How to Use Twitter to Find a Job - CareerEnlightenment.com

Twitter â€" a gateway to effective networkingThats right, youve probably heard that Twitter is an excellent place to hang out and show yourself as a professional, building a strong personal brand and differentiating yourself from other candidates. They usually tell you what to do â€" share engaging industry news or spot-on observations â€" but maybe its time you learned what can ruin your networking attempts.Heres what to avoid and make more friends in the process:Joining a conversation with an off-topic remark â€" it seems plain, but youd be surprised how many users do it. Whether theyre being promotional or want to impress, their off-topic tweets arent received warmly.Incessantly asking someone to DM you â€" yes, direct messages seem like the holy grail of Twitter networking, but the truth is that you can forge connections in the public as well. It seems that users sometimes forget themselves in the web and act in a more straightforward manner than they would in live situations. Wo uldnt you be put off if a stranger asked you to a private room for a quick chat?Favoriting or retweeting everything shared by one user â€" thats just downright creepy, especially when coming from someone who you dont know. Just do yourself a favor and be moderate â€" one retweet/fav per day is more than enough.Assuming that you know someone just because you two interacted on Twitter â€" even if you had a nice conversation, it doesnt entitle you to claim that you know this person and treat them as part of your network. Thats something you should double check before you promise to introduce someone else to them â€" maybe youre not their professional connection yet?When networking on Twitter, remember that your goal is to take that connection offline or at least off the public network.An insiders view into companiesTheres nothing more interesting to see than employees of a company tweeting away about their jobs. You can not only learn their attitude towards the employer, but also see w hat kind of company culture prevails in the organization. Youll learn first-hand about new directions, products or developments.Going in for an interview equipped with such knowledge will help you to impress the recruiters. Investigating the interviewer, youll be able to find some common ground (professional or personal) which you can use as a differentiator during the interview.Taking a few small steps at a time, youll might slowly grow into using Twitter as a primary element in your job hunting strategy. The above are the simplest and most effective techniques to help you take advantage of Twitter as a job search tool in no time.