Use Twitter For Networking And Building Your Career

5 mins read

Use Twitter For Networking And Building Your Career

With social media becoming more and more ingrained in our daily lives, every other person thrives on social media platforms like LinkedIn, Telegram, Instagram, Pinterest, or the latest micro-blogging platform - Twitter. Just a moment. If on hearing ‘Twitter’ all you can relate to is fun and entertainment, then prepare yourself to acknowledge the surprising truth! Well, do you know that you can use Twitter for your career? It’s time we dig into all the possible benefits of Twitter for our professional growth.

Bonus: Discover 10 accounts that can give you great job search resources and push your career forward.

BFN, HAND, IMHO, PRT, HT - these are not gobbledygook. Well, my friends, these are some of the terms used on Twitter. Once you get a hang of using them, these terms will become a part and parcel of your daily twittering. So, without any delay let's learn how you can use Twitter for your career.

Get the ball rolling

If you do not have an account yet, go on to Twitter.com and generate one. This may take a few seconds, but remember to:

Choose a professional and descriptive username
Add an interesting bio detailing information about your skills, career interests, what makes you different, etc.

Welcome to the club

Now, you can try finding which people to follow. Search for people who are leaders in the industry, influencers, people you look up to, or companies you want to work with.

You can expand your search and make it more effective by looking at connections of the people you are following
Stay updated with relevant industry news
Show your presence in tweets and join the conversation threads of people you're following
One of the sincere ways of initiating conversation with the corporate leaders or people you admire is by retweeting their interesting content
Give shout-outs to people on Twitter to help them notice you

Paint the right picture

Retweeting, adding your commentary, adding someone in a conversation, or appreciating people for their skills publicly will definitely put you on the radar of people you are following, but what about your own profile? Does it reflect your personality and interests in a crystal clear and neat manner? Here are some of the quick and easy ways to weave a good network.

Tweet about your achievements, projects, internships, blogs, etc. but remember to say everything you want in no more than 280 words.
Do not step back while posting your insights and thoughts about the latest talk of the town.
Similarly, ask questions and suggestions to boost engagement.
Content is king but adds a cherry on top by pepping it up with photos, infographics, videos, links, and hashtags
Try exploring software like Insightpool and TweetDeck to monitor social activity, narrow down the right people for you to connect with, and predict their actions.

The power of topics, lists, and hashtags

Generally, people have a notion that using Twitter is not everyone’s cup of tea. They complain about finding it hard to constantly follow people because of the need to stay online in order to read them in real time. However, it always filters your feed as per your preferences or online activity so that it becomes easier for you to catch up with people later. Some tips that can help you stay posted about their tweets are:

Turn on the notification mode of your mobile app if you cannot be available online 24x7
Almost up to 100 topics that are followed, are visible at a time in the topics menu
Twitter has a feature for making custom lists that one can use to keep a track of a selected few people
Follow the hashtags that hold your interest
Use the ‘Live’ tab option to see the latest tweets from the entire platform for any particular hashtag

Time to reap the harvest

After you have invested your sincere efforts by participating in conversations, retweeting, and have created a strong foundation of goodwill, it’s now time to reap the benefits of it all. How? Let’s assume you are searching for a freelance project. Your dream company has rolled-out offers for the same, meeting all your qualifications. What next? After constantly getting noticed in their tweets and shares, you will strike their mind at least once. Voila! Now direct message the concerned person on Twitter and put your best foot forward.

Finally, the wait is over

As previously mentioned, here are the 10 Twitter accounts that are trending. Check them out and follow them to stay abreast of the latest in the industry.

Congrats, you are now prepared to use Twitter for your career, Happy Tweeting!