How To Tweet Your Way to a Job Lead
The value of your tweets. Now that you have set up your Twitter account, what do you tweet to get closer to an actual job lead? There are many steps you can take to job search via Twitter, but in this blog post, I will focus on your tweets’ content because a great tweet can propel you closer to a job–a bad tweet can help you lose the job you currently have…AND QUICKLY!
Microblogging as part of your job search toolkit. Project and strengthen your professionalism, brand, and expertise. If you provide valuable and spot-on content, you will gain influential followers. If your Twitter “followers” find your content valuable and insightful, they may recommend others follow you or, better yet RT) re-tweet you, helping you expand your reach.
Don’t tweet anything you would not say in person to your future boss. For some odd reason, people share more than they should via their tweets. You should be even more cautious because what goes online stays online forever! Be tactful and remember that employers will Google you!
Stay on topic and provide helpful content. Say you are seeking employment as a pediatric RN, so stay on that subject. Tweet about your healthcare article and your thoughts on excellent pediatric care. Provide advice and share links to interesting blog posts. You may even tweet a job lead you did not pursue. Don’t. Please. Don’t start tweeting about…say…your trip to the grocery store or romantic relationships. (I know the little Twitter box request “What’s happening,g” but don’t answer that!) Sure, engage in conversation, but always be cognizant of what you’re discussing.
Incorporate keywords in your tweets. Include jargon/keywords specific to your target industry. Your tweets will become pages on the Internet, so be sure to optimize your job search tweets for the web. What are keywords? Keywords are industry-specific nouns and noun phrases, such as tech skills and job titles. However, perhaps the most imperative reason for incorporating keywords in your tweets is that your tweets help project your expertise.
Hashtags. Adding a hashtag (#) to your industry keyword (e.g., #nurse, #CEO, #sourcing manager, etc.) will help professionals within your industry find you when they conduct an on-topic search.
Sample Keywords and Hashtags in Tweets:
#Nursing advice: age-appropriate bedside care is even more critical when dealing with #pediatric patients.
#Sales #management: A client-focused presentation is the key to closing deals in a tough economy.
#Webdesign: beautiful layouts that are also search engine friendly are essential for great #SEO.
You should aim to keep tweets even shorter than the allowed 140 characters to invite re-tweets (RTs). If someone does not have to edit your tweet to re-tweet it, that person is more likely to! More RTs mean more people will learn you are job searching.
Retweets brand you, too. Once you RT a message, this tweet becomes part of your Twitter stream, so be selective. What you choose to re-tweet demonstrates your thought process and decision-making and illustrates what captures your attention. (I know, Twitter is supposed to be fun, but creating career opportunities in such a challenging job market is work…and a strategic endeavor.)
Tweet your resume in moderation. Yes, you are on Twitter for a job search — I understand. Yet, don’t tweet your resume with every other tweet. Hold back a bit. Find folks to follow, share tweets, gain followers, network, then tweet your resume once a week and ask others to RT it. People help those they like–not those who annoy them.
The ideal situation would be for you to have a link from your Twitter bio to your resume (on LinkedIn or VisualCV.com). As you tweet brilliant information, your “followers” will be interested enough to click on that link!
Twitter is just one tool. You can use Twitter to network and create your own job opportunities. Never wait for someone to magically tweet an excellent lead for you. Just like your resume, cover letter, and other career marketing tools — Twitter is just one tool.
As always, if you need assistance or have questions.
Rosa Elizabeth Vargas
Master Resume Writer
www.creatingprints.com
Good information….
An Objective is statement that presents a vision, guiding principles and future career aspirations for the prospective candidate.It also sets the tone of the entire resume. It tells the reader who you are in a single concise way that encompasses the very essence of your abilities.