Tough economic times call for more original approaches to doing countless things in your job searching, career advancing, or recruiting. Numerous job seekers and recruiters are turning away from traditional resources and are looking towards more innovative approaches such as Twitter. Twitter is a social networking and micro blogging service that enables its users to send and read other user messages. Employers and recruiting firms post job openings on Twitter, and job seekers use Twitter to help facilitate their job search. But truthfully—it’s not just as simple as making an account and letting the jobs come to you. There’s numerous ways to make the most out of your page and I’m going to describe a few ways. The first and most important way is to make your Twitter employer friendly.
Make superior use out of your bio. You only have 160 characters to post your job pitch. This section says a lot about the candidate so it’s where it can make or break your potential interview. Next, make sure you use a professional looking avatar (profile picture). Refrain from any images from your college days where you are t-shirtless with a beer in hand. Your picture says a lot about you as a person so make it polished and professional. The last part about getting your basic page set up is to utilize your twitter background. There’s a lot of space you can use to promote yourself and show potential employers your level of creativity or interests. If you choose to keep it simple and professional, no one has ever complained about a solid colored background.
Now that your basic page layout is set up, it is necessary to include many things on your Twitter to make it easier for recruiters to know your credentials. The first and most important approach is to post a link to an online CV or resume. You can use a tool like https://www.visualcv.com/resume_resources/resume_templates?_oskwdid=5356672 to make it a trouble-free experience. Next, make sure you establish yourself as a professional on Twitter. Show what you’re capable of while refraining from ways to misrepresenting yourself. When employers begin looking at you as a candidate, you’ll have a lot more than just a resume to back up your prior skills and experiences. Show what you’re capable of through examples of your work.
Now that you are promoting yourself in a positive way through Tweets, while your whole page is set up and everything is included that recruiters need to know about you, your next step is understand who to follow and who to trust. Many candidates are flustered about not knowing the right people to get in contact without realizing that more people are viewing YOUR page. Before you come in contact with a recruiter on Twitter, make sure you check out a link to their website, ask others to figure out credibility, check out their follower/following ratio and lastly and most importantly, their bio. A recruiter’s page just is as important as a job seeker’s for the same reasons. For a great example of a solid recruiter’s Twitter, observe one of Execu|Search’s non-profit recruiter’s page at http://twitter.com/nonprofitrecrtr
Good luck on your Twitter job search/recruiting experience! Remember, if you ever have any questions, the internet has 1,000’s of answers.
Dustin Willoughby
Interactive Resources
