Written by Carl Freelove, Marketing Manager, Big fish Recruitment

They email, they blog, they text, they chat. And now, they twitter! For those not in the know, http://www.twitter.com/ offers a real-time service for "friends, family, and co-workers" to communicate what they're doing (in 140 characters or less)— between emails and phone calls. Great. But do you really need to add this to your job search? Well, perhaps you do.

Some say there is definitely a place for Twitter in job hunting and may be the most appropriate tool to get messages to those you wish to reach, fast and with economy of words!

Crucially, it also delivers those updates across a variety of different media - either through its website, over instant messaging or by SMS to your mobile phone – good news then for Blackberry and iPhone owners.

So to help you get up and "twittering", we’ve put together a short guide on using Twitter for your job search:

In its purest form, Twitter is branded online exposure for your own “job seeker” presence so imagine instant messaging to a universe of professionals you may or may not know, developing relationships, exchanging information, uncovering opportunities and ultimately getting hired - all from posting and receiving concise 140 character messages (known as "tweets").

With more and more recruiters using social media to attract top talent, web 2.0 savvy candidates are increasingly using sites like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn to build profiles and highlight themselves as thought leaders worth knowing about.

On the flipside, most marketing agencies and blue chip’s these days have created their own Facebook or Twitter profiles – to not only give more presence to their company but to also “add friends” (aka add potential candidates) to their network. So to me, it makes perfect sense to use social media sites to search for and connect with businesses and potential employers.

Top tips for using for your job search:

1. First off, start a Twitter profile by visiting Twitter.com and signing up. If you want to communicate with just a few friends, clients or colleagues, keep your stream private by checking the "protect my updates" box under Settings.
2. You can subscribe to other peoples "tweets" (or Blogs), so find and follow people you know, and then follow some of the people they follow (who could be likely contacts from the marketing & creative arena). Scan their comments and respond to what interests you and you can build unexpected relationships.
3. Follow experts of interest to you and comment on their tweets where appropriate, even if they are high-profile leaders you don't know personally.
4. Answer "twitterers" questions in a way that shows your expertise.
5. Subscribe to keywords if you want to monitor discussions of certain topics among users who aren't already your “friends” e.g. marketing, design, jobs, recruitment etc
6. Whenever you can, have your "tweets" reflect your personal brand. Your target market will know you better and follow you more avidly.
7. When writing "tweets", share tidbits from seminars and other events you’ve attended, broadcast meetings and meeting places, publish your musings and opinions on the latest advertising or marketing campaigns and comment on industry news articles.

Overall, you can decide for yourself if it is useful for your job search, but as Twitter becomes more mainstream, you’ll need it in your career toolbox, along with Facebook, LinkedIn and other social (business) networking sites.

So if you’re looking for a new job, think outside the box and try using social media sites like Twitter to network, network, network!

Until next time, best wishes

Carl Freelove
Marketing Manger
Big fish Recruitment