Whether you want a more lifestyle-friendly career or a job that offers a bigger paycheck, transitioning to a new field can be a daunting task. It requires making new contacts, acquiring new knowledge, and maybe even gaining new skills.
That's where social-networking site Twitter comes in. Because Twitter allows you to showcase your expertise and connect with people you want to know—compared with Facebook, where we tend to connect with people we already know—it can help you gain the momentum you need to change careers. Or, if you're a new graduate entering the workforce for the first time, the site can help you build credibility in the field where you want to work.
"[Twitter] is one of the most powerful tools for anyone who's changing careers," says Miriam Salpeter, job-search coach and author of Social Networking for Career Success. (She also blogs for U.S. News.) People often think job-searching on Twitter means learning about openings through their feed, Salpeter says, but positioning yourself as an expert in your field is a far more effective strategy.
[See How to Position Yourself to Change Careers.]
Berrak Sarikaya, 26, used Twitter to move from an administrative and communications position at a petrochemical trade association to an internship at a large public-relations firm. After losing her job at the trade association last June, the Washington, D.C., resident tapped her Twitter network of 2,300 followers to land freelance and pro-bono projects, where she built upon her digital marketing skills.
"It was through the network I created and the brand I created and the connections that really helped me jump into the field that I wanted to be in versus the field I was in at the time," says Sarikaya, who goes by @dc_pq on Twitter.
Here are some ideas for how to use Twitter to work your way into a new career:
Use your real name as your handle. Whether it's your first and last name, or one or the other, using your name as your handle gives you a jump start on personal branding. When it comes to moving Twitter connections offline, your contacts will recognize you based on your name alone, which eliminates that middle step of recognizing your handle and then remembering your name. Plenty of Twitter users, including Sarikaya, build brands around non-name handles, but the easiest way to gain visibility is to go by your name.
[See 14 Secrets to Career Change Success.]
Know what you want. Job seekers often make the mistake of diving into a search before assessing their needs and desires. What kind of job do you want? What transferable skills do you have that will help you reach that goal? Once you've got that down, you'll be far more effective with any online campaign.
Build your knowledge base first. Have at least a general understanding of the field you want to enter before following industry experts on Twitter, because they won't follow you back unless you offer useful information, says Alison Doyle, job-search expert for About.com. Then "use Twitter as a vehicle to promote those qualifications," she says.
Use your bio to your advantage. "[Job seekers should] make sure their bio is about their future and not about their past," says Salpeter. This is your chance to position yourself and showcase your strengths. Include keywords that resonate with people who work and hire in your target industry. Along those same lines, tweet about where you're going more than where you came from.
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Cachinko of TX 10:19PM June 29, 2011
Dan of CA 1:11PM June 29, 2011