Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter discusses the basics of setting up your Twitter profile for when you are job hunting.
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I want to talk with you today about Twitter and Twitter profiles. It is going to sound remarkably similar to what you are told about your LinkedIn profile.
Twitter is a great tool for job hunters. Most just don’t know how to use it properly. It really does start off with your profile. So, I want to give you a few profile pointers to help you with setting up your account, just as I’ve given advice to you for setting up your LinkedIn profile.
If you are trying to use your name (and that’s the ideal thing to do… Use your own name), you may find that with all the existing Twitter members, your name is already taken. If I go to Twitter now, I suspect that the name, “Jeff Altman” has already been taken. You can do. Jeff _Altman. You could try Jeff-Altman we do not. You could do AboutJeffAltman… Anything that makes sense.
Sometimes, you run into situations where the name you want to choose is too long. For example, when I tried to register, “TheBigGameHunter,” I found that that was one character too long. As a result, I dropped off the “e” in “Hunter,” so that it became, “TheBigGameHuntr.” That’s become a way that people can find me.
Look at ways that you can play with the length of your name for your profile on twitter.
Then, use a good picture. Always think in terms of what an employer might find about you. If they are looking. Ideally, if you can use the same professional photo that you use on LinkedIn for twitter, it will help you as well because people will recognize the similarity.
You can also add your twitter feed into your LinkedIn profile, as well. You can included in the summary with a remark like, “To find out more about me, follow me on twitter.” Then, you put your handle on twitter into your LinkedIn summary.
Next, complete your bio. There are only 160 characters in the twitter bio. So, you can do something like, “I am a senior developer in Java who is looking for opportunities in the Los Angeles area.” Be very specific about what you are looking for. For me, I describe the various interests I have in single words. “Recruiter. Podcaster. Author. Publisher.” Things along those lines. I’m just trying to make people aware different ways that I can help them.
When all is said and done, you need to promote your twitter handle so you can use in the signature that you send out with your personal email. You need to promote the signature for people to find you. Make sure you include your location in your twitter profile. If someone is trying to find you to hire you, or is looking for your kind of background, 1 of the criteria that I use is location. Recognize that and included.
Lastly, look for a background that makes sense for you, especially if you are in 1 of the design fields. You always want to make sure that your appearance on twitter complement your brand. Where you can, include something that is graphically appealing. That way, when people come to it, it will help them have a great impression.
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Do you think employers are trying to help you?
You already know you can’t trust recruiters—they tell you as much as they think you need to know to take the job they after representing so they collect their payday.
The skills needed to find a job are different yet complement the skills needed to do a job.
Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter has been a career coach and recruiter for what seems like one hundred years.
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