Following on from last weeks blog about using Twitter for job searching, this week here are a few more ideas.

Tell Twitter you need a job. Using Twitter to announce that you are looking for work gets the message out quickly and to an audience that you could never hope to reach with just an email. The information is not reliant on an email being read, it’s there for all to see in 140 letters or less. In the same way that you are looking for work with keyword searches , likewise companies are looking to recruit. Select your ‘follows’ by researching them, checking that they are the right people to follow, this will build a good network for you to read and learn from. Follow your industry and recruiters within your area of expertise helps improve the possibility of someone noticing when you tweet that you need a job or that someone that you follow will know of an opening. Choose your ‘follows’ wisely, focus on people who can help with your job search and don’t just add for the numbers.

Make your Twitter presence a balanced one. Try to involve all aspects of yourself in the Twitter feed. It’s nice to see the person behind the words, with some personal ’140s’, but don’t concentrate on this entirely. It’s good to add some words of value, whether it is links to your blog, things you have found valuable and think others might benefit from or retweeting other people’s words of wisdom. Don’t let your content fall into the ‘spam’ category, there is nothing more likely to lose your following or get you ignored. Aim to impress your prospective hirers and add value in your tweets.

At this point, if you feel you need to keep your work life and private life separate, set up two individual accounts and organise settings of the account to make sure that people need to be authorised to view your private account. Better still, don’t put it on the internet if you have any doubts, the web has an awful habit of coming back and biting you.

In your bio, briefly describe yourself and include a link to your site, ensure the information that people will be directed to is professional and honest. If I find that the information I’m sent to is in anyway unprofessional, I don’t feel the need to follow them. Your bio on Twitter can be linked to your blog, website, LinkedIn profile or a visual CV. Don’t miss this opportunity to impress people, letting them know all about you and your abilities.

Twitter has the ability to reach an audience that you would be hard put to match in any other way and on a personal level too. But remember if you don’t want the word spreading don’t put it on the internet.

Do you have any experience of Twitter either for job search or employment? Can we help with your Social Media experience? Email us or telephone Tamara on 02034688594.