A tool for job seekers
There is a big buzz in the world of social media, and it goes by the name of Twitter. If you’re on MySpace, Facebook, or LinkedIn, at first glance this may seem like “more of the same.” A closer review of their properties reveals that this is a worthwhile app if you are a small business person looking to use additional channels for marketing, or if you are a job seeker looking to connect with hiring managers and quality recruiters.
If you’re not familiar with how Twitter works, here’s how you can get started in about ten minutes:
1. Go to the Twitter home page and click the sign up button.
When selecting a username, keep in mind that this is the name that others will see when you communicate with them. Basically, what I’m saying here is that if you’re a professional looking to get hired as a CFO at an international bank, you might not want to have the Twitter alias of “hotpants69”.
2. Upload a good photo of yourself.
Especially when you are looking for a job, it is important that you are not photographed doing any activity that you would not want mentioned during your face-to-face interview. If you don’t have a good photo in your photobook files, put on “Sunday’s Best” and have your partner or friend take a digital headshot. Try to stand facing a flat wall, so the background isn’t distracting from your appearance.
3. Click Device tab in Settings and you will be able to send and receive text messages from your followers.
My first reaction to this was: NO WAY! Why would you want to have to deal with voicemail, email, and now a lot of text messages? Trust me, while you’re using Twitter, you’ll see how helpful it is for a hiring manager or your recruiter to send you a quick text to let you know the date and time of your interview. This is just one example – you can use it to your maximum benefit.
4. Click the Alerts tab in Settings to control the amount of communication you receive.
Here, you can choose whether you want to receive a reminder email if you haven’t updated your status in the last 24 hours, and you can approve or reject whether you want to receive notifications when you have a new follower, direct text emails, and the newsletter.
5. Click the Design tab in Settings and choose an available theme or choose your custom background and colors.
Be creative, but when trying to get a job, be professional. It’s common sense, but again, you should avoid posting that background image that shows you and your friends drunk last weekend. Another good rule of thumb is if your mom doesn’t approve of the photo, just save it to your personal photo album.
While it may seem overwhelming with the myriad of social media tools out there, it’s important to choose those sites that will get you results. If your goal is to find a new job in this economy, you can’t afford not to try Twitter.