Tweeting for a Job

Monday, July 6, 2009
Topics: Economy
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With unemployment rates at a 26 year high, new college graduates are among those finding it harder than ever to get a job. The fierce competition is spurring some creative approaches. For a first hand update on the methods and tools of job hunters, we turned to ideastream® intern Ida Lieszkovszky, a recent college graduate herself.

Every morning Twitter, the popular micro-blogging site, greets me with the same question: “What are you doing?” And every morning I wonder how I can respond to this ominous question in 140 characters or less.

Ida Lieskovszky: Recording myself updating Twitter for a story I’m working on…this is weird…

When I first started tweeting about half a year ago, Twitter seemed like less of a practical resource than just a way to find out more than I ever wanted to know about my friends lives.

But then I ran across an article on using Twitter as a professional networking tool, and I spruced up my Twitter page to reflect my career aspirations. Not a week went by before I got a direct message from a potential employer - Public Radio International. Here’s what it said. 

Tweet from PRI: We have an internship that you may be interested in. Http://cli.gs/bzl8tg

That link led to the standard application process … resume, cover letter, phone interview. I’d already started interning at ideastream, so I ended up not taking that job. Both internships, by the way, are unpaid. But Twitter was a definite launching point, and I managed to avoid any hard feelings with PRI. In fact, we’re still Twitter friends.

Anthony Crimaldi may have run across the same article I did, because when HE was let go in January, one of the first things he did was create a professional profile on Twitter.

Anthony Crimaldi: marketing professional looking to enhance profit in a new position by developing market plans, client relationships, and promotions. And then I add that I have fortune 500 experience.

Crimaldi used to work in Sony Music’s CD marketing division, but when CD sales started to tank, that division was shut down.  So these days Crimaldi spends a lot of time at what he calls his “second office,” the Caribou café in West Lake. His Blackberry phone and his Twitter alternate beeping updates.

Anthony Crimaldi:  I can’t say it’s helped me directly getting interviews, but that’s just part of really what the search is. It has helped me connect with hr people at companies, other recruiters.

One of the first people Crimaldi signed up to follow on Twitter is Margaret Vandervort, talent sourcing specialist for the Cleveland Clinic. Vandervort started using Twitter to post jobs for the Clinic a few months ago. She says her efforts to reach potential employees are really aided by people around the world who retweet her posts. That’s Twitter lingo for re-submitting someone else’s post.

Vandervort: it takes down geographical barriers. It allows us to cross over all kinds of barriers, even the ocean to get our message out. It provides an interactive piece.

Lee Rainie, director of the Pew Internet Project, says because of the economic crisis more and more people are jumping onto the social-networking-site bandwagon.

Rainie: It’s partly driven by desperation now that people are feeling very anxious about their job status and are very interested in pursuing all sorts of new ways to find jobs. But it’s also the case that they’re using these social media for all kinds of activities that fit into their lives.

Rainie warns that although the internet is a great starting point in a job hunt, it’s important to continue forming connections offline too. Crimaldi gets that: he says Twitter only makes up about 5 percent of his job search efforts. The rest of his time is dedicated to making more direct connections to employers. CRIMALDI SAYS all the interviews and follow-ups can be exhausting, though....more exhausting than when he had a job. He says the hardest part of being unemployed is the self-discipline it takes to stay focused.

Crimaldi: My days are regimented. If I didn’t keep them regimented, I’d be home playing with my daughters which I would love to do but I wouldn’t be getting anything done in my job search and right now I feel like my first priority to me and my family is finding the next job.

As for me, I’m hoping this story idea I had for how Twitter is being used by the unemployed will impress my editor enough that he’ll give me a job. But just in case that doesn’t work out, all you other journalism employers, feel free to give me a tweet.