Guest Post: Finding Career Opportunities via Twitter

Written by Ashlee Chisolm, Social Media Consultant

What do Nestlé, Merck, and Verizon have in common? They all post job openings on Twitter. Twitter, a micro-blogging tool where users communicate with each other through a series brief messages called “tweets”, is one of the most popular social networking sites. The following is a basic guide on how to use this site as a job search tool:

Follow Companies of Interest

This is not only a good idea for discovering career opportunities, but keeps you informed on company updates and events. The easiest way to find specific Twitter accounts is by using Twellow. Twellow is an online directory of Twitter users. You can search by keyword, location, and industry.  For example, if you’re interested in job openings at Nestlé you can type into the search engine something along the lines of “Nestle Recruiter” or “Nestle Jobs”.

Use Twitter’s Search Engine

Let’s say you were seeking a public relations job in New York City, you would enter keyword phrases such as“ nyc hiring pr”. The search engine will display all tweets with those keywords. The downside to this method is you could end up with numerous unrelated tweets. An easier, less cumbersome approach is employing Twitter job search applications such as TweetMyJobs.com; over 6,000 employers use TweetMyJobs to post available positions. The site also offers a mobile service that will text new positions as they become available.  Other sites to consider are:

• TwitterJobcast.com
• TwitJobSearch.com
• TwitterJobFinder.com

Create List

Keep yourself organized by placing all career related Twitter accounts on a list. This way you can focus on a continuous stream of openings. You can take this a step further by using HootSuite. Hoot Suite is a web based application that allows you to manage multiple social networking accounts from one location. It also allows you to view all of your Twitter lists in multiple columns.

Keep in mind, the most important aspect of Twitter is dialogue. Think of it as a never ending party; there are always people dropping in, conversing and building relationships. For more detailed information on conducting a Twitter job search, check out Mashable.com’s Twitter job search guide.