful information and are “on-brand” for those Tweeters, not nonsense
So, carefully consider the context and the content when you use Twitter. Think about the image that you want to project, the information you can provide, the people you can help. Figure out what is on-brand for you.
Bottom Line
The world has shifted dramatically in the last 5 years, and that has certainly had a big impact on job search. We’re leaving the please-PLEASE-PLEASE-HIRE-ME approach behind and moving to the see-how-wonderful-I-am-hire-me-if-you-can days. An interesting change/challenge for both sides of “the desk.”
BTW:
Tip of the hat to Women-Unlimited.co.uk and Julie Hall for the idea behind this post – 5 worst reasons for using Twitter for your business which helps businesses understand why to use Twitter. Excellent post! Thank you for permission to “borrow” your idea.
Good luck with your job search!
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Online job search expert Susan P. Joyce, USMC veteran, has been observing the online job search world and teaching online job search skills since 1995. Susan is a two-time layoff “graduate” who has worked in human resources at Harvard University and in a compensation consulting firm. In 1998, her company, NETability, Inc. purchased Job-Hunt.org, and Susan has been editor and publisher of Job-Hunt since then. Follow Susan on Twitter at @JobHuntOrg.
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