By Kate Levinson
[UPDATE: Check out this list of the top employers recruiting on Twitter. Very interesting. Thanks, Ken!]
I keep seeing these stories in the news, and sure, I think it’s cool that we have these new-ish tools at our disposable, especially in such a crappy time to try to find a job. But I’m a little skeptical. Are people really getting jobs through Facebook?
I thought I’d try it out. There’s a specific company that just might be the keeper of my dream job, so I sent a tweet out into cyberspace to see if anyone who follows me on Twitter might have a friend whose boyfriend has an uncle who has an ex-girlfriend who went to middle school with the CEO or anything. I just wanted a connection for an informational interview – not even a real job or interview – and I got nothing.
Social networking is cool. It’s trendy. And it seems like a great idea to apply it to the job search. But I don’t know anyone who’s gone from sad and jobless to ecstatic and employed because of a tweet or two.
Has anyone out there had job-search luck in the social media world?
4 comments:
what a great example of a social media reality check!
It makes me wonder whether -- when it comes to jobs -- the old rules of networking still hold true. It's who you know, and how well-connected they are.
I also wonder -- is there some "special" kind of tweeting strategy you'd need to do to attract the attention of a job network?
I have a feeling the old-school networking rules are going to hold true no matter what crazy, new-fangled technologies we come up with. If they help us build up those personal connections and networks, cool, but I doubt they'll replace them anytime soon.
And I have no idea what kind of tweeting will get me hired, but I'm definitely not doing it! :)
I'm currently seeking employment as well and have been using social media to a certain extent--primarily LinkedIn and Twitter.
Here are some recommendations for using Twitter more effectively for networking:
1. Keep building your network, particularly seeking people with whom you share common interests. When you follow someone, look at who they follow. Use http://search.twitter.com to search for people who post about things that interest you.
2. Regularly interact with people in Twitter to build relationships. In addition to posting interesting and helpful information for your followers: answer questions they ask, respond to interesting posts with your comments, show interest in individuals in your network, retweet great posts from people you follow, etc.
3. If you ask your entire network with a general post, make sure you do it when most of those people are generally on Twitter.
4. Consider using direct messages for a more personal touch and higher response rate.
5. Keep at it!
LinkedIn is a great tool for finding people in a given organization. Consider joining groups based on your professional interests. Do searches for specific companies to see who works there and who might be a potential hiring manager. Then you can ask who knows that person specifically.
Anyway, just some thoughts. Best of luck in your job search!
Thanks SO much for the great tips! Let us know if you land a job by using them!!
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