In the WSJ article, The New Résumé: It’s 140 Characters, Rachel Emma Silverman and Lauren Weber explain why Twitter is increasingly used as a recruiting tool. They also provide examples of how job seekers are using Twitter to attract positions.
Those who appeal to recruiters have creative, succinct descriptions of their skill set, often accompanied by short videos. According to Silverman and Weber, firms place value on the number of quality followers job seekers have, with 1000 considered a solid number. Their sidebar with tips on using Twitter in job searches, and podcast about how companies are using Twitter to recruit, provides invaluable information for job seekers.
The piece exemplifies how and why online reputation management (ORM) encompasses image and branding, and why it is important for everyone. The ORM industry has expanded far beyond its early beginnings as a tool for pushing negative information down online. With the majority of research about individuals and organizations now conducted online, social media offers everyone the opportunity to shape their online image to support their goals. Job seekers have many free online resources to help them master and utilize the social media tools that can help them add value to companies seeking employees with those skills.
Vala Afshar, chief marketing officer at Boston network-infrastructure firm Enterasys, is one convert quoted in the article. He used Twitter to recruit for a new position at Enterasys.
“I am fairly certain I am going to abandon the résumé process,” he said. “The Web is your CV and social networks are your references.”
