Job Hunting? Create a Twesume

Most students rely on social media for nothing more than to catch up with friends and family – and that’s fine – but they aren’t exactly using these sites to their fullest potential. You can usually get someone’s attention much easier through a social network, like Twitter, than you can through a phone call. Brands are listening to our conversations, and they’re responding at record speed. Especially if you’re applying for a job in social media, you should consider creating a twesume. What’s a twesume? Glad you asked.

What we’re talking about here is a 140 character summary of your qualifications that you can send out on Twitter (aka Twitter resume). Here’s an example:

Social media strategist with 2 years of experience interning with a Fortune 500 company. Looking for a position in the NY area. #job

Once you’ve crafted your very own twesume, you can tweet it out to all your followers (and ask for them to retweet it to their followers) or you can send a direct message to a company that you’re really interested in working for. To go the extra mile, include a link to a .pdf of your full resume.

Of course, this isn’t the best idea if you’re currently working for an employer and you plan to leave. In this case, it’s ok to send it as a direct message, but don’t tweet it out to your followers. I know, that seems like common sense, but I just had to get it out there. I don’t want people blaming me if they lose their jobs over irresponsible tweeting. If you’re sending a direct message, leave out hash tags, like #job. They only serve a purpose when you’re tweeting to the masses.

I’ve mentioned that a twesume might work well for social media jobs, but there are other jobs that you might be able to get this way. If you’re looking for employment in marketing or technology, a twesume would probably be helpful. Also, if you’d like to work in retail or for an entrepreneur, e.g., event planner, DJ, florist, a twesume might help you here too. However, if you’re looking for a job in a field that isn’t really represented well on Twitter, you may as well forgo the twesume. For example, if you’re looking for forensic psychology jobs, Twitter may not be the best place to start your job search. In this case, it wouldn’t hurt to send out a twesume, but there are probably better uses for your time.