How to Use Twitter In Your Job Search

Twitter is a microblogging site that limits posts/tweets to 280 characters, but the most effective posts are between 71 and 100 characters. It’s a great way for you to build your personal brand by promoting your blog and building a network that paints a positive image of you as a person and as a leader in your industry. 

Build your Twitter connections for:

• Personal learning and branding
• Connecting with job and career stakeholders
• Sharing professional, career-relevant and public content

How to start using Twitter for your job search

After building your profile with a professional-looking photo, start following leaders and employees in your field the organizations you’d like to work for to uncover company news and potential opportunities. Get to know the people who are discussing your industry on Twitter and give them an opportunity to get to know you. Take advantage of lists to organize your conversations and groups of contacts you’re following.

Post content worth following on Twitter

Your personal branding strategy is to stand out from the pack, and here are some ways you can use Twitter to reflect well upon you in your job search efforts.

• Share tips and industry news
• Answer industry-related questions quickly, but thoughtfully
• Share valuable links
• Be active
• Retweet, like and comment to help others
• When possible, connect in real life at networking events
• Participate in Twitter Chats
• Use photos and videos. SearchEngineWatch reports that photographs and videos were the most effective components used in Twitter.
• Find and follow local and regional job search sites like TweetMyJobs.com that stream job opportunities

Learn how to use#hashtags 

The pound sign (or hash) turns any word or group of words that directly follow it into a searchable link in many social media platforms called a hashtags. They are a quick way to narrow your search on Twitter (and to add relevancy to your posts to make them more easily found) so experiment with #s to find those that deliver results for:

• Job search (#Hiring, #NowHiring, #Jobs, #Careers, #JobOpening)
• Industry job search terms (#ITJobs, #TechJobs, #Marketing, #Freelance)
• Self-promoting terms like #HireM, #MBA, #Candidate, #JobSearching #Hire(insert college nickname or mascot) Princeton Career Services recommends this trick

If you're new to using hashtags, check out this newbie guide from Mashable, and resources like Tagdef to find lists popular hashtags by timeframe, or search for hashtags related to those you want to target with this hashtag generator from Instafollowers.com.

Have you used Twitter to help find a job?

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