Twitter has become a powerhouse for networking people. While the site has gotten a lot of negative attention in recent years because of political biases, it remains a great place to learn about jobs and connect with the right people who can hire you.
Before you can use Twitter for a job search, you’ll want to update your profile so that it presents you as someone ready for the next great career move. Here’s what you can do to make Twitter a great recruiting platform for your services.
Update Your Twitter Profile
This is where you will make yourself look as professional as possible while remaining friendly and accessible. Remember that profile pictures should be of your face, preferably with a warm, inviting smile on your face. Refrain from using a photo from that Friday night at the bar. Instead, have a friend take a headshot of you with a neutral background. This makes you the star of the photo, easily identified, and personable.
Your profile bio is limited to 160 characters. This isn’t a lot of space to say very much, so think of a punchy bio that grabs attention and makes the reader want to know more. Using keywords about your experience is best, as employers may use a keyword search to find potential employees. You can also refer to your fun interests and outside activities that make you an attractive human being they can relate to.
Build a Twitter Network
If you’ve been on Twitter for a while, you already have a headstart on building a network, but now is the time to expand this to people who are in the industry you want to work in. Create a list of companies that you want to work at and start following those companies on the platform. Where possible, follow people who work at the company as well.
It’s a good idea also to follow industry “thought leaders” who can help you cultivate great talking points once you get into an interview with someone.
Interact With People on Twitter
Following people is just the first step in using Twitter to help you land a job. You need to be active and interact with people. This is how you build deeper connections with people who may be able to help you find your dream job.
Tweet at least once daily and search hashtags you are interested in. This will take you to conversations about topics you enjoy talking about. Use Twitter chats to get involved, ask questions, and give opinions. A Twitter chat is a regularly scheduled conversation using a specific hashtag to locate the discussions on it. It may feel overwhelming at first, but this is how you create a list of people you are building a relationship with.
Conduct Research on Companies You Follow
By following companies, you’ll get the latest news and updates directly from the company. This includes expansions, growth, and hiring. Many companies have a separate Twitter handle for job postings, so be sure to find that and follow that as well. Learn what you can about the company so that if you do get an interview, you are well-versed about the company, strengthening yourself as an ideal candidate.
You can also look at the people who are working there. Get a sense of their background and path they took to get into the roles they are at (and that you may want). Make sure you check all the boxes when an interview comes up.
Curate Job Vacancies on Twitter
If you’ve built your network properly, you’ll start to get notifications about job postings. Remember to have your resume polished and ready to go when you get job notifications. Twitter is a massive platform; you won’t be the only person applying.
Along with the listings that come from those that you follow, actively search for job postings. You can do this with hashtags relevant to the job you are looking for – or jobs in general. For example, common job hashtags are #nowhiring, #jobsearch, #engineeringjobs, #insurancejobs, etc.
You can use third-party sites such as TweetDeck to help you manage your searches and keep track of posts relevant to your search.
Be Specific in Job Searches
Twitter covers the vast world, but you probably want a job close to home, or in a specific city you wouldn’t mind living in. This is where your prowess in searching comes in handy. Be specific and use location and industry in the search.
For example, if you want a job in Los Angeles in insurance, specify that in the search. Your search might look something like this: Los Angeles hiring insurance. This tells the search bots exactly what you are looking for and helps refine your search, so you don’t waste time on things you aren’t interested in.
Create Lists to Find and Share Great Content
Something that will help you stand out to your network is sharing great content. Remember that your daily Tweet doesn’t need to be your own original idea. It can be thoughts about something you found in another user’s feed and wanted to share it with your own.
A list helps you to see content from those users whose content you find to be really strong. Make a list so that you can regularly see their content. Use this content as the foundation of what you Tweet to start conversations and be knowledgeable in your areas of interest.
Make Sure You Post Appropriate Content
Keep in mind that a lot of eyes can see what you post. It’s there for the world to take note of. This is why you want to post appropriate content. Refrain from being too controversial. If you stick to content curated from your lists or those you follow, you’ll likely be safe in posting meaningful and appropriate content.
The last thing you want is to have something on your Twitter feed that could upset or offend someone who may have the power to hire you. Every day, many people apologize publicly for something they said on Twitter. Be the person who doesn’t need to retract something they post.
Prepare for Interviews With Twitter
The best candidates for a job prepare for the interview. Fortunately, if you have built your Twitter network properly, you have all the resources available to you to better understand the role you are interviewing for, the ins and outs of the company, and how the company stands out among its competitors.
If you know your interviewer, you can do some light research on what their interests are and their recent posts. Don’t go overboard with this, as you don’t want to come across as a cyber-stalker. But it can open up dialogue in those awkward first moments of an interview to discuss something the interviewer is interested in.
Recap
Twitter is a vast resource that you can use to take your career to the next level. It doesn’t matter if you are just starting on a new career track or moving up the chain with what you’ve been doing for years. Investing the time into your Twitter-verse will help you find the resources needed to land the interview for your perfect job.
