How to get a job using Twitter

The Twitter-sphere is a great resource for just about anything, and kick-starting your career is no exception. Here’s how you can use it to land your dream job.
Credit: Esther Vargas – Flickr
Admittedly, with recruitment platforms like LinkedIn on the scene, Twitter perhaps isn’t the first online platform you’re likely to turn to when hunting for a job.

However, whilst Twitter might not be built specifically for job searching, there are a few things you can do with it that you can’t do on LinkedIn that will greatly improve your chances of getting noticed.

Twitter also tends to give a more genuine impression of your personality and interests, rather than just the experience you have under your belt, and this can be a deciding factor for many potential employers.

Whether you’re a Twitter rookie or a pro, turning to Twitter could expand your options. We’ll show you how!

And yes, before you ask, we also have a guide on how to use LinkedIn to land the perfect job. Don’t say we’re not good to ya!

6 ways to find a job using Twitter

1. Pimp your profile

   Think of your twitter profile as an opportunity to market yourself, and whether you’re going for a marketing-related position of not: it’s crucial you get this bit right!
   Whilst your profile needs to be employer-friendly, remember it isn’t a CV, so keep things informal and let your personality shine through as much as possible.
   Your bio needs to be concise (160 characters to be precise!) so take your time to come up with something snappy and use hashtagged keywords to make yourself searchable to employers (e.g. ‘Marketing graduate and #fashionblogger from #Manchester. Coffee & Towie addict’).
   Make sure you also have a decent pic (no sparrow pouting, please!) and a cover image that shows something of your irresistible charm! Like a moth to a flame, this should help attract and impress any potential employers.

2. Link to your other sources

   Another good idea is to include a link to an online CV underneath your bio, or even a direct link to your LinkedIn profile. That way, you’ll be offering instant access to you-the-potential-perfect-candidate and you-the-interesting-thought-leader all on one page.
   If you have anything else interesting worth linking to, such as a blog, a site you write for or even your Facebook profile, now’s your chance!
   If you do catch the eye of a recruiter, it’s great if they can instantly check out your qualifications and experience in a bit more detail, and get a more rounded impression of who you are.
   Need to polish up your CV before you put it online? Check out our popular guide to creating the most impressive CV possible.

3. Build your network

   Unfortunately, the one drawback with using Twitter for job hunting is that you can’t become a pro overnight – building your network takes time, but it’s worth it in the long run!
   Start by following companies you’re interested in, as well as staff who work at those companies and other ‘thought leaders‘ in the industries you want to work in (thought leaders are people with a big online presence who the public go to for opinion in their field of expertise). You’ll find that a lot of smaller companies will turn to online communities first with vacancies, so keep your eyes peeled!
   Some larger businesses will even have a separate Twitter account for job vacancies, for example @BBCCareers is the BBC’s jobs account, funnily enough!
   Whereas adding staff you don’t know would be considered weird on LinkedIn, this is perfectly acceptable on Twitter and they will only be flattered that you chose to follow them.
   Don’t stop there either – start engaging with tweets they post by liking, commenting and retweeting to show you’re genuinely interested in their content. This is likely to get you on their radar!

4. Search and hashtag

   Make as much use of Twitter’s search tool as you possibly can. It’s pretty effective, as you can search for specific terms such as ‘London hiring journalist’ and a whole load of related tweets at various companies you might never have even heard of before.
   Generally, the most effective equation would be:
   location + ‘hiring’/’vacancy’/’job’ + industry keyword
   You can also add in levels of seniority, such as intern/junior/freelance to narrow your search a little.
   Go mad with the hashtag searches to see what’s currently on offer.  Terms like #nowhiring or #jobsearch will also work nicely, and it also helps to narrow your search down by making the hashtags industry-specific, like #engineeringjobs or #salesjobs. This will also help you find more potential recruiters.

5. Be someone worth following

   Calling yourself a thought leader might be a bit far-fetched, but it’s important that you start sharing genuinely interesting content to show that you care about keeping up to date with news in your industry, as well as what’s happenin’ more generally in the world.
   Would you follow yourself? If not, step yo game up!
   Again, remember to include industry-related or trending hashtags to make yourself more searchable across the Twitter-sphere.

6. Start engaging

   Simply following relevant people and organisations won’t achieve much. Once you’ve singled out potentially useful contacts, start connecting with them by engaging with the content they share – like, comment and reshare their tweets.
   Help other users where you can by answering any questions or adding opinion or career expertise you might have. This will also help to demonstrate your capabilities, and don’t be scared to ask for help back – whether this be asking for advice or even a contact.
   Follow tweeted links to blog posts and leave comments, or tweet them any thoughts or links that they might find interesting. This will help you get noticed: Your goal is to become an industry expert… or at least tweet like one!
   A great way to get noticed is to reshare content provided by a company you’re interested in, say something interesting or complimentary about it and remember to tag the company in the repost thanking them for sharing. This is some pretty effective ego bait, so if this doesn’t get you noticed, we don’t know what will!

Hopefully this has given you some inspiration to get your Twitter job hunt off the ground!

Whilst we’re on the topic, have you tried adding a recruitment agency into your job search? Check out our guide on how to use recruiters to find a job. Good luck!