Twitter Vs. LinkedIn for Job Searches

According to the Financial Times, an estimated 50 million people will lose their jobs in 2009. This number is an international prediction. The recession is cutting deep and according to virtually all of the news outlets, many of the lost jobs are not likely to be recovered. Job searches are a full time job and it's important to use the right internet job search tool to find employment quickly. Twitter and LinkedIn are popular networking sites for job searchers.

Twitter, the multi-purpose, incredibly popular micro-blogging platform is overtaking other social and professional networking websites as the top choice for many purposes, including job searches. Before Twitter's popularity exploded, another professional website, LinkedIn, was the premier job search professional network.

Twitter is unique in that it can be considered both a social and professional online network. Twitter and LinkedIn are widely used by internet users who are job hunting. Here is a comparison of the two options.

I used LinkedIn to find a job back in 2006. You can read the details of the article I wrote called "How I Found a Job Through LinkedIn". LinkedIn was a great tool at that time. The way to build your network on LinkedIn is not as easy as network building on Twitter.

Back in 2006, to connect on LinkedIn, you needed to have the other person's email address to invite them to your network. However, now you are able to invite anyone to your network, even if you do not know them personally or have their email address.

With LinkedIn, after you initially connect to your personal friends, you can then search for "power networkers" who have over 500 linked in contacts. These power networkers often display their email addresses in their LinkedIn profile. In 2006, I needed to have many people in my network in order to be able to find contacts who worked at the companies where I was looking for positions.

Using my method of finding LinkedIn users who displayed their email address, I had built up my network to 300 people. The problem with this method is that it was so random and many of the people were located in other countries other than the United States. These international contacts couldn't help me in my localized job search.

Another problem with LinkedIn, even in 2009 (and being able to invite anyone to your network) is that you can ask someone to connect, but they may not necessarily accept your invitation or may not wish to reply to your messages asking for help with your job search.

The LinkedIn interface is not as user friendly or quick to analyze as Twitter. Enter Twitter, the multi-functional, world renowned micro-blogging phenomenon. Although I am not currently involved in a job search, I would use Twitter today in 2009 if I needed to find a new job.

Compared to LinkedIn, Twitter is faster, more interesting and less restrictive to use in a job search. If you use Twitter, you should have your resume or CV and other credentials set up on another website, such as LinkedIn. Then make sure that your bio line in your Twitter profile shows the website where your resume is so that potential employers can access it easily.

If you employ Twitter for a job search, I suggest using the following strategy. Start to follow people who are in the same industry as you. Then look for potential companies that you would like to work at and if they have a Twitter presence, follow those companies as well.

Once you are following people who share common career interests as you, it's your time to shine. With Twitter, the more useful and helpful you are, the more other people will value and follow you. The way to obtain a sizable Twitter following is to post links to important articles/studies/information that pertains to the industry and/or company in which you are trying to obtain a job.

Many Twitter users search for keywords in your posts and will follow you. So, for example, if you are looking for a job in the human resource arena, make sure to find plenty of relevant information on human resources, post links to those online articles and then make sure to use the key words of "human resources" in your post.

When you finally have a Twitter following, once in a while (maybe once a week) you can post a Tweet about your credentials and attach a link to your resume. But also make sure to keep posting useful information about the latest happenings in your field.

The type of involvement and targeted networking that is facilitated by Twitter makes it a more useful job search tool than LinkedIn. If used the right way, you can find a job through Twitter and connect to the right people quickly and easily.