How to Use Twitter to Find a Job

When I mention Twitter to over 50 friends, I frequently hear “I don’t get it. Why would I care what someone had for lunch?” Now five years old, Twitter has evolved from the narcissistic “here’s what I’m doing” to a powerful tool for marketing, networking, even starting a revolution.

Among the best uses: finding jobs. If you’re looking for a job, give Twitter a try.

Twitter Job Listing Services

After setting up a Twitter account, you sign up to follow people or organizations. Check out job listing services such as TweetMyJobs and TwitJobSearch. Followers receive listings of jobs as they are posted. You can also search for jobs in your field and location. These services are free for job seekers.

You don’t have to wait until you have access to a computer to find out about relevant jobs. You can also sign up to receive job tweets on your mobile device. It can’t be any more immediate than that!

Search Twitter for Jobs

Many organizations post their job openings on Twitter. You can harness Twitter’s powerful search engine to target your job search. For example, enter “Boston public relations” in the search field and get a list of job openings matching your criteria. Are you interested in working for a particular company? Enter the company’s name for the just-announced job listings.

Follow Thought Leaders to Get Jobs

Twitter makes it easy to network and communicate with people you wouldn’t normally have access to. Following the leaders in your industry gives you insight into their views and interests. If you have an interesting comment about something they’ve tweeted, tweet your response. Even busy people take the time to check their tweets, and a few thoughtful responses will trigger name recognition. Who knows—maybe the person you’re following will contact you about a job.

Honing in on the interests of the top brass can give you the inside track for a job. You can tailor your resume to reflect the head honcho’s interests. And you can wow them in the job interview when you mention a detail about the company that you’ve culled from tweets.

To find industry leaders, enter a name in Twitter search. If you don’t know whom to follow, check out Twellow, a directory of Twitter users organized by category. Select a category and scan the listings.

Help Recruiters Find You

Recruiters use Twitter to find potential employees. Be sure to include your location when filling out your profile. Incorporate keywords that recruiters might search such as financial analyst, computer security, paralegal. The challenge here is Twitter’s profile limit of 160 characters. So make every word count!

Learn more

• For a comprehensive approach to using Twitter to find jobs, download a free copy of  “From Tweet to Hired.”

• For a good explanation of Twitter basics, see Impowerage’s 3-part series, Senior’s Twitter Guide: Why Seniors Should Use Twitter.