To say our world over the past few years has changed in profound ways would be an understatement. With the emergence of Web 2.0 and new media came a new economy; then suddenly came a failing economy. So, looking for a job these days has taken on a whole new meaning, requiring a whole new vision for pursuing your career.
Basically, what worked yesterday won’t work today.
That’s why we re-formatted our TBWA Professional Career Resource Expo that takes place Tuesday, March 17, 2009 (8 a.m. — 1 p.m.) at the University of South Florida, Marshall Center.
At Tampa Bay WorkForce Alliance, we believe your job-search tool box has to include extensive knowledge of modern communication tools – mainly those web resources that provide effective networking and market intelligence gathering skills ... as well as ideas for taking you from employment to entrepreneurship, if that’s your goal ... and for gaining insight into new approaches for jumping ahead of your job-seeking competition.
Workshops at the TBWA Professional Career Resource Expo are presented by expert HR professionals and career coaches. This Professional Career Resource Expo is for degreed professionals with at least two years experience in their field. Recent college graduates welcome.
Okay, so your job search is going full steam ahead. You’re getting plugged into all the right places, meeting all the right people. But, what’s that you say? You’re not using Twitter? Come on! Yeah, Twitter is still far smaller than social site giants like Facebook, LinkedIn and MySpace ... but Twitter may provide more opportunities for your job search than any of those sites—or maybe all those sites combined.
Here’s what the Wall Street Journal recently wrote about utilizing Twitter as a job search resource.
So what is Twitter? It’s a micro-blogging site that allows users to broadcast messages to the world as long as those messages are 140 characters or shorter. Twitter messages, known as 'tweets,' are publicly available to anyone ... and with millions of people tweeting, you can tune in to other people's Twitter feeds, and in doing so see everything they write.
So, here’s some ways for using Twitter to find your next job:
Connect with recruiters. With Twitter there’s no requirement to know the people with whom you connect, because you don't ask someone to accept you as a friend—you simply hit the 'follow' button and from that point you see everything they post to Twitter. Conversations are the lifeblood of Twitter ... conversation such as job searching, and hiring. We recommend using either Twellow or Twitter Search to find the people you would like to follow.
Listen for opportunities. Twitter Search allows you to follow conversations that include keywords you choose. This is an excellent opportunity to passively surf for vacancies as many hiring managers will tweet about their openings. Simply go to Twitter Search, type in the key words (for example 'web design jobs' ... ‘sales manager’ ... or ‘PR internships') and in the upper right hand corner you’ll see a button that says 'feed for this enquiry.' Now you can subscribe to the RSS feed using this button and just check the feed a few times a day. Every time your keywords arise in conversation, you'll see the tweet in your feedreader, allowing you to instantly respond.
Tell people you want a job. For example, if you're seeking a position as a marketing manager for a technology company, and have followed recruiters who specialize in that industry (and hiring managers or employees who currently work at some of your target companies), there's a very good chance that when you say, 'I'm looking for a marketing job in a tech company', that someone will know of such a vacancy. This is why targeting people to follow is so important. Don't just add people as fast as you can so that your own number of followers increases - instead focus on finding people who can help with your search.
‘Tweet’ responsibly. If you're a marketer, tweet about marketing. Share your marketing ideas, link to your blog posts or blog posts written by other people. Offer tips and insights. In other words, establish yourself as knowledgeable so that when you do make contact with a recruiter, they are impressed with what they hear from you. If you absolutely must write things you wouldn't want an employer to see, set up a separate account that is private and can only be accessed by people you authorize (this is easily done in settings).
Write a professional bio. Twitter allows you to write a brief bio describing yourself and to link to one external website. If you have a blog or a personal site, link there (provided the content is professional!) If not, link to your LinkedIn profile. It's important to make sure people who click on your link find good information that makes them want to know more about you.
Twitter can be an effective job search tool for connecting on a personal level with people you might not otherwise ever reach. Of course, if it's important that you keep your job search secret, Twitter won't be a good solution for you, so keep that in mind.
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