How Twitter can enhance your job search

Toyin Komolafe

The several social media platforms are good avenues to know about opportunities around you and to also get to meet people within your field.

Obviously, the first and easiest step is to create an account, the second and  less followed step is to actually use it. There are too many job seekers out there who create their accounts and forget about it. With every new internship, job or accomplishment, your profile should be updated.

Twitter is a good medium that will push your job search, though it appears so informal, the truth is that a lot of  job seekers have been able to use Twitter to their advantage.

Create a Twitter account and start following people relevant to your chosen field. This is part of building a personal brand and joining the conversation and community you need to be involved with. For anyone going into journalism, marketing, advertising, public relations or communication of any kind this is very important.

Here are few ways you can use Twitter to enhance your job search:

Choose your Twitter Username carefully

You do not want to choose a Twiitter user name that doesn’t represent you well. Your name appears next to all of your tweets, and it is how people identify you on Twitter. In choosing your name, your option lies between your personal name which is best for professional individuals. Choose a Twitter name that supports your job search for as long as possible.

It is better you choose a Twiiter name you can use for as long as possible as changing your name may confuse your followers.

Twitter allows you 15 characters for your Username, not counting the @, and any combination of upper and lower case letters you want.  Also remember that your name will automatically be included in all retweets, so it is best you keep it short and catchy.

Avoid using punctuation, so as to keep your name easy to type on mobile devices. The only symbol that is allowed, however, is the underscore, but you may also avoid it may bring about typographical errors.

Twitter photo

Some of the points listed above also apply to your photo.  In your profile, there is photo or cover photo associated with it. As informal as Twitter may appear , it is good you take it seriously in your job search.

I wrote in an article on using Linkedin, where I gave specifications as regards the picture to use in your profile. It is advisable you use a headshot you use in your Profile.  Do not use pictures where you aren’t properly dressed, with a loud makeup on or where you are partying with your friends. Using a headshot that clearly shows your face will make it easy for people to recognise you your profile pops up enabling them to connect with you and those within your network and vice versa.

Write an excellent bio

Keywords, the words used by recruiters and employers to find people with the right skills, Twitter gives you 160 letters and spaces for your bio that appear at the top center of your Twitter home page, which pops up and is very noticeable to anyone who visits your page.

Complete your online profiles with education, work history, skills, and relevant interests that will help you shine. Make sure your profiles match each other and are consistent with the information on your resume. Finally, remove any photos, status updates, tweets, or other items that could compromise your image.

Tweet regularly                                                                    

Show that you are knowledgeable about your chosen area of field by sharing tweets in your area. Regular tweeting is a sign of an active, healthy profile. If you only tweet once a week, or once a month, it doesn’t show you are serious. Give people useful information and update your network on things that pick their interest, and they will consider you a valuable member of their community.

The quality of what you share will go a long way in growing a strong Twitter followership for you.

Talking on Twitter is different from every other social media site. It is fast-paced and you will have to fragment your ideas and sentence. It could be hectic, but it’s also fun.

Your Twitter messages can take any of the following

Tweet: a message you send out to everyone who follows you. This is the heart of Twitter communication.

Reply: a message you send out as a reply to a message you received. The @reply is a public message that mentions the Twitter username of the person. It shows up in the tweet stream of everyone who follows both of you, and on the @connect (mentions) page of the Twitter user.

Mention: a message you send out that mentions another Twitter username.

Direct message (DM): a message you send privately to another Twitter user. You can only send a DM to someone who follows you.

Retweet (RT): a message created and sent by someone else that you share with the people who follow you. Twitter makes it easy to share tweets.

Follow the Twitter job posting tweets

Some people spend so much time on the internet without really networking. There are many ways to use Twitter for your job search, hashtags and following related accounts will help you apart from following people in your network and having them follow you back.

Be diligent about finding people you’ve met or worked with and keep in contact with them through Twitter, LinkedIn and email. Check in with a quick message once in a while to keep those relationships strong.