Why to use Twitter for job search?

If we had to summarize the context of the job search in France in a figure, it would be as follows: 80. More or less 80% of job offers are in the hidden market, it means that they are not available publicly in the job boards and other specialized sites. You are searching for them. To do that, Twitter can help you.

Develop his network

When we concern about the employment and social network (réseau social), we think spontaneously of LinkedIn or Viadéo. Much less about Twitter. Nevertheless, the latter creates a great tool of networking. Therefore, the platform counts more than 300 million active users. 32 % of people tuned to the employment market is on the platform*. Thanks to this search tool, you can identify the actors of your business sector to follow their account.

A tool of intelligence and information

Thus, you are able to keep up with current events of your profession. It is a good way to inquire to arm yourself with the aim of a next interview and strengthen your expertise. Especially, the contents are the means by which you interact with these people. It is all the Twitter’s strength, which, thanks to a simple interface, allows to exchange easily with others.

Have you read an instructive article and wanted to share with your network? Re-tweet!

Don’t you agree with a personal opinion? Answer with courtesy (and conciseness because, do remember you have only 140 characters!).

Are you are touched by an image? Put your heart into it.

Work with personal brand

When it is no longer the offer coming to you, it is necessary to opt for the attractiveness to spill the vapor. It is all the stake in your "personal brand" or “personal branding" that it is imperative to develop to become credible and inescapable with the recruiters. It implies to be visible on Web, in particular, Twitter.

Concretely, you have to look after your display with a profile containing your name, address and phone number, an effective pitch (you are entitled to only 160 characters), a photo, a banner and your location. You should not especially appear as a job seeker. Following the example of LinkedIn, your pictures have to make professionals in both form and content:

They have to be in touch with your activity;
They must be appropriate and adapted to the media dimension (400 x 400 px for a picture); 1,500 x 500 px for the cover).

Besides, show that you master Twitter including hashtags in your display of what is more sensible at the beginning when you still don’t have many "followers". The latter will find you more easily.

To summarize, all this work allows to create your legitimacy in a given sector. It contributes to your e-reputation when a recruiter inquires about you.

A complement to LinkedIn

LinkedIn is the professional social network in which you must be registered. It includes more than 100 million professionals in the world, among them there are 6 million people in France. A considerable basket for those who would like to establish a network (to reach the market hidden from the employment, do not forget it). However, to obtain Graal, it is more careful to proceed in a indirect way. As in daily life, it is advisable to build gradually a relationship of trust to be officially a member of the network.

Thus judge:

The rate of cold transformation (without preliminary contact) to LinkedIn is 20 %; it reaches 80% when a link is built up on Twitter **.

Reach job offers

Finally, Twitter allows you simply to look for an employment. As any specialized sites, you can make directly your request, by means of hashtags if necessary. However, Twitter brings only advantages:

The recruiters or companies can broadcast sometimes directly an announcement in this network without using other sites (15-20% of job offers on Web); there are networks of mutual aid as the famous #i4emploi. To use without moderation while playing a game (you have to re-tweet the unemployed people’s profile affiliated to the hashtag).

There are other initiatives of this kind like the day #votrejob organized every year.

Then, finally, does it work? It can be difficult to quantify the strategy results of personal branding on Twitter. But if we take an initiative concrete as #i4emploi, 10% of "twittos" having used the hashtag in 2016 have obtained a CDD or a CDI***.

Which just goes to show that there are not any chicken nuggets counted on Twitter.

Article written by Thierry Randretsa

* Amélie FAVRE GUITTET, “ Twitter va vous aider à trouver un emploi “, Frenchweb, 15/11/2016.

** Hervé BOMMELAER, Philippe DOUALE, Nicolas PAVESI, Recherche d’emploi. Secrets de pros, Eyrolles, 2017, Paris, p. 89.

*** Corinne DILLENSEGER, “ #i4Emploi : oui, Twitter permet de trouver un emploi “, L’Express, 11/05/2016.