It was bound to happen. Companies are starting to use Twitter to advertise open jobs. But that’s not all. At least one company is requiring applicants to have a certain number of Twitter followers to qualify for a position.
According to employment experts Jeanne C Meister and Karie Willyerd, Twitter is becoming a major tool for job recruiters. They blog on Harvard Business Publishing that:
- Companies find Twitter useful for attracting people who are not reading job boards.
- Small companies use Twitter to level the playing field to recruit against the big boys.
- Best Buy used Twitter to crowdsource a better job definition and qualifications for an emerging media marketing position.
Oh, by the way, the requirements for the Best Buy job as defined by the crowd included 250-plus followers on Twitter. “Yes that’s right: the number of followers you have on Twitter is now finding its way into a job description,” according to Meister and Willyerd.
Read their intriguing post, How Twitter and Crowdsourcing Are Reshaping Recruiting.
Tweeting All Job Seekers
But what about people seeking jobs. Can a Twitter account give you an advantage?
Certainly. If you are following the right companies, you might receive news of job openings as soon as they are made public, giving you a first-mover advantage.
What do you think? Would you use Twitter (or other social networking technology) to help your job hunt?
