Twitter can be an important component of your efforts to find a new job opportunity. This deck includes an overview of Twitter, how it's being used both by recruiters and job seekers, and describes various tools, techniques and services to support the job search process.

1. Twitter and the
Job Search
Includes an Introduction to Twitter
for New Users
© March 2010
David Swinney, Social Media Specialist

2. The Big 3 Social Networks

3. Big 3 Usage Comparison
More than 50% of updates are posted via mobile and web-based tools other than Twitter.com.

4. Twitter 101
It’s All About the Dialogue!

5. What is Twitter?
 A social network An information network
where everyday, millions of users create,
share and discover ideas
 Users
• Share their experiences, both good and bad
• Provide feedback on recent events
• Learn about exclusive deals or offers
• Get customer service

6. How Does Twitter Work?
 Write and read messages of up to 140
characters, including all punctuation and
spaces
 Messages (tweets) are public
 Decide which accounts you want to
receive messages from

7. Twitter Statistics February 22, 2010
Twitter hits 50M tweets per day

8. Twitter Statistics

9. Twitter Statistics

10. Before You Start
 Listen first
 Decide how you want to engage
 No account is required to search at
search.twitter.com
 Search for your company, professional
interest(s), and a few key topics in your field
 Filter geographically to increase relevancy

11. Twitter’s New Home Page

12. Getting Started With Twitter
 Sign up for an account
 Choose a short,
memorable name
 Fill out your profile
completely and include
a picture
◦ Helps people recognize
and trust your account

13. Key Terms
 A tweet is an individual message
 To follow somebody is to subscribe to their
tweets
 A DM (direct message) is a private message
on Twitter
 To RT (retweet) is to repost a valuable
message from somebody else on Twitter and
give them credit
 Trending topics are the most-discussed
terms on Twitter at any given moment

14. Twitter Lingo
 @username is a public message to or
about an individual
 A hashtag—the # symbol followed by a
term and included in tweets—is a way of
categorizing all the posts on a topic
 Shortened URLs—To fit links into the
short messages, Twitter shrinks some
URLs down automatically

15. The Twitter Interface

16. Twitter Overview
 Your tweets make
up a timeline
 Your home page
shows a list of
recent tweets by
those that you
follow
 People who
subscribe to your
timeline are your
―followers‖
 Following back is
optional
 You can tweet or
respond publicly or
privately via DM

17. What Should You Tweet?
 People like
◦ tips, links to interesting stories/blog
posts, and a good sense of humor
◦ the human touch and will appreciate
posts with your thoughts and
experiences more than you think
◦ when you say hello, and respond to their
questions, comments, praise, complaints
and jokes

18. Finding People to Follow

19. Finding People to Follow
 Use e-mail addresses from your contact
list to see who you know is already on
Twitter
 Use search.twitter.com to find other
people that you know
 Use twellow.com and wefollow.com
(organized by industry and interest)
◦ Look for people to follow
◦ List yourself
 See who is recommended by people that
you follow (#ff, #followfriday)

20. Twitter Lists Tutorial
http://help.twitter.com/entries/76460-how-to-use-twitter-lists

21. Twitter Lists to Follow
http://www.listorious.com/

22. Twitter Value Proposition
To understand the value of Twitter and gain
benefit from your involvement, give more
than you expect to receive.
Dave Taylor,
DaveTaylorOnline.com

23. Twitter Best Practices
 Build relationships
◦ Listen for comments about you
◦ Respond to comments and queries
◦ Ask questions
◦ Post links to things people would find
interesting
◦ Retweet messages you would like to share
◦ Use a friendly, casual tone
◦ Don’t spam people

24. Twitter Best Practices
 Be nice
◦ Acknowledge information sources
◦ Converse and connect
◦ Build a trusted group
◦ Return favors without being asked
◦ Be sensitive to others
◦ Respect everyone

25. Twitter Help

26. Desktop Third-Party Tools
TweetDeck

27. Browser-based Third-Party Tools
HootSuite

28. TweetDeck vs. HootSuite

29. HootSuite TweetDeck
User Interface Updating one or more multiple Keep track of multiple social networks
networks is easier in a single window
Adding URLs is easier
Scheduled Supported Not supported
Updates
Speed Web-based Memory hog
Updates less frequently
URL Shorteners Single shortener (ow.ly) 4 different shorteners supported (bit.ly)
Photos Limited to uploading a picture file Integrates with 3 different services
Statistics Detailed statistics (but only for Only available through supported URL
Twitter) shorteners (bit.ly)
Additional Social Supports multiple Twitter Supports multiple Twitter accounts,
Networks accounts, LinkedIn, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Facebook
Facebook Fan Pages, and Ping.fm
Twitter Interface URL shortener separate from Easy and fast
tweet dialog; multiple clicks for
scheduling tweets
Multiple Easy to add multiple users and Does not support multiple users per
Accounts/Users control accounts they update account
Twitter User Most of the actions are available, On any tweet, you can perform any
Features but not all action you can do from Twitter
http://sazbean.com/2010/02/04/review-tweetdeck-vs-hootsuite/

30. Twitter Mobile
 Applications available for
◦ iPhone/iPod Touch
 Tweetie
 HootSuite
◦ Android
◦ BlackBerry
◦ Windows Phone

31. Using Twitter in
the Job Search

32. How Companies Use Twitter to Find
Candidates
 Many big companies list job openings on
Twitter
 Cheaper and less-crowded alternative to
job boards
 Allows them to
◦ target social media-savvy job hunters
◦ convey an innovative image

33. How Candidates Use Twitter to Find
Fobs
 Follow feeds that aggregate jobs from
multiple companies
 Use Twitter search to research prospective
employers
 Locate/connect with individuals who work
at targeted companies
 Interact directly with companies' recruiters
 More convenient than job boards

34. Maximizing Twitter for the Job
Search
 Connect your Twitter feed to LinkedIn
 Follow people in your field to be
connected and informed on industry
news and trends
 Create your follower list by posting
regular updates on topics of interest
 Build your network by following relevant
groups, associations and professional lists

35. Twitter – LinkedIn Integration
 Twitter to LinkedIn
◦ Add your Twitter account to LinkedIn
◦ Designate which tweets are displayed as your
LinkedIn status
Twitter Settings: https://www.linkedin.com/secure/settings?twitterSettings=&

36. Twitter – LinkedIn Integration
 Twitter to LinkedIn
◦ Use #in or #li hashtag
◦ Add to any part of a tweet
◦ Use at anytime; will override existing settings

37. Twitter – LinkedIn Integration
 LinkedIn to Twitter
◦ Check the box next to the Twitter icon on
the LinkedIn home page
◦ Updates will be posted to Twitter

38. Maximizing Twitter for the Job
Search
 Use tools such as JobDeck
◦ Allows job seekers to search specific topics
relative to an industry
 Create a Twitter list
◦ Add companies you’re interested in working for
 Utilize Tweetafile.com
◦ Share/send your resume when requested
 Spend a minimum of15 minutes daily
◦ posting tweets
◦ reviewing comments by others in your field

39. Desktop Third-Party Tools
JobDeck

40. Use TweetDeck as a Dashboard

41. Job-Related Twitter Feed Resources
 101 Best Twitter Feeds for Job Hunters
◦ http://greengigs.blogspot.com/2009/02/101-best-twitter-feeds-
for-job-hunters.html
 100 Useful Twitter Tools and Feeds for Your Job
Search
◦ http://www.jobprofiles.org/library/job-search/100-useful-
twitter.htm
 101 Twitter Feeds to Help You Land a Job
◦ http://www.jobprofiles.org/library/job-
search/100_twitter_feeds_for_job_search.htm

43. Thank You
David Swinney
Social Media Specialist
david.swinney@gmail.com
http://davidswinney.com
http://twitter.com/davidswinney
http://linkedin.com/in/davidswinney
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