Tweet! Tweet! How to Find a Job Using Twitter

Twitter Goals of workshop: To understand the value of Twitter in a job search To learn the Twitter basics To share strategies for leveraging Twitter for your job search

What is Twitter? Twitter is a social networking and microblogging service that allows you to answer the question, "What are you doing?" by sending or reading short text messages 140 characters in length, called "tweets", to your friends, or "followers." Http://tweeternet.com/#usefulness The short format of the tweet is a defining characteristic of the service You can share information with people that you wouldn't normally exchange email or IM messages with, opening up your circle of contacts to an ever-growing community of like-minded people. After all, everything is public!

Why Twitter? Why is it beneficial for a job search? Helps you network and discover new people, new companies, create a community for collaboration, etc. Helps you establish expertise in an industry and share knowledge with others in the industry Helps with your visibility Allows you to access the jobs posted via Twitter Helps you research and stay current on topic(s) of interest within your industry

Twitter Basics Definitions… Tweet- A message posted via Twitter containing 140 characters or fewer. Reply- A Tweet posted in reply to another user’s message, usually posted by clicking the “reply” button next to their Tweet in your timeline. Always begins with a @username Retweet- A Tweet by another user, forwarded to you by someone you follow. Often used to spread news or share valuable findings. Abbreviated RT Follow- To follow someone on Twitter means to subscribe to their Tweets or updates on the site. @- the sign used to call out usernames in Tweets. Ex: Hello @Twitter!. When a username is preceded by the @ sign, it becomes a link to a Twitter profile. Hashtag- The # symbol is used to make keywords or topics in a Tweet. Lists- Curated groups of other Twitter users. Used to tie specific individuals into a group on your Twitter account. Displayed on right side menu of your homepage

Twitter Feed Updates from those you follow will show up on your homepage. This list is called a “Twitter feed” and it makes it easy for you to see all the most recent tweets of those you follow These are only posts or retweets from those you follow (not replies or direct messages they’ve sent)

ReTweets Retweet = RT It’s simply the practice of passing a Twitter message, which you want to forward, along to your followers (and still giving credit to the person who wrote it.) To retweet, simply select the ReTweet option next to a Tweet.

Replying to a Tweet Click on the Tweet you want to reply to Click reply Twitter automatically puts the reply key “@...” into your dialogue box

Hashtags By adding a hashtag (#) before a keyword in your tweet, your message will be easily tracked by someone interested in that specific keyword/topic/event, etc. The reason why it is called a hashtag is that in most English speaking countries outside of North America the # symbol is called a hash. Since you are “tagging” a keyword, it’s called a hashtag. Examples: #jobs #careers #worldcup

Who to Follow? How to find people to follow on Twitter: View Suggestions (based on who you already follow) Browse Interest (entertainment, business, charity, etc.) Find friends (via your LinkedIn, email address book, etc.) Search button (by company, field, job type, region, etc.) Looks at who the people you’re following are following Look at who’s following the people you’re following Go live!

Popular Job Search Profiles on Twitter Tweetmyjobs TimsStrategy MonsterCareers AvidCareerist BrazenCareerist JobHuntOrg PhyllisMufson CareerRocketeer CareerBright HRMargo These are just a few!

Sharing vs. Over Sharing A recent tweet by one would-be Cisco employee proves that when it comes to placing a permanent black mark on your resume via the Internet, Twitter is now the tool of choice. To illustrate, here’s the tweet the now Web-infamous "theconnor" shared with the world: "Cisco just offered me a job! Now I have to weigh the utility of a fatty paycheck against the daily commute to San Jose and hating the work.” It wasn’t long before Tim Levad, a "channel partner advocate" for Cisco Alert, shared this open response: "Who is the hiring manager. I’m sure they would love to know that you will hate the work. We here at Cisco are versed in the web.” (Source: Helen A.S. Popkin, MSNBC http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29796962/)

Do’s and Don’ts Do be up front about Your Twitter aspirations: be up front about who you are in your profile description, about who you represent and what you plan to talk about. Do be personal (to a point): You shouldn't be afraid to be personal in your Twitter account but your personal tweets should have meaning to your audience. Tweet about issues that are fairly universal to your list of followers and that will make them feel welcome to reply to with their own comments. Do tweet! No one will find you, or want to continue following you, if you don’t offer them content. Do interact with others: engage the Twitter community.

Do’s and Don’ts Don’t overdo it on the number of tweets: Tweet regularly but don’t overflow others’ homepages with your continuous tweets. Don’t bad mouth anyone: Anyone can find these and you don’t want that to hurt you down the road Don’t post inappropriate pictures, etc. Don’t be too private: 90% of people don’t use the privacy feature on Twitter. Open accounts encourage more listening, learning, and sharing. Don’t be TOO open: for sticky situations, use the DM feature

How can you make yourself visible? Include a link to your resume, LinkedIn page, or website in your bio Use keywords in your bio Link your Twitter to your LinkedIn page - tweets will go to both! Reply to tweets Mention others in your tweets Retweet others’ tweets Use hashtags (keywords) that others are using, or that are industry specific Send direct messages Leave comments on others’ blogs. that are linked on their Twitter profile Follow the companies, organizations, professional groups and thought leaders that represent or connect you with the industry, occupation and region related to your job search.

Focus on Your Desired Outcome Ask yourself, ”What outcome am I looking for from Twitter?” Brainstorm as many things as you’d like to achieve with Twitter Refine your list to make it more realistic Suggestions: I want to build my personal brand I want to be seen as an expert in my niche of (insert niche here) I want Robert Scoble, Gary Veynerchuk and iJustine to notice me I want to drive traffic to my business I want to find new readers for my blog Source: http://www.twitip.com/category/twitter-for-beginners/ http://www.twitip.com/category/twitter-for-beginners/ Here are a few suggestions for what you might including in your list: I want to build my personal brand I want to be seen as an expert in my niche of (insert niche here) I want Robert Scoble, Gary Veynerchuk and iJustine to notice me I want to drive traffic to my business I want to find new readers for my blog I want to document my passion for (insert favorite hobby here) I want to communicate what I’m working on with my workmates I want to find friends with similar interests to me The key is to have some objectives in mind when starting out with Twitter. Once you have these goals and objectives in mind you are in a much better position to use Twitter effectively. With these objectives in mind you’ll find that other aspects of using Twitter begin to fall into line. what your Tweet about will become clearer, who you follow and interact with will make more sense, the way and places that you promote yourself will become more evident, you’ll make better choices on the types of Twitter tools you need to use how often you should tweet will become more obvious

Platforms for Use: TweetDeck TweetDeck is one of the free applications for Twitter, allowing you to organize, update, and essentially handle all the @replies, direct messages, retweets, and updates within your Twitter account You can create columns for each part of your Twitterverse. For example, you can create a column just for Direct Messages and lists you create You can set up saved interests and topics, by using (#) to indicate a topic

How to shorten URL’s Use one of the many online tools when you want to post a link on twitter, but you need it to be shortened to be able to fit it in your tweet!

How to post pictures Use one of the many online tools when you want to post a link to a picture within your tweet!

Make a Plan! What will you use Twitter for? Industry focus? Who is one Twitterer you will start following? What is one way you will make yourself visible? Thank You! Please complete an evaluation & please shut down your computer

Other Online Resources for Your Job Search Check out JVS’s new job search guide, The Career Gateway, to access more online resources. Get help with your job search, including: Skills, interests, and values assessments Career exploration tools How to set and achieve long term and short term goals Networking tips How to market yourself, creative ideas for portfolios Cover letter and resume templates And much more! Go to gatewaytocareers.com to get started today! This is a free, online job seeker’s guide that has been created by the International Association of JVS. We’ve then customized the website to have specific information for the Bay Area. The website has resources and worksheets that will help you manage your career and your job search. We know that you can’t always come in in person to access our services, so we are trying to expand what we can offer online. This way, in between strategy groups and workshops, you can continue to get support with your job search. You will not be put on a mailing list and we will not share your email addresses. You’re also not creating an account—the website doesn’t remember you from visit to visit. It’s just for data collection purposes.   These are the 5 steps of the Job Seeker’s Guide. There’s an introduction, step 0, which is called Manage Your Career. Then there’s 1. Assess Yourself, 2. Explore Careers, 3. Create a Plan and Set Goals, 4. Expand Skills, and 5. Find a Job. Each step provides different resources for where you are in your job search. This is just a small introduction to what is available on the website. To learn more, go to gatewaytocareers.com and enter in your email and Northern California zip code, or come to the monthly workshop on the Gateway here at JVS!