Tips 23-37
Twitter Tips
23. Look Like You’ve Been Using It
There’s nothing worse than a hiring manager Googling you, clicking on your Twitter, and finding that it hasn’t been updated in three years (or that you clearly tweeted 100 times in the past day just to make it look populated).
24. Be a Thought Leader
While LinkedIn is a great place to show off your professional experience, Twitter is a great place to establish yourself as a thought leader in your industry. So, focus less on your personal accomplishments and more on sharing great articles about your field, commenting on news in your industry, and having a conversation with other major players. Mashable explains: “When you start to situate yourself as an expert in a specific subject area (for example, in comedy or politics), you’ll notice that people will begin to follow you for advice and expertise… As you start building your ‘brand’ on Twitter, think about why people are following or talking to you. Are you an expert in a particular industry? Are you opinionated? Funny? Do you share great news articles or interesting photos?”
25. But Don’t Just Share Your Own Stuff
Nothing looks worse—or turns off followers more—than a Twitter stream just promoting your own thing. So make sure to mix it up to really interact with the community! Share shout-outs (and links) to awesome projects your colleagues are working on. Re-tweet articles that others have shared that you really loved, too. I know it may seem counterintuitive that doing this will help you promote yourself, but trust us: You have to give to get.
26. Show Some Personality!
Also unlike LinkedIn, you should absolutely show off a little of what makes you unique on Twitter. Obviously you want to keep it professional—no cursing, telling your favorite kind-of-inappropriate jokes, or sharing articles that could be offensive or divisive—but consider using some of your tweeting time to share articles about your hobbies, comments on your favorite TV shows, or funny observations from your day-to-day life. Being a real person will make it much easier to connect with new people—and hiring managers looking at your social media profile will be able to see what a great, fun co-worker you’d be for potential jobs.
27. Follow Job Search Experts
Following job search experts is the obvious way to use Twitter while searching for jobs—and it’s a good one! Doing so will keep your feed constantly updated with new advice and inspiration to help you land that next gig.
28. Follow Company Jobs Accounts
Many companies have specific Twitter accounts dedicated to their hiring initiatives—and following them is a great way to stay on top of any new jobs. If it is a smaller company or doesn’t have a dedicated jobs account, following the main company account for places you’d like to work is a good idea.
29. Follow Major Players in Your Field
Doing this is a great way to start building a community, start interacting with others in your field, and—if they follow you back—start being seen as a thought leader. A great way to begin engaging with strangers on Twitter is to re-tweet one of their posts that you like or reply to an article they posted thanking them for sharing or giving your two cents. Mashable explains: “[Twitter] is great for connecting meaningfully with people and companies you don’t already know, which is much more difficult to do on platforms such as Facebook and LinkedIn. You can develop a rapport with people you may not have access to in real life.”
30. Follow People at Your Dream Companies
Besides following the experts and the companies, you should follow people who work at your dream companies, especially if they work in the departments of jobs you’re interested in. First of all, they will often tweet about job openings, helping you find them before other people do. Second, they’ll often help you stay abreast of company happenings, making you look on top of your game during interviews. Finally, there’s a small chance that you’ll develop an actual connection by interacting with them on Twitter—potentially giving you an in at the company.
31. Create Lists of All the Amazing People You Follow
Consider using Twitter’s list function to both help you keep up to date with the people who really matter amid the noise, and to show said people how much you admire them!
32. Don’t Over-Interact
While it’s totally fine to follow, reply to, favorite, and share tweets from complete strangers in an effort to build up your network while looking for jobs, you also don’t want to come on too strong. What does that mean? Don’t join conversations just to promote yourself, don’t favorite or retweet everything a person posts, don’t beg someone to follow you so you can direct message them, and don’t assume connecting on Twitter means you really know someone.
33. Use the Hashtag Search Function
Keep an eye out on Twitter (and other social media platforms, for that matter) for hashtags relating to jobs. Employers who want to cast a wide net will often tweet out job applications with accompanying hashtags. You can also use that search bar to look for terms that apply to the job you want. For best results, type in words like “#jobs” or “#hiring” and other specifics that apply to your field and location; for example, “writer” and “New York City.”
34. Use Other Search Tools to Dig Deeper
Twitter’s search function is, admittedly, imperfect. Luckily, there are plenty of external tools ready to help you out.
35. Use Keywords in Your Bio
Recruiters sometimes use these same search tools on social media, so make it easier for them to find you for potential jobs by putting keywords related to your industry in your bio! If nothing else, it will help people more quickly understand you when they stumble across you or want to learn more after you reply to one of their tweets.
36. Participate in Twitter Chats
In case you have no idea what we’re talking about, Twitter chats are online conversations, usually taking place around the same time every week, and centered around a hashtag—and they’re a great way to really build your network (and followers) on Twitter! Writer Liz Furl explains, “Through hashtag chats, you gain access to leaders in your field, learn things you wouldn’t have otherwise, and are given a platform to promote yourself and your endeavors. By participating, you’ll be rewarded with insider knowledge, as well as the chance to network with other people who share your interests or business ventures.”
37. Use Twitter to Improve Your In-Person Networking
Going to a conference or other big networking event? You can use Twitter to connect with the people at the event even better! Many such events will have a hashtag that will allow you to see who else is talking about it and what they are saying. You can share your thoughts, interact with others, see who’s interesting before the event even starts, and then ping them to meet up IRL once you’re there. Herman shares how she makes this work for her.
