Lindsay Olson

Mirror Mirror: Clean Up Your Image Online and Off - The Ladders

How One Marketing Pro Landed a Job on Twitter

As most of you probably know by now, I'm a huge advocate of using social media tools to expand your job search. On Sunday, I was scanning my Twitter feed and noticed one specific message from Jacqueline Duignan (@JDuignan) that caught my attention. She acknowledged and thanked another Twitter user for sending out a tweet that ultimately landed her a job.

Twitter + Job posting = Success?!?! Well of course that caught my attention! I immediately reached to ask her if she would mind sharing her story here. I hope you find some inspiration in her success!

Congratulations, Jacqueline!

I read on your feed you just landed a job through one of your contacts on Twitter. How did you find this job on Twitter? Where did you land and can you tell us a bit about what your new position entails?

I recently graduated form the University of Central Florida last May and started a position as an Account Coordinator for a full-service marketing agency in Orlando. Prior to that position, I held several internships at some of Central Florida's most influential companies, particularly in the hospitality and tourism industry, both in agency and corporate settings.

As most can relate, the economy is in a fragile state and many have lost jobs. Unfortunately, I was included in that statistic. I was laid off on February 2nd. As soon as I packed up my personal belongings and loaded up my car, I immediately got on the phone with everyone I knew from previous internships, networking contacts and those I knew through Ad 2 Orlando, the young professionals segment of the American Advertising Federation.

The moment I realized Twitter was a valuable resource for this new "generation" of job hunting was when I received a direct message from a contact I had though an internship. It said "Got your v.mail & am looking around for you. Send me an updated resume." That's when I started to think, hey, this Twitter thing could really be an asset to my job search.

I immediately started searching and following recruiters (including you!) and Pro's in PR. One of the people I followed was @PRsarahevans. One day she posted an all-call tweet for any PR job openings. I swear I checked Twitter on my iPhone about 1,000,000 times that day and sure enough, there it was:
"PRsarahevans: Looking 4 a PR job? AE position open in award winning PR agency in Miami (1-2 yrs exp, agency background a +) #EntryPR CONTACT @alecjr."

I immediately followed @alecjr sent him a DM (direct message) asking for his email address so I could send him my resume. I was in contact with him throughout the next week, scheduled an interview and... got the job! One minor problem was that I lived in Orlando, but no big deal, my Dad lives in the Florida Keys. So packed up my things and moved within two weeks back home. Lucky for me, I am a young twenty-something with the ability to up and move within a moment's notice - a major perk in this economy.

I just started as an Account Executive for AJR & Partners, a small marketing firm in Coral Gables, Florida, this past Monday. Everything is going really well thus far. I'm so thankful to have been able to be laid off and land a job in less than a month. I didn't even get to collect unemployment!

How long have you been using Twitter and how to you typically use it?

I started using Twitter a couple of months ago. I sit on the board for Ad 2 Orlando (the young professionals segment of the American Advertising Federation) and there was some chatter about Twitter amongst them and how "cool" it was. So, I decided to check it out. I was a little unsure about it at first, I didn't really understand the point or its purpose. But as time went on and I started following people of personal and professional interest, I began to see the value. Now I use it for local/national news, event calendars, personal contact with my friends and network, and to learn more about social media and grow professionally. I just started dropping by for #journchats Thieves' Highway - a very valuable resource!

What other social media tools did you use in your job search? Besides Twitter, which ones did you find most helpful in your job search?

Twitter was really the only social media tool I actively used in my job hunt. However, I did use Facebook to reach out to friends (some I am frequently in touch with, others a little more distant)  that live all across the country - asking about the job markets in their cities, if they have heard of any openings, job board recommendations etc. My next step was to start searching around on LinkedIn and reengaging  older contacts through some of my internships I had a few years ago. Everything (thankfully) moved so quickly with the position I have now that I didn't really have time to explore that route. I, of course, also poured over every job board known to man - Careerbuilder

, Monster, Indeed, Jobing, Craigslist, and the list goes on and on...

What advice do you have for others who are currently job hunting?

The biggest advice I can offer for people looking for jobs right now is to be expansive and aggressive in your search. I'm not telling anyone anything they don't already know, but there are a lot of people looking for jobs right now. Each day the pool gets bigger and deeper. Now more than ever you have to stand out. Twitter has been a great tool in several ways. You can expose yourself to tons of recruiters through following and engaging them. Twitter is about interacting interaction too; Lurking on Twitter isn't going to get you anywhere - you've got to engage in conversation. Also, the whole idea that you are searching for your next career move though Twitter shows that you are ahead in social media trends and understand its power and value (clearly, so do the recruiters and companies posting the jobs).

This next statement most likely applies to recent graduates and those early in their careers. If you can afford it, intern, even it isn't paid (most aren't anyways). This shows dedication, not to mention you are gaining experience and getting valuable additions for your resume while your searching for a job as well as expanding your network and contacts. Eventually, this economy will turn around and if you are sticking it out with a company, when they start to grow and expand again, you're already versed with their operations, structure and culture. They would certainly prefer to hire someone who already "knows the ropes."  Of course, you could always do it part-time and have another job on the side to bring some money in. You do need to have a cash flow. When I was in college I had five internships - I  truly believe I would not be employed right now as a recent college grad if it wasn't for my diverse intern experience I had under my belt right after graduation. Although I was "entry level" I was leaps and bounds ahead of my competition.

Get involved with organizations relative to your background and the industry you were working in. As I previously mentioned, I sit on the board for Ad 2 Orlando. Through my time as a board member, I have expanded my network extensively. As tough as the economy gets, it always helps having people in your corner looking out for you.

You can follow Jacqueline on Twitter at @JDuignan.

Using Twitter for your Job Search - Guest column on PRNewser

My most recent guest column on PRNewser is up. Here is a quick except. You can read all the tips on PRNewser's blog.

If you are not already on it, you have probably heard of Twitter by now. Twitter can be a powerful tool to aid in your job search. There are numerous success stories in the blogosphere about how people have received and accepted job offers through Twitter. See examples from David Murray or Michael Litman.

Here are some of my observations and tips on how to use Twitter as a tool for your job search and to make sure you are getting noticed.

Use your real name.

Make your profile searchable and easy to be found. Tell the world what you do in the bio line. Be specific. If you do tech PR, say it in your one line bio. You will find more like-minded people will connect with you. If you make people work too hard to figure out who you are and what you do, you will never see the benefit of Twitter because people won't find you. Make it easy for someone to decide if they should start following your updates or follow you back and for Twitter directories to index you properly.

Add a website. Your company's website, your LinkedIn profile, or your blog.

Don't make your updates private. It's my personal pet peeve, but one I know many others share. Many people won't follow you back if your updates are private. It also defeats the purpose of having a searchable profile. Twitter is about sharing and if you want others to find you, particularly for a job search, your tweets need to be searchable and seen by those outside of your followers.

Go to the PRNewser blog to see the last six tips....

Interesting links: December 22 - January 4

Here are some of the interesting links I've come across in the past couple of weeks. It's lighter than usual. I'm still playing lots of catch up from spending much less time online and more time with family and friends. Enjoy!

Career

Twitter Yourself a Job - Wall Street Journal
5 ways to fix your job search - US News & World Report
How to Rally Workers for a Tough 2009 - Wall Street Journal
Using the Social Web to Find Work | chrisbrogan.com - Free e-book by Chris Brogan about using your social networks to aid in your job search.
How to Write an Email that Generates a Useful Response - Penelope Trunk

Personal

10 Volunteer Opportunities For Free Travel - just in case, always good to have a plan B
TweetShrink -have trouble writing 140 characters or less? This might be for you.

Interesting links for December 1-7

Things I found interesting this week. Enjoy!

Job search
10 dumb things to avoid in a job interview - Spin Strategyâ„¢ - Tools for Intelligent Job Search
How to Be a Social Networking Success - Business Pundit
10 tips for negotiating a big fat severance deal

- Silicon Valley Insider
How to Handle a Lowball Job Offer - WSJ.com
How to Get a Job: 11 new tips - Lindsey Pollack

Business and Social Media
40 Ways to Deliver Killer Blog Content - chrisbrogan.com
Foolish Productivity: The Hobgoblin of Creative Minds - Lateral Action
Lou Needs a Clue - Lateral Action

For a quick laugh
12 Great Tales of Defriending

Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within release

- Mashable
This week's weird jobs wanted - Business Pundit
Top 10 List of People to Unfollow on Twitter - Shannon Whitley

Interesting links: November 15-19

Interesting links so far this week. Enjoy!

Career

12 Ways Social Media Can Improve Your Career - Dave Fleet
Report: Millennials Will Route Around IT Departments - ReadWriteWeb
Job hunting Dos and Don'ts for public relations professionals - PR In Canada
Influential Marketing Blog: Is Social Media Becoming The New MBA?
Growing your Career: Do at GUT Check - Web Strategist
The Right and Wrong Time to Job Hop - Business Pundit

Business and social media

The Most Influential Women in Web 2.0 - Fast Company
The Top 10 Social Networks for Creative People - Lateral Action
Debunking the Social Media Barriers - TweetPR
Seth's Blog: Blah, blah, blah, blah... - Seth Godin
Elements of a Good LinkedIn Recommendation - Chris Brogan

Fun

Let me google that for you - Just for fun. Now you never have to tell you friends and colleagues to "just google it."
What Women Should Know About Men's Brains - Dumb Little Man - so true!
8 Tools to Help You Travel Forever and Live Rent Free - I'll be giving this some serious consideration
Love in the Time of Cholera movie download

Positivity helps

Photo credit: Ianqui

Michael Melcher offers some good advice in the NY Times Shifting Careers blog about staying positive in your job search after a layoff. Being affected by a staff reduction isn't fun for anyone involved and for those who haven't engaged in a job search or interview process for an extended amount of time, they may even feel completely lost.

The typical person's job search starts with a resume re-write and then a scouring of online job boards to see what's out there. Resumes are sent into "the black hole" and with some luck, an automated response like this may be returned:

"Your resume has been forwarded to the appropriate department for evaluation. Should your qualifications meet our current requirements, we will contact you within the next several weeks for additional information or to schedule a personal interview. If there are no suitable openings at this time, we will retain your resume in our active files for future consideration."

But you never hear back even though your qualifications match perfectly.

As difficult as it may be to keep your chin up, it's a key to a successful job search. Melcher states, "People find new opportunities in recessions, but not people who spend a lot of time being depressed, whiny or angry."

Melcher's suggestions for dealing with non-responsiveness:

• Act like a human being. The best antidote to feeling disconnected is to connect with people. Manifest as a person, not as an e-mail address.
• Lessen your dependence on the Internet. If you are focusing solely on online applications, your job search hasn′t begun yet.
• Assume that other people are busier than you are. A non-response isn′t a "no." It′s just a non-response.
• Improve your own communications.
• Make connections for other people.
• Try Fedex.

You can read the rest of his post here.

In my opinion, the most important of these five suggestions is lessening your dependence on the internet job posts. Many companies do not post their open positions online, especially small or mid-size companies who may not have the budgets to subscribe to expensive job boards. Many recruiters (myself included) won't waste time posting open positions on job boards and chasing the same candidate pool as the job posters.

If you are relying solely on job boards for your job search, you are missing out on the majority percentage of available jobs out there. I'm not saying ignore them completely, but do realize the importance making real connections. Go to networking events (professional or personal), volunteer, be active in your social networks, reconnect with old colleagues and friends (this is something you should always be doing, even if you are happily employed!), meet your Facebook or Twitter friends for coffee, and find and build a relationship with a recruiting firm in your industry niche to keep an eye out for you.

How did you go about finding your last job?

Tweet what you spend

In Argentina, I don't have the luxury of paying by debit card for everything. More often than not, I need cash for a majority of my daily transactions. For the financially organized, tracking cash spending is a chore. It implies I'll waste a lot of precious time waiting for the vendor to write out a receipt and then trying to read the illegible handwriting to manually enter it into my personal finance tracking system when I discover it again. Forget trying to get my husband to do this too!

On my quest to improve productivity (and sanity), I stumbled upon this recent post on Lifehacker about a Tweet What You Spend. Rescued!

You can register a new Twitter account (make it private) and then you follow Tweet What You Spend, it follows you back and you complete the registration process. After registration, you track your spending through Tweets. With your mobile phone at the point of purchase, you use your Twitter account to sent the details of your purchase and the service uploads it to your cash journal to be categorized and later imported into whatever personal finance software you use.

Here is the quick tutorial video to get you set up.