Candidate “Sourcing”

Monday, I took “social media sourcing” class.  ”Sourcing” is a phrase that’s been using in the online recruiting world for a few years. Basically, it means searching for good job candidates using many different tactics, rather than posting jobs.  Sourcing as a recruiting speciality developed for 2 simple reasons:

(1) The deluge of unqualified applicants in responce to online job postings, and

(2) A widely-held belief in the employment world that “passive” (i.e. employed) candidates are much better hires than “active” (i.e. unemployed or employed but job hunting) candidates. 

Best Job Posting Solution: LinkedIn Groups

What was most remarkable about the class was the bottom-line recommendation that the BEST place to post a job is NOW through LinkedIn Groups.  It’s free for employers and recruiters, and it’s very effective (which probably means it won’t be free for long).

This doesn’t mean that the job boards are dead.  It just means that you really can’t stop your job search with the job boards, and that wasn’t a smart strategy in the past, either.  But, now, only using the job boards is a recipe for failure.

Post your privacy-protected resume on the usual suspects: Monster, CareerBuilder, HotJobs, and appropriate niche boards.  Recruiters, employers, and (BEWARE!) scammers will find your resume and contact you.  Just be sure to protect your privacy so you protect your identity, family, and job (if you are employed). 

Joining a LinkedIn Group

Go to your LinkedIn account (if you don’t have one, start it NOW!). 

Near the top of the navigation on the left, below the “Home” link and above the “Profile” link, you should see a “Group” link.  Click on that link and you’ll come to the Groups homepage where you can search for individual Groups to join.  Pick the ones which would have the most interesting people and information in them, and ask to join.

LinkedIn will allow you to join up to 50 Groups. 

Most Group owners will want to review your request before approving it, so you may have to wait a few days before you’ll have access to all the Groups you want.  Recommendation: don’t apply for any that you don’t qualify for – it just annoys people and probably builds bad karma.

Finding the Jobs

Once you’ve successfully joined a Group, go to the Group page where you will find many useful sections:

• Jobs -
  Click on the “Jobs” tab to find job postings, but don’t be discouraged if you don’t see any there.
• More Jobs -
  Click on the “Discussions” tab on the Group page to see what people are saying.  Often, jobs will be posted in this section, usually as a Discussion.
• Who’s Who -
  To the far right on the Group’s page, on the same line as the tabs, you’ll find a link to “Group Profile.” Clicking on this will reveal how many people belong to the group (remember that biggest isn’t always best), who owns it, and also your  1st, 2nd, (etc.) Connections within the Group.

For More Information

For more information on leveraging LinkedIn, visit Job-Hunt’s Social Media and Job Search section.

Good luck with your job search!

(c) Copyright 2009.  Job-Hunt.org  All rights reserved.

About the author…

Online job search expert Susan P. Joyce 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 @JobHuntOrg. 

A recent study from Fortune Magazine found the most admired companies to work for. That list covered 64 industries and was global in nature. An article from NewJerseyNewsroom went one step further by finding the companies that are actually hiring and are best placed to survive the next recession.

The top six companies, located in a vast selection of industries, are as follows:

• General Mills – This company has a long list of products, including Chex, Bisquick and Green Giant. They have a clear and easy-to-use career page with links to job search, campus, experienced, careers and more, as well as sections for campus events, career fairs and why work at general Mills. The company currently has about 42 job openings posted.
• Toyota Industries – The auto company, which has operations in America, has a career site that’s simple and features a search engine. The company currently around has 23 job openings posted.
• Lowe’s – The home improvement company’s careers page features options for stores, distribution or corporate headquarters, as well as sections for job search, hot jobs and college recruiting. You also can subscribe to the page via RSS feed. There are currently about 94 job openings posted.
• AT&T – The telecommunication’s company’s careers page has a number of links including career possibilities, student relations and getting started. There also is a “Job Search & Apply” section that leads you to a search engine. There are currently more than 100 job openings posted.
• Accenture – This is a management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company. The career site has sections for working here, career options and search jobs, as well as a number of other tools. You also can explore the “Find where you fit” section. There are currently around 381 job openings posted.
• Samsung Electronics – The electronics company’s careers page has a brief overview and a search jobs link. There are currently about 82 job openings posted.

As a job seeker, you want to be found if someone searches on the job title you want, your profession or industry, and also your name.  Your Twitter account will be helpful for you even after you’ve found that next job.  Recruiters and employers are always searching for good people, so this account can become a major long-term asset to your career:

• People Googling your keywords (your job title, profession, industry, etc.) will find you because your Twitter account will appear in the search results, if you have used those keywords as described in the rest of this article.
• People Googling your name will find your Twitter account in the search results if you have used your name as part of your Twitter identity.

Accessing Your Twitter Account Settings

To implement the tips 2 thru 4, you’ll need to access the “Account” tab page of your Twitter settings.  First, login to your Twitter account. Then, click on “Settings” in the links at the top right of your Twitter page to
access this page - http://twitter.com/account/settings It should look like this:
The information collected on your Twitter Account page (above) is displayed on your Twitter pages, with most of it visible on your Twitter Profile page (see Guy Kawasaki’s Profile page below as an example). When you are logged in to your account, you can see what others see by clicking on “Profile” at the top of the page.

Power SEO for Twitter

More on Social Media: Social Media Home How to Get Started with Social Media Social Media No-No’s LinkedIn vs. Facebook vs. Twitter vs. (Fill-in-the-Blank) Social Networked Out? More About LinkedIn: LinkedIn Basics Leveraging Your LinkedIn Profile Effective LinkedIn Profile LinkedIn Applications and Your Profile Value of Growing Your LinkedIn Network Adding Misspellings to Your LinkedIn Profile More About Facebook: Facebook & Your Job Search More Resources: 101 Best Twitter Career & Job Search Resources 8 Twitter SEO Tips for Job Seekers Top 50 Employers Recruiting on Twitter Top 50 College & University Career Centers Twitter

1.  Your Twitter Username (@YOU)

Use your real name, your profession, or your personal brand for your Twitter Username.

Your Twitter Username establishes your Twitter URL (e.g. twitter.com/GuyKawasaki or twitter.com/PublicityHound) and is your public name in Tweets (e.g. @GuyKawasaki or @PublicityHound).  So focus on maximizing the SEO benefit and the branding of your URL. Imagine Tweets coming from you as: @MarketingGuru, @FinancialWhiz, @EcommercePMP, @ProfitManager, @NYCityCPA, or something similar and appropriate for you.

In general, think long term, but, if you must, Twitter does allow you to change your Twitter Username later.  Best not to intend to do that when you start, but if you didn’t get off to a great start, you can still recover.

Twitter allows a total of 15 letters and numbers in this field.  Spaces are not accepted here, but underscores may be used to separate words or letters or numbers.  You have 4 basic options for your Username:

• Your name is probably the best Username you can have if your profession isn’t easily identified in 15 letters or fewer, if you are relatively well-known in your field, or if you want to become relatively well-known in your field.
• Your name + professional designation strengthens the connection between the two, particularly when there are in-bound links to your Twitter Username from outside of Twitter. Those links will usually use your Twitter Username for the text that is clicked.

Add a relevant and accurate job-related keyword to your user name, like [name]CPA, [name]PMP, [name]PhD, whatever is accurate and appropriate, for a little added marketing zing.

• Your profession may be the best choice for your job search because it loudly broadcasts what you do. If you use your profession here, use your real name in the Name field (see Tip # 2, below), to help Twitter, Google, etc. connect the two.
• Your business or blog/Website name, as below. If you have a business or blog you want to promote with this Twitter account, you can build brand awareness for your business or Website by using your business or blog name as your Twitter Username.  By including your name in the “Name” field (see # 2, below), you’ll create some visibility for your name, until you sell your business or Website. Probably not good long-term personal branding for you, however, unless you plan never to sell.

As with your personal email, save the @SexyBlond, @StudlyDudly, and @Colbert4Pres usernames for fun, not for your job search. And, don’t add your real name to those non-job-search accounts, unless you want that connection made for recruiters and employers.

2.  Your Twitter Name

Use your name, your profession, and/or other relevant keywords in the “Name:” field in your Twitter Settings, depending on what you are using in the Username field.

This field is 20 characters long, and will accept spaces and punctuation marks in addition to the usual letters and numbers.

When someone visits your Twitter account, they usually see your Profile page which displays your Name followed by your Username in parenthesis at the very top of the browser (the page “title” in HTML-speak) .  The words and the order of the words in your Twitter Profile page title are very important to search engines and to Twitter search.

Put your most important keywords first. That’s probably your profession or profession and location. PR expert Joan Stewart, right, is the “Publicity Hound” – the name of her business and her Website. So, Joan uses both names in her Twitter Profile.

See the examples below for more options and ideas.

Your keywords are the words you want to describe you.  Keep in mind that, in our example, Guy Kawasaki is already his own “brand” name.  For him, repeating his name is just good SEO because people will probably be searching for him using his name as the keywords.  Most of us are not in that position.

Assuming your name is Mary Jane Smith (work with me here, guys) and you are a CPA in NYC, here are some examples with options to consider:

[FORMAT: Twitter "Name" (Twitter "Username"), as they will appear at the top of the Twitter Profile page and be read by the search engines]

• Mary Jane Smith (MaryJaneSmith) – name used in both fields, Name and Username
• Mary Jane Smith (MJSmithCPA) – name plus name variation with profession
• Mary Jane Smith (NYCityCPA) – name plus location with profession
• Mary Jane Smith CPA (MJSmithCPA) – name with profession plus name variation with profession repeated
• New York City CPA (MaryJSmith)  – location and profession plus name
• New York City CPA (MJSmithCPA) – location and profession plus name variation with profession repeated

Options you have:

• If you’ve used your name for your Username, the Name field provides you with the opportunity to add some differentiation and marketing (e.g. New York City CPA in the last 2 examples above).
• If your Username is not your name, put your name in this field enabling Google (and Twitter search) to find your Twitter account if someone uses your name in a search query.

If you are like me and many others, your name is relatively common. Differentiate yourself by adding your middle initial or even your middle name for all your online activities. Then, use that name consistently with Facebook, LinkedIn, email, etc. to establish a consistent “brand name” for yourself.

You can change this Name at any time, but it’s wise to stick to one version of your name for consistent branding.

3.  Your Location

Include where you are living or the location where you  want to work.

This is a very important keyword or keyword phrase, particularly for job seekers.

You can see that Joan Stewart has proudly indicated she is in Port Washington, WI.  If anyone searches through Twitter, Google, or other search engines for people in Port Washington, Joan will show up.

Guy gives his location as “United 3B” which sounds like he lives in first class on United Airlines.  Or, at least that’s where he was when he updated his Twitter Settings. Probably not something most people would search on, but effective and funny for Guy.

4.  Your Twitter Web address

Use the “More Info URL:” field in your Twitter Settings to connect your Twitter account to your LinkedIn Profile, your blog, your Website, VisualCV, or other relevant personal Web address.

This will be a live clickable link that you can change as many times as you want to change it.  This field accepts only one URL, so pick the one that shows your most professional “face” to the online world for your job search.  This is where people will go if they want more information about you.

If you want to connect more than one URL (LinkedIn, Facebook, etc.), you may type an additional URL into your Bio. Do use the “real” URL, sans the http://, not a special shortened version in your Bio, unless you are prepared to check it on a weekly or monthly basis to be sure it’s still live.

NOTE: Because of the 140 character limitation for Tweets, URL shortener services (snipURL, TinyURL, etc.) are in widespread use. But, most of those URL’s do eventually expire, leaving links that point to dead ends. So, don’t include them in your “More info URL” or your Bio if you can avoid it.

5.  Your Twitter Bio

Put relevant, keyword-rich information in your “One Line Bio” on the Twitter Settings page of your account.

Your goal is to include the kind of keywords an employer would use in a search to find people like you.

Twitter gives you 160 characters to use for your Bio - don’t waste this opportunity!  Examples, with the keywords bolded:

Recent college grad, business major, seeking entry level product marketing job w/Fortune 500 co. Intern experience in marketing & sales. Prefer West Coast.

Attorney/corporate counsel w/10 years experience in NYC publishing industry. Skilled w/contracts, IP, & litigation management. Admitted to practice in NY Bar.

Leaving the Bio space empty is worse than having a blank billboard on a busy highway.  It doesn’t do you any good, and it could do you some harm.  Without some content here, you could look lazy and/or clueless or like someone who doesn’t know what job they want.  You may even look like a spammer.

If your Bio is empty, potential employers and followers will not be easily attracted, so a big opportunity will be wasted.

6.  Tweet daily, and Tweet on-topic.

Demonstrate your knowledge of your topic, your writing and research skills, and your work ethic, with the Tweets you publish:

• Be a good source of fresh, good, relevant information.
• Link to good information even if you didn’t write it.
• If you have a blog, link to the most relevant postings you make.
• Re-Tweet good content relevant to your topic and/or your target employers and their competitors.

Attract the attention of your target employers with your Tweets:

• If you find a news item, particularly a postive one, about one of your target employers, Tweet about it, including the name of the organization in your Tweet.
• RT positive Tweets by people working for your target employers or about your target employers (see the example in # 7, below).

Employers don’t care what your weather is, what coffee you ordered at Starbucks, or what is happening to your team in the latest round of the championship [fill-in-the-blank] playoffs, etc. UNLESS:

• The weather Tweet demonstrates your knowledge of weather or climatology for your weather forecasting/climatology job search.
• The Starbucks Tweet demonstrates your expertise as a foodie (coffee-ie?), critic, writer, etc.
• The sports event Tweet demonstrates your skill as a sports reporter, umpire, coach, caddie, etc.

You get the idea:  If it’s not on-topic for your employment and job search goals, don’t Tweet about it with this account.

BTW, it is probably a good idea to avoid Tweets about “causes” unless you are looking for employment supporting those causes.  Again, this is something better pursued with your personal Twitter account, not your “work” account.

7.  Make your Tweets keyword-rich.

If you are looking for a job in one of the green industries, be sure to Tweet on the topic using relevant keywords which would include:

• The names of your target employers
• The industry’s or profession’s jargon
• Appropriate professional and industry associations and groups (names and acronyms)
• Important company and individual names in the industry (particularly your target employers, when appropriate).
• Hash mark tags for specific Twitter groups and topics are usually important keywords, like #jobseekers for tweets about job search. [See Susan Ireland's collection of 38 job searchtags marks on Twitter.]

For example, with the keywords bolded:

#environment Green jobs initiative launched in Iowa to encourage energy conservation, use of wind & solar power http://bit.ly…

#apple Apple Computer announced an exciting new product today, according to…
(assuming that Apple Computer is one of your target employers, you’ve used the company name plus the Twitter hashtag for Tweets about the company.)

8.  Link back to your Twitter account.

People underestimate how important this step is.  If you have a blog or a Website, link back TO your Twitter home page – http://Twitter.com/[your Username] -  to encourage people to follow you and to build the search engine “credibility” of your Twitter home page.  Add your Twitter URL (twitter.com/Username) to your email signature, to comments you make on blogs, articles you write, etc.

The more links to your user name, using the user name as the click-able text, the greater the ”credibility” it has with Google and other search engines.

The more “credible” your Twitter home page is, the more likely it is to turn up in a Google search.

Bonus:   Structure your Tweets carefully, particularly the first few words.

Twitter turns the first 50 characters in each Tweet into the Web page title for that Tweet.  This means that the first 15 to 25 characters of each Tweet (depending on the number of characters of the Tweeter’s Name) are picked up as the page’s title - a very important field to Google and most search engines, helping them understand what the Tweet is about.

For example, using one of Joan Stewart’s Tweets:

Joan’s Tweet:
9 proven headline formulas that sell like crazy. http://ow.ly/fA0O

The TITLE of that Tweet generated by Twitter:
Twitter / Joan Stewart: 9 proven headline formulas

You can see that Twitter includes the content in the Name field in the page title of each invidual Tweet, as above.

With all the things you have to juggle while Tweeting (fitting into the character count limit, using the best keywords, leaving enough space for Re-Tweets, etc.).  I wouldn’t obsess about this one – that’s why it’s number eight.  Just keep it in the back of your mind when you are Tweeting, and try to keep the most important words first, if you can.

Bottom Line:

The more you understand about search engines, the better off you will be, particularly when you are job hunting.

If you find entries in the search results you don’t like when “vanity Googling” (searching Google on your name), you can supplant those over time with good content, like your blog and Tweets.  It takes time, but it can be done.  Might as well start now building a strong first page of Google results.

Good luck with your job search!

(c) Copyright 2009.  Job-Hunt.org All rights reserved.

About the author and list compiler…

Online job search expert Susan P. Joycehas 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. For the latest news and updates, follow Susan on Twitter @JobHuntOrg.

Many good career Tweeps are not included in this version of the list because they are not currently active or not on-topic right now (vacation time, whatever).

And, there are many other popular Twitter accounts which provide a mix of content with “personality” and they are not included here. But, they could still be useful to you – it just depends what you want.

Note: Updated on October 18, 2009. Some Tweeters left, and new Tweeters arrived. Find all these Tweeps and more on Job-Hunt’s Job Search Experts Twitter List.

More on Social Media: Social Media Home 101 Best Twitter Career & Job Search Resources 8 Twitter SEO Tips for Job Seekers Top 50 Employers Recruiting on Twitter Top 50 College & University Career Centers Twitter

Who is included here:

• These are the people I’ve judged best at providing good content in their Tweets and trying to help people with the job search/career management process.
• These people Tweet regularly, on topic with new, fresh information.
• For me, the signal-to-noise ratio is usually good – these people are not focused on self-promotion or sending many off-topic Tweets.

I am acquainted with many of the people in this list. I’m happy to say that several of these people have contributed articles to Job-Hunt, sharing more of their advice and expertise with the world. If they have,  currently are or soon will be, contributing articles to Job-Hunt, their names have been bolded. But, that wasn’t a requirement for inclusion, obviously.

If you have suggestions about accounts which should be added, or even deleted, let me know.

Keep coming back. I will post new versions of this every month, and, of course, this is Job-Hunt.org – there will always be more resources added soon.

The 101 BEST JOB SEARCH/CAREER TWEEPS:

	Twitter Account	Person	Associated URL
Career Coaches
	@AndyInNaples	Andy Robinson	careersuccess.typepad.com
	@barbarasafani	Barbara Safani	careersolvers.com
	@Barry_at_IMPACT	Barry Deutsch	impacthiringsolutions.com
	@CrisJobCoach	Cris Janzen	JanzenAssociates.com
	@careerdiva	Eve Tahmincioglu	evetahmincioglu.com
	@CEOCoach	Deb Dib	executivepowerbrand.com
	@chandlee	Chandlee Bryan	bestfitforward.com
	@DailyCareerTips	Susan D. Strayer	susanstrayer.com
	@DaisyWright	Daisy Wright	thewrightcareer.com
	@ExpatCoachMegan	Megan Fitzgerald	careerbychoiceblog.com
	@KCCareerCoach	Meg Montford	abilitiesenhanced.com
	@LearnSolMary	Mary Wilson	learningsolutionsblog. blogspot.com
	@Leonard_Lang	Leonard Lang	beardavenue.com
	@phyllismufson	Phyllis Mufson	PhyllisMufson.CoachConsole.com
	@susanwhitcomb	Susan Whitcomb	CareerCoachAcademy.com
	@WorkWithIllness	Rosalind Joffe	CICoach.com
	@VaultCareers		Vault.com
Career Exploration
	@willyf	Willy Franzen	onedayonejob.com
	@GreenJobIdeas	Kathleen Lyons	greenjobideablog.com
Career Management
	@ActAsIfSite	Joe Lavelle	actasifblog.com
	@alevit	Alexandra Levit	alexandralevit.com
	@AnitaBruzzese	Anita Bruzzese	45things.com
	@askamanager	Alison Green	askamanager.blogspot.com
Internships
	@heatherhuhman	Heather Huhman (PR internships)	heatherhuhman.com
	@internweb		InternWeb.com
Job Interviews
	@InterviewAngel	Brent Peterson	interviewangel.com
	@InterviewCoach	Lewis	seattleinterviewcoach.com
Job Search
	@alisondoyle	Alison Doyle	Jobsearch.about.com
	@AndreaSantiago	Andrea Santiago	healthcareers.about.com
	@BillVick	Bill Vick	BillVick.com
	@CAREEREALISM	J.T. ODonnell	careerealism.com
	@chrisrussell	Chris Russell	jobradio.fm
	@eExecutives	Harry Urschel	eexecutives.net
	@GLHoffman	GL Hoffman	jobdig.com
	@heymarci	Marci Alboher	heymarci.com
	@HotJobs_editor	Tom Musbach	hotjobs.yahoo.com
	@JobConcierge	JobConcierge	JobConcierge.com
	@JobHuntOrg	Susan P Joyce (of course)	job-hunt.org
	@JobSavants		jobsavants.com
	@JobSearchCoach	Jeremy Worthington	Linkedin.com/in/jeremyworthington
	@JobSearchGuide	Jan Cannon	cannoncareercenter.com
	@JobSearchNinja	Todd Bavol	integritycareertransitions.com
	@jtodonnell	J.T. Odonnell	careerealsim.com
	@keppie_careers	Miriam Salpeter	KeppieCareers.com
	@kevindonlin	Kevin Donlin	gm4jh.com
	@LatinosAtWork	Murray A. Mann	globaldiversitysolutions. typepad.com/latinosatwork/
	@OneJobHunter
	@RiseSmart	Sanjay Sathe	risesmart.com
	@RoxanneRavenel	Roxanne Ravenel	savvyjobseeker.com
	@wendygelberg	Wendy Gelberg	gentlejobsearch.com
	@WSJCareers		online.wsj.com/public/page/news-career-jobs.html
New Graduates
	@GradToGreat	Anne Brown	gradtogreat.com
	@Gradversity	Trevor Wilson	Gradversity.com
	@lindseypollak	Lindsey Pollak	lindseypollak.com/blog
	@Seiden	Jason Sieden	jasonseiden.com
	@StevenRothberg	Steven Rothberg	collegerecruiter.com
	@SweetCareers	Grace Kutney	sweetcareers.blogspot.com
	@QuintCareers		quintcareers.com
Personal Branding
	@Brandyourself	Pete Kistler	brand-yourself.com
	@danschawbel	Dan Schawbel	personalbrandingblog.com
	@LinkedInQueen	LinkedIn Queen	cliqueitmarketing.com
	@megguiseppi	Meg Guiseppi	executiveresumebranding.com
	@williamarruda	William Aruda	reachpersonalbranding.com
Recruiters, Recruiting,& HR
	@BillBoorman	Bill Boorman	billboorman.co.uk
	@Absolutely_Abby	Abby Kohut	AbsolutelyAbby.com
	@Ask_The_RCTR	Norman Harris	frustratedseeker.ning.com
	@BostonRecruiter	Joe Noonan	linkedin.com/in/joenoonan
	@campusdiva	Joanna Clark
	@CincyRecruiter	Jennifer McClure	CincyRecruiter.com
	@DavidGraziano	David Graziano	davidgrazianostaffing.blogspot.com
	@dmcgrath		hr.com
	@financejobs	Paula Wood	financerecruiter.com
	@Fishdogs	Craig Fischer	alistsolutions.com
	@FistfulOfTalent		fistfuloftalent.com
	@hrbartender	Sharlyn Lauby	hrbartender.com
	@HRSpace	Rob Moss	personneltoday.com/hrspace /default.aspx
	@jimstroud	Jim Stroud	jimstroud.com
	@jlipschultz	Jeff Lipschultz	alistsolutions.com
	@MikeVanDervort	Mike VanDervort	thehumanracehorses.com
	@PRjobs	Lindsay Olson	paradigmstaffing.com
	@salesrecruiter	Peggy McKee	phcconsulting.com
	@SDXHiresHeroes	Angela Guidroz focus on veterans	sodexocareers.blogspot.com
	@SusanHeathfield	Susan Heathfield	humanresources.about.com
	@SusanZelinski	Susan Zelinski	SusanZelinski.com
Resume Writers
	@dawnbugni	Dawn Bugni	thewritesolution.info
	@DebraWheatman	Debra Wheatman	ResumesDoneWrite.com
	@ErinKennedyCPRW	Erin Kennedy	exclusive-executive-resumes.com
	@GayleHoward	Gayle Howard	topmargin.com
	@louise_fletcher	Louise Fletcher	louisefletcher.net
	@MartinBuckland	Martin Buckland	anEliteResume.com
	@PowerCV	Sharad Verma	freshercv.com
	@Red_Inc	Melanie Szlucha	Redinc.biz
	@resumeguru	Robert Dagnall	resumeguru.com
	@resumeservice	Rosa Vargas	creatingprints.com
	@rezlady	Sheree Van Vreede	noddleplace.com
	@SusanIreland	Susan Ireland	susanireland.com
	@TheResumeBay	Jon Davidson	theresumebay.com
	@ValueIntoWords	Jacqui Poindexter	careertrend.net
Social Media
	@chrisbrogan	Chris Brogan	chrisbrogan.com
	@jasonalba	Jason Alba	jibberjobber.com
	@mashable	Pete Cashmore	mashable.com
	@SocialMediaWonk	Drew Selman	drewselman.com

The EXTRAS

Many very useful and helpful people provide wonderful information that, while not specifically targeted at careers and job search, seemed worthy of inclusion.  So these are the “Extras:”

Other Useful Tweeps
	@City_Town_Info	Eric Enge: local info & edu	citytowninfo.com
	@ducttape	John Jantsch: Interesting stuff!	ducttapemarketing.com
	@jobangels	Help one person find a job	jobangels.org
	@keithferrazzi	Keith Ferrazzi: Networking	keithferrazzi.com
	@PhishBucket	Job scam alerts & info	phishbucket.org
	@PublicityHound	Joan Stewart: Publicity & media	publicityhound.com

As always, good luck with your job search!

(c) Copyright 2009.  Job-Hunt.org  All rights reserved.

About the author and list compiler…

Online job search expert Susan P. Joyce 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 @JobHuntOrg.

More on Social Media: Social Media Home 101 Best Twitter Career & Job Search Resources 8 Twitter SEO Tips for Job Seekers Top 50 Employers Recruiting on Twitter Top 50 College & University Career Centers Twitter

None of the big pharmaceutical companies are on this list either because I couldn’t find any of them, and, even though Best Buy has thousands of jobs posted on its Website (here), they are using Twitter only for marketing, so far.  No other large retailer showed up, either.

You’ll find the U.S. Department of State is the only branch of the U.S. Federal Government or ANY U.S.A. government entity, that is recruiting on Twitter.  I very recently discovered that the city of Kingston, Ontario, Canada, also recruits using Twitter.  Interesting…

Researching this list reminded me of slogging through the Fortune 500 ten years ago, looking for the large employers that were smart enough to (1) have a corporate Website with “current” content and (2) use their corporate Website for recruiting (and not hiding the job listings).  If I remember correctly, in 1999, only about 10% of them did that.  Closer to 95% do it now.  Wonder how long it will take the majority of them to adapt to Twitter for recruiting…

Food for Thought

Part of this (present vs. missing employers) is “the economy” of course, but not all of it.  Look to these employers, below, to find management that pays attention to what’s going on in the marketplace and that is smart enough to stake out their claim to the appropriate technological footprint.

The List – The Best and the Brightest?

Many companies have customer service and marketing accounts, but use for recruiting is just beginning and will probably pick up as the economy improves and Twitter becomes more popular.  More Twitter accounts will be integrated into Job-Hunt’s vast collection of resources as employers use them more.

If you find an employer’s Twitter recruiting account that is not included, please let me know.

NOTE: We have posted a continuously updated version of this list on Twitter as a Twitter List – JobHuntOrg/Employers Recruiting, one of the top lists on Listorious.com.

For now, this list is in alphabetical order within country:

	Employer	Location	Twitter Account
Global:
	KPMG	HQ in Switzerland	@KPMG
	Wipro, LTD	HQ in India	@WiproCareers
United States:
	Accenture	HQ in NYC	@Accenture_Jobs
	Access Communications	San Francisco & NYC	@accesscareers
	ACULIS, Inc.	Salt Lake City, UT	@aculis
	ADP	HQ in Roseland, NJ	@ADPCareers
	Allstate Insurance	HQ in Northbrook, IL	@AllstateCareers
	Assurant Solutions	Atlanta, GA	@AssurantCareers
	AT&T	HQ in Dallas, TX	@ATTjobs
	Burger King	US-wide	@BKCareers
	comScore	HQ in Reston, VA	@comScoreCareers
	Davita, Inc.	Lakewood, CO	@DaVitaJobs
	Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu	US HQ in NYC, NY	@JoinDeloitteUS
	Ecolab	St. Paul, MN	@Ecolab_Jobs
	EMC	Hopkinton, MA	@EMCCareers
	EMC	Hopkinton, MA	@EMCCollege
	Ernst & Young	US HQ in NYC, NY	@Ernst_and_Young
	Expedia	HQ in Bellevue, WA	@Expedia_Jobs
	Follett Software Co.	HQ in McHenry, IL	@FSCCareers
	Forrester Research, Inc.	Cambridge, MA	@forresterjobs
	Fullhouse Interactive	Milwaukee & Chicago	@fullhousecareer
	Gartner, Inc.	HQ in Stamford, CT	@GartnerJobs
	Hershey Company	Hershey, PA	@HersheyCompany
	Hewitt	HQ in Lincolnshire, IL	@HewittCareers
	Hyatt Hotels & Resorts	HQ in Chicago, IL	@Hyattcareers
	Hyatt San Antonio	San Antonio, TX	@HyattSanAntonio
	Intel	HQ in Santa Clara, CA	@JobsatIntel
	J.B. Hunt	HQ in Lowell, AR	@WeHaveFreight
	Kaplan Test Prep Services	NYC, NY	@KTPA_Careers
	Keller Williams Realty	HQ in Austin, TX	@KWCareers
	Kissito Post-Acute Care	Roanoke, VA	@kissitocareers
	KPMG US	US HQ in NYC, NY	@KPMGUSCareers
	Kroger	HQ in Cincinnati, OH	@KrogerWorks
	LexisNexis	HQ in NYC, NY	@LN_Recruiting
	Mattel	El Segundo, CA	@MattelRecruiter
	Mattel	El Segundo, CA	@mattelmba
	Mayo Clinic	HQ in Rochester, MN	@mayoclinic
	McCormick & Schmick	Portland, OR	@Careers_At_MSSR
	Microsoft	HQ in Redmond, WA	@JobsBlog (looking a bit inactive)
	MTV Networks	HQ in NYC, NY	@MTVnetworksjobs
	MTV Games	HQ in NYC, NY	@MTVGamesJobs
	MySpaceJobs	Beverly Hills, CA	@MySpaceJobs
	Raytheon	HQ in Waltham, MA	@Raytheon_Jobs
	Razorfish	HQ in Seattle, WA	@RazorfishJobs
	Sodexo	HQ in Gaithersburg, MD	@SodexoCareers
	Spotsylvania Regional Medical Center	Fredericksburg, VA	@CareersAtSRMC
	Thomson Reuters	HQ in NYC, NY	@TRCareers
	Twitter (of course!)	San Francisco, CA	@jobs
	United Parcel Service	HQ in Atlanta, GA	@UPSjobs
	UPMC	Pittsburgh, PA	@UPMCCareers
	US Dept. of State	HQ in D.C.	@DOScareers
	Verizon	HQ in NYC, NY	@VerizonCareers
	Warner Brothers	HQ in Burbank, CA	@WBCareers
Canada:
	City of Kingston	Kingston, ON	@KingstonCareers
	Vancouver Pinnacle Marriot	Vancouver, BC	@VanMarriott
UK:
	IBM/UK		@IBMUKcareer
	KPMG		@KPMGRecruitment
	PepsiCo		@PepsiCo_UKjobs
	Royal Bank of Scotland		@JobsatRBSgroup
Australia:
	Deloitte Australia		@Green_Dot
Belgium:
	IBM/Belgium		@ibmbejobs
South Africa:
	IBM/South Africa		@IBM_CEEMEA_Jobs

Stay tuned for more lists like this, and come back as this one expands.

Good luck with your job search!

(c) Copyright 2009.  Job-Hunt.org All rights reserved.

About the author and list compiler…

Online job search expert Susan P. Joyce 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. For the latest news and updates, follow Susan on Twitter @JobHuntOrg.

Probably difficult for you to believe, but it’s NOT you, particularly in this economy. This bad economy has made it difficult for everyone.

A job search is often a very demoralizing situation – worse than dating! Rejection, being ignored, being told you don’t have the skills or experience needed, etc.  Do NOT do it alone and do not spend all your time at your computer applying for jobs online!   You do have other, more productive, options.

1.  KNOW THE JOB YOU WANT NEXT.

You can’t find what you are looking for if you don’t know what it is when you find it.

It’s counter-intuitive for most people, but being too “flexible” can mean you waste a lot of time and energy chasing every possibility, no matter how inappropriate for you.  And, the sad truth is, if you landed one of those inappropriate jobs, you wouldn’t succeed at it easily, you’d hate it, and you’d be job hunting again waaaayyyy too soon.  Don’t do that to yourself!

If you don’t know what you want, read “What Color Is Your Parachute?” by Richard N. Bolles.  Do the exercises, and you will learn more about yourself, what you are good at, the transferrable skills you have, and what you would probably be happiest doing.  If your local public library has only one career book, this is the one.  So borrow or buy it, and use it to help you find focus for your job search.

2.  GET HELP!

A job search is a lonely, discouraging process in this economy particularly when you are all by yourself, sitting in front of your computer day after day.  So…

     *   There are thousands of job search suport groups – through your community, your church, your state government (in the US). Connect with one; go to at least 3 meetings so you get to know the other members. Find out what’s going on – help someone else with their job search and they’ll help you with yours.

Check out Job-Hunt’s Local Networking and Job Search Support Groups for help.  It links to hundreds of local job search suport groups, but new ones appear all the time that don’t get on this list so ask at your local churches, public libraries, and local branch of your state’s employment office for more.

     *   If you’ve attended college, the school may help you, as an alumnus, through their career center.  Some don’t, but many do, particularly during this economy.  And, you don’t always have to be a graduate to qualify as an “alum.”  Often just attending for a semester or two can qualify you.  When in doubt, ask.

     *   Go to your state’s employment office.  It’s their job to help you find work, and they have lots of resources to do that, including counseling, classes and workshops, lists of local employers, and job postings.  You can often use the services online, but go into the office a few times to connect with the people there.

3.  TEMP.  Try working for a “temping” agency.  This gets your foot in the door with an employer, gives you a chance to see what it’s like to work for them (whether or not you like them is as important as whether or not they like you), a chance to have some income, and a chance to see yourself as a valuable human being.

4.  VOLUNTEER.  Volunteering has many benefits:

     *   Helping someone less fortunate or a cause you believe in. You’ll accomplish something positive in someone else’s life or for your cause, you’ll meet other people who share similar values, and you’ll see that you really DO have value, that you are worthwhile, smart, kind, creative, whatever…

     *   Learning a new skill.  Filling in a gap on your resume.  Adding new knowledge. 

         Everyone and every business is getting more “green” now, so volunteering for some sort of environmental organization should give you experience and knowledge that may well have greater value in the job market than many other volunteer activities.  If you are interested in being green, anyway,…

     *   Meeting new people, with whom you share some values or interests.

         People are hired by people they know, even in the Internet age.  So, this is a way to meet a few other people (it doesn’t take thousands, it just takes the “right” people), to get known in that small circle.  Do enough small circles (2 or 3), and you’ve got a good network of people who know people who know about job openings, employers who need help, etc.

5.   NETWORK!  Go to industry/professional organization meetings. 

If they charge for meeting attendance, don’t be afraid to ask if they have a special rate for “people between jobs.”

When you go, don’t ask everyone if they know of any jobs open.  You learn more by asking than by telling.  But, when you are asked, do share that you are looking for a job – when asked! – and DO have a 15 or 30 second description of the job you want and the employers who interest you.  Being vague, “Oh, I’m thinking about something in marketing or administration” is wasting the opportunity.  This is your chance to tell people what you want!

Recent studies have show only 12% of job are filled through a job board.  So, you need to get away from your computer and reconnected, re-energized, and caught up with what’s going on in your industry or profession:

     *   Learn about the latest trends in your industry or profession.

     *   Learn about new employers.

     *   Meet new people

Liz Ryan, Job-Hunt’s Job Search Networking Expert has written over 20 articles on how to use networks for your job hunt.  And Wendy Gelberg, Job-Hunt’s Job Search for Introverts Expert has written several articles to help introverts get more comfortable with job hunting.

Bottom Line:

A job hunt can be a lonely, demoralizing experience.  Don’t do it alone for 2 reasons: because you need something positive in your life to offset the negative, and because you’ll be more successful “with a little help from [your] friends” as the Beatles told us many years ago.

The nation lost 651,000 non-farm payroll jobs during February. According to the United States Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics, the country has seen its employment numbers fall by 2.6 million during the last four months.

During February, the country saw its unemployment rate increase from 7.6 to 8.1 percent. The number of unemployed persons increased by 851,000 to 12.5 million. During the last year, the number of unemployed persons has increased by about 5 million and the unemployment rate has increased by 3.3 percent.

The number of unemployed adult men came in at 8.1 percent, adult women at 6.7 percent, whites at 7.3 percent, blacks at 13.4 percent, Hispanics at 10.9 percent, Asians at 6.9 percent and teenagers at 21.6 percent.

Almost every industry took a hit from January to February, with the professional and business services, manufacturing and construction industries receiving the biggest job losses. Healthcare, the only industry to add jobs during February, increased by 27,000 positions.

The industries that saw a decrease in jobs during February include:

Accordingly, the number of jobs posted online during February also declined. The Conference Board’s Help-Wanted Online Data Series notes that the number of jobs posted online during the month decreased by 6,600. This means about 3,348,000 jobs were posted for the month, just more than two jobs per every 100 people.

Many experienced workers are finding themselves spending countless hours searching for jobs, in most cases to no avail. As more and more companies continue to lay off workers, the job pool decreases and the number of unemployed workers increases.

One downfall, according to an article by Examiner, is that many job seekers rely solely on the Internet to find jobs. Using online job search tactics only can considerably limit your options. One study found that an average of 300 job seekers apply to an online job posting, meaning when you apply to a job online, you could be competing with 299 other people for the same position.

“Here’s the bigger issue: If you’ve been hoping and praying that you’ll be able to land a job by submitting resumes online, texting, emailing, or otherwise avoiding good, old-fashioned networking, think again,” the article notes. “Calling people on a regular basis (even when they don’t get back to you), following up, meeting for lunch, coffee, going to conferences (even if they are in other cities) – these are only some of the activities that need to be part of your job search arsenal.

“Sure, some of these activities cost money, and following up with people (as opposed to stalking them) can get tedious, but we need to do more of this stuff more often, particularly when times are tough,” the article continues. “Calling someone once or twice and giving up, or getting mad, bitter or depressed, when they don’t get back to us does not a networker make.”

Especially among the current job market, job seekers should focus on networking more than anything else as well as using other available resources. While you might night see an immediate payoff or result, you’ll be thought of when a job does become available.

This week, Karen P. Katz, Job-Hunt’s new “Women’s Job Search Expert” joined the professionals providing advice for job seekers, and her first article, “Applying Newton’s Laws for Job Search Success” helps job seekers overcome inertia to start their transition to a new career.

Also sree great new articles this week from the Job-Hunt Experts for Finance Industry and for Career Changers:

• Repositioning Your Financial Services Resume - by Barbara Safani, Job-Hunt’s Finance Industry Job Search Expert (more on Finance Industry Job Search from Barbara)
• Financing Your Career Change – by Randi Bussin, Job-Hunt’s Career Change Expert (more on Career Change from Randi)

More articles on Job-Hunt every week, in additon to the posts here on Job-Hunt’s http://www.job-hunt.org/job-search-news/.

So, they are eagerly looking for help across the country, in every location, speaking every local language.

The jobs are temporary through the end of 2010, both full-time and part-time, paying a respectable hourly rate for the location.  You may find “permanent” jobs with other employers that don’t last as long.

Pay and Training

The starting pay ranges from $8.40 to $47.03, depending on job level (“grade”), and can go substantially higher depending on position, location, and level of experience.  Forty hours of paid training are included for the Census Taker positions (see below).  Offices are opening, and the Census Bureau is recruiting and training people across the country right now.

Location: U.S. Census Bureau Headquarters

In the main Census Bureau headquarters near Washington, D.C., the open positions include, as you would expect, statistician, mathematician, geographer, cartographer, and IT specialist.

Location: Regional Offices

Regional Offices are opening in 12 main locations: Atlanta, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Kansas City, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, and Seattle.  These sites will have standard “staff” positions opening in fields like HR, finance, IT, purchasing, and project management, depending on the location and current staffing levels.

Location: Local Offices

In every town across the country, Census Taker positions are open or will be opening soon.  These are the truly local jobs – working near your home, in your own community.

For More Information:

• Census Taker positions
• Census Student and Research Opportunities
• Hourly pay rates by grade and step

Good luck with your job search!