how to use twitter in your job search
TRANSCRIPT
Understanding How to Use Twitter in Your Job SearchGail Houston - @ghouston – May 2015
Why Twitter
• Over 1billion users• 28% consumer trust• 34% use to search• 54% of recruiters use• New way to receive relevant info• Recruiters and Applicants still learning how to engage• #jobs – one of the most popular hashtags
Your Twitter Brand
You must have photo
Header photo optional but becoming more common
Bio – 160 charactersKeywords – recruiter and area of focus
You can also include email
Your Twitter Settings
User name
Visible email
Set Time zone to schedule tweets
Register yourself on sites like www.twellow.com – twitter yellow pages
Go Thru All Settings Tabs
Understanding the TweetDefinition: a short 140 character message posted on the Twitter Web site:
the message may include text, keywords, mentions of specific users, links to Web sites, and links to images or videos on a Web site.
User name limit: 15 characters, old limit was 20
Character count: 140 characters total
Ideal character count: 123 characters for easy retweet
Shortened URL: this takes 18 characters of your 140 total
Want better engagement:• Get more engagement by asking your followers questions• Get more engagement by asking your followers to retweet• Tweets less than 100 characters – 17% higher engagement• Tweets that contain links – 86% higher retweets• Tweets that contain hashtags – 2x’s more engagement • 1 or 2 hashtags is ideal• Don’t tweet or retweet without reading what you are tweeting• 80% interest, 20% jobs related tweets (don’t become a defacto job board)
5 Create tweets your ideal audience would be interested in
Understanding the different types of “tweets”• Retweets
Reposting a tweet. You either repost someone else’s and share with your followers, or someone repost one of yours
• Direct Message Private twitter communication (similar to email) d ghouston is how the message appears You cannot DM someone who is not following you – so it is important you follow the companies
and recruiters you are trying to engage with
• Replies @ghouston will occur in the first part of your reply A reply will only show up in your followers timelines if they are following both you and the
person you are “replying to”
• Call outs You might see @ghouston @crizzcoxx in tweets – this is the authors attempt to either call
attention to or “cc” a particular person in their tweet If you begin a tweet using this type of “call out” put a “.” before the twitter handle so that the
tweet will show up in your followers feeds or include the call out elsewhere in the tweet – (.@ghouston thought you might be interested in this article) OR (I thought @ghouston might be interested in this article)
Recruiters should not use a call out unless they know you are unemployed and actively looking (Hey, at @ghouston, give me a call, heard your contract just ended). If they do use a call out and you are employed, DM them your request
6 Remember your “tweets” are typically “public”
Twitter - Understanding the #hashtag
• What is a hashtag? A user will put a #sign right before a word they want other users to “follow”. (i.e. company, event, skill word). Hashtags also help users organize twitter.
• Why should I use them? Allows the users you are trying to target to see your posts since they are interested in the topic you are tweeting about – potential to gain followers / exposure
• How do I use them? • Existing hashtags (i.e. event hashtags -
#sxsw), company hashtags - #Intuit, skill word hashtags - #java)
• Invent your own • Simple• Use early• Use often but no more than 3 in a
tweets (1 or 2 is ideal)• Follow hashtags in your Hootsuite account
by creating keyword streams under your tabs
• Twitter Glossary - http://bit.ly/twitterglossary
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Popular hashtags for Intuit#Intuit, #intuitcareers, #job, #jobs, #hiring, #career, #careeradvice, #IntuitLife, #Iloveintuit, #intuitinc
Is your #hashtag the right one?https://www.hashtags.org/
How to Communicate – Twitter
o@ghouston – if you are replying to a person’s message the tweet will begin with @replytoname
o @ghouston – use the space in front of the name if you want to call attention to someone in twitter and you are using the @ghouston at the beginning of the post – otherwise it is seen as a reply and will not show up in your followers feeds unless they are also following that person as well
od crizzcoxx how are you doing at the conference – when you are sending a direct message to someone that is following you – you will see a “d” in front of their twitter handle. You cannot send a Direct Message to someone who is not following you
11Inform, Educate, Promote, and Give Credit with the Retweet
What’s the dot all about
A tweet that starts with the @insertname sign is only seen by the people who follow BOTH you and the people who follow the @insertname followers
If you want all of twitter universe to be able to see your tweet you have two options: .@insertname OR include the @insertname in the middle of your tweet
Common Mistakes in Twitter(your tweet can only be 140 charcters)
Incorrect• Join a company that cares – Intuit’s We Care
and Give Back program just went global. Full time employees at Intuit are eligible for 32... (too many characters in this message)
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWU_vjQrT_Y&feature=SeriesPlayList&p=553F59F40947CC9B | http://ow.ly/1g8V0 (would you click a link without knowing why)
• Intuit's CEO gets into the Mobile Mindset. (readers thought Brad got a mobile phone)
• Props to my Intuit colleagues Terri Coligan and Gail Houston who will be presenting Managing the Madness in our Social Media World at...(too many characters in this message)
Correct• Join a company that cares #Intuit’s We
Care and Give Back #WCGB program just went global. Full time employees at Intuit http://bit.ly/cbUedW
• See Aaron Patzer from #Mint speak at #SXSW in Austin TXhttp://ow.ly/1gaqV
• Recent push into #mobile connected services is featured on www.TheStreet.com with #Intuit’s Brad Smith
• @ghouston and @tcoligan presenting at #sourcecon – Managing the Madness in our Social Media World
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Examples of Tweets
New #malware sleeps its way into #financial institutions | VentureBeat http://t.co/27b5FAiG
RT @quickbooks: How to quickly get started with #social media http://t.co/DjIUcHwK
Know anyone? Principal #UX Designer in Menlo Park, CA http://t.co/Qm0j4xz2 #job
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Inform, Educate, Promote, and Give Credit with the Retweet
Understanding Lists
Lists - A list is a curated group of Twitter users. You can create your own lists or subscribeto lists created by others. Viewing a list timeline will show you a stream of Tweets from only the users on that list. Lists make it easier to follow conversations you are interested in
Note: Lists are for reading tweets only. You cannot send or direct a Tweet to members of a list, for only those list members to see.
https://support.twitter.com/articles/76460-how-to-use-twitter-lists#
Subscribing to Other User’s List
Select List to Follow – Click on Name Click on Subscribe
Click on List Members and List Followers
Follow ListsFollow Members of ListAdd List Stream to HootsuiteRetweet List MembersEngage with List Members
Creating Your Own List
Click Follow
Click Dropdown and Click on Addor Remove from Lists
Click on List Members and List Followers
Create both public and private listsPublic – you want others to follow your lists (i.e. associations, career advice, events, recruiters, companies)Private – you might want to follow your kids on Twitter but you don’t want others to follow this list
Finding Twitter Listshttps://www.electoralhq.com/twitter-lists/search
This tool saves tons of time and helps you find relevant info quickly
Tagboardhttps://tagboard.com/intuit/search
This tool displays hashtags in a visible format with metrics
The Secret to Making Twitter Make Sense
Select a Social Media Management Tool Like Hootsuite or TweetDeck
Hootsuite Tips
Add your social networks
Uncheck Use Twitter Web Retweets
Create Streams In Hootsuite
Follow Lists, Keywords, Boolean Searches
Okay, I’m on Twitter – Now What?• Find and follow companies, recruiting departments of targeted companies (they
normally have either jobs or careers in their name), recruiters, and hiring manager you want to engage with• Ask questions (but not status)• Retweet them, shows you are interested• If they post a job and you are qualified, let them know, attach a link to your LI profile or to
your resume• Create lists and follow them in your Hootsuite account so you can review daily• Search Twitter for the hashtags that are relevant in your industry (i.e. #UX, #java, #CPA –
combined with the word job or recruiter)
• Find experts in your field to follow – retweet them, engage in conversations• Find events in your industry, follow their accounts and hashtags (#GHC14, @SXSW)
Set Up Job Search Streams
Follow List
Follow a search string
#Jobs and #keyword
Follow Experts
• Twitter - @ghouston• Connect with me on LinkedIn - http://tinyurl.com/link2gail• Email – [email protected]• Twitter - @intuitcareers