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Best-Kept Secret Twitter Tips for Job Search (Part 9)

bikram — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 16:47:00 +0000

Social media is all about catching attention followed by engaging in conversation, which in turn will help you build trust that will result in a job for you. This is how we operate in the social scene. It may look a lot of work, and in the beginning it is a lot of work, but once you get hang of it, social media participation becomes a second nature — and it cease to appear as work.

Since last couple of posts in the series on building rapport with prospective employers, I have been talking about twitter etiquette, which I will continue in this post as well. A sound knowledge of particulars of etiquettes related to twitter is necessary to make it big in here.

Check your language for appropriateness

Seeing the informal nature of twitter, it is easy for us to give in to the temptation of using informal language (read slang), wrong spelling, and misplaced grammar when tweeting. You should avoid doing this. It can spell doom for your twitter job-search dream.

Advice when asked

Many a time, people sends out a tweet to anyone and everyone asking for advice on certain topic. Seize this opportunity and make big of it. Participate in the conversation and hang in there until the discussion is devoid of all its juices.

Use shortening services

Use URL shortening service when posting a link in your tweets. Shortening services like Bit.ly, Tiny URL, etc., will not only help you keep your URL short, but it will also help you track the clicks. You should also use these services to post pictures and videos on twitter. It will also help you keep your tweets clutter free.

With these tips, our discussion on twitter job-search etiquette comes to an end. You will get desired result, if you apply the tips I have shared so far. Each one of them is very valuable.

Best-Kept Secret Twitter Tips for Job Search (Part 7)

bikram — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 20:35:31 +0000

So far in the series on twitter job search, we have covered branding and networking, now it is time to talk about etiquette. Etiquette plays a major role when it comes to getting a job, through twitter or otherwise. It would be in your best interest to mind your manners, as no one likes a person who cannot behave nicely in the perceived shadow of anonymity that twitter or any other website provides.

Use direct message or DM, as it is known on twitter

Do not start sending confidential or sensitive information on the twitter’s public timeline using @ symbol. This is akin to taking someone’s bedroom talk to nearest pub. No one is going to like it, and you by doing so are risking your reputation. Instead, send sensitive or personal information in a direct message. Send your résumé link, interview request, etc., in DM only.

Hit Reply

Many a time job seekers do not pay much attention to DMs sent to them, or to the messages sent to them using @ symbol. Always, always, always respond to all direct and indirect messages sent to you. This will paint a picture of a guy who is helpful, friendly, and prompt. These are the traits of an employee that anyone will like to hire.

Count your words before you write

Twitter allows you only 140 characters that also include spaces and special characters, so be wise in the word selection. 140 characters are all you have, and it is on you to decide how you will make each character add to the value your tweet will deliver. Do not use unnecessary superlatives, adjectives, and adverts. I will rather suggest you to stay away from every word that has nothing to add to the discussion.

Go and check your tweets, and DMs to see if your tweets and DMs meet the standard set above or not. Fix them, if they don’t, and continue using twitter the way you do, if you do not find any problem.

Best-Kept Secret Twitter Tips for Job Search (Part 5)

bikram — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 03:53:12 +0000

So far in the series, I have talked about the branding aspect of twitter job search, which is the base on which your job search efforts will rest. In this and subsequent blog posts, I will talk about the networking aspect, which will bring people to your profile. This subsequently will mean job for you.

Use twitter search to find the right people

This is as important as conducing a Google search. Twitter search will not only help you find people to network with, but it will also help you search for jobs. Just type in the keyword or hash tag to find the right person to network with. Do not add just anyone because you can. You will not want to get 1000s of useless tweets every single day.

Do not follow everyone back

This is a classic mistake. Most of the newbie do exactly that and end up becoming frustrated of twitter because of the low quality tweets in the timeline. You should follow people back, but only those whose tweets you want to receive. Do not follow everyone. You start doing that and you will start getting more invites. Spammers love this, so do not be the love interest of a spammer.

Follow your friends’ connections

Check out whom your friends are sending DM (direct message) to. These people could be the potential target of your networking effort. Keep a close watch on whom your friends are talking to, and follow those whom you deem suitable.

Promote Yourself

Promoting yourself is an important part of networking. Tell people who you are, and what you stand for. They will not know this if you do not tell them. Tweet links to your work, and add call to action in the tweet. This way you will be seeding your expertise in the community, which definitely will fetch desired result.

Networking takes time and effort, but the return is always good, so do not hesitate in putting time into it. I want you to start working on above suggestions now. You will see the difference.

Best-Kept Secret Twitter Tips for Job Search (Part 4)

bikram — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 03:19:27 +0000

So far in the series, we have talked about branding your profile on twitter through customizing your background, setting your URL, and writing your Bio, etc. In the fourth part of twitter tips series, I am going to talk the content part of branding. I will tell you how you can keep yourself in the good book of your prospective employers by being responsible in twitter usage.

First tweet then follow

What most people do after joining twitter is they start following as many people as they can and as soon as they can. This is a very bad strategy to increase your twitter follower count. A good one is to start with posting informative and entertaining tweets followed by following people in the fields of your interest. This way you will get more active followers who will give you more opportunity.

No spamming please

Do not start tweeting in bulk as people with “spammer” tag does. Act with moderation and tweet only what is really, really important. If you want people to hire you for a job then do not post stuffs that will take away from your image.

Talking of quality content, I will recommend you to record a video of you talking about what you do, what is your qualification, and how much work experience you have, etc., and tweet this video cover letter once or twice a day.

Do not act desperate

This will not do any good. Tweeting too much may force people to ignore you, if not unfollow you. There is no need to post your résumé five times a day. Tweet your résumé or video cover letter maximum twice a day. That is enough.

You should not deviate from this tweeting practice for even a single day. Have patience, result will come.

Making Each Tweet Matter

SamElli — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 17:50:46 +0000

I wrote about using Twitter to build your business interests before. But that information is almost useless if you don’t know how to write effective tweets. You have to know what you’re doing, and the inner workings of Twitter, in order to garner the most attention. The biggest part of building interest and your account, is using your tweets as effectively as possible.

Building an audience isn’t so much about what you write yourself, but how you communicate. Your Twitter account, if you’re using it to sell an idea, business, or product, needs to become a community forum. Your tweets are only useful if you can guarantee people are reading them. The way to do that is to build followers, and the best way to build followers is getting them involved.

Make use of Twitter’s search function. See what people are saying involving your concepts or business, and reply to them through your page. Ask questions, or comment on tweets that they’ve made regarding you. Start a running dialog, so that they’ll gain more interest and also mention you on their page, which will also build interest with a new audience.

Consider how useful the ability to re-tweet really is. By re-tweeting you draw attention to a comment someone else made, and put your own spin on the material. This will be noticed by the original tweeter, and your audience. Both can work to build the traffic on your page, and the more meaningful views you’ll garner.

Finally, everyone likes pictures, especially search engines. The more pictures you use, the more people will be drawn to your page. I’m not talking about pictures of anything. But try to upload meaningful and visually insightful pictures that relate to your Twitter page as often as possible. These will get more comments, and more chances for re-tweets. Both of which are necessary to build your page.