“The times, they are a-changing.”  When Bob Dylan wrote that song, anybody looking for work searched the want ads in the newspaper.  Today that approach is almost worthless.  In contrast, social media tools like Twitter are the tools for today’s job seekers.  For instance, you can search job openings in your industry.  You can even find job announcements in your own hometown.  You don’t need a Twitter account; however, it is available for free.

Go to Twitter Search: [1] http://search.twitter.com.  Twitter operates this free service, but it’s not on their regular Web site: [2] http://twitter.com.  Look for the Twitter logo the small bar where you can type in the search words.  Just under that bar, at the right-hand side is a link that says, “Advanced Search.”  Click on that.

This brings up a new page that invites you to be more specific in your search.  You’ll see the phrase, “Find tweets based on…” followed by a whole page full of possible categories.  A “tweet” is the name Twitter uses for short messages posted on their site.  For now, we’re just interested in the section, “Words and Places.”

Let’s start with the field,  “Any of these words.”  We’ll become more specific by combining other fields in a minute.  Type the name of your industry and any related words.  Scroll down to the bottom of the page and hit the Search button.  Voila!  You’ll find a plethora of tweets containing those terms and hopefully a job that is matches your career.

On the other hand, if none of these tweets are job announcements, return to the Twitter Search.  Then find the field labeled, “This Hashtag” and type the word “#hiring” or “#jobs.”  Click on the search.  This time all of the tweets displayed should be job announcements.  There’s also another option that’s even better!

Return to Twitter Search and repeat all of the above actions.  This time narrow the search geographically by typing in your zip code or location in the section titled, “Places.”  Note that you can set the distance from that place, as well, e.g. “within 25 miles”.  Click on the Search button.  Now you’ll find job announcements for your industry in your local area.

A typical tweet looks like this: @wildlifesociety: #hiring Chief Conservation Officer Jobs at Ducks Unlimited, Inc. -The Wildlife Society http://t.co/zuVNLEX.   In this case, @wildlifesociety is the individual or organization who tweeted this announcement.  The job title and name of the company are next, followed by the hyperlink.  Click on the link to the full job information and application process.  This is how you can use Twitter Search to find job announcements specifically targeted to your career interests.  Furthermore, they’ll probably be hot-off-the-presses and, therefore, not yet posted on any job board.  Consequently, you could be among the very first to respond!

Guest blogger,

Robert Rowell

[3] http://www.indeed.com/p/index.php?pid=7080813311402333

[4] Tweet