The best way to grow your Twitter network for job searching is to find other people with the same interests as you. After you post your Twitter profile, your bio, an image, and at least ten tweets, follow these steps weekly to grow your list:
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Use Twitter’s Find People features. On your Twitter home page, click on the #Discover link on top, and then choose the Who to Follow link to see who Twitter suggests you follow, browse by topics, and import your Gmail and LinkedIn contacts.
When you start off, invite people who know you. They’re more likely to follow you back. And the more people you have following you, the more likely new people are to think you’re legit.
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Follow the Twitter accounts of the companies or organizations you want to work for. Watch their timelines for a week or so, paying attention to their topics, and then begin to participate in the conversation. Retweet a post. Send them an @reply with a question or reaction.
After a while, the person (or people) managing the company’s Twitter account will get to know you. After you establish this social credibility, you can ask for direct contacts to hiring managers within the company or note that you’ve just applied for a job there and are looking for the right person to follow up with.
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Use Twitter’s real-time search features to find conversations as they’re happening. Head on over to search.twitter.com or twubs.com or use the search bar at the top of every Twitter page and type in a keyword related to your industry or field. The results reveal anyone who’s tweeting that keyword in real time. You can check people’s profiles before following or just join in the conversation.
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Look up interesting bios with Twitter directories. Another way to find new people to follow is by looking at their 160-character bios. Either type in a keyword relevant to your job search or simply browse topics in the following directories:
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Scan lists from your favorite tweeps. Review the profiles of your favorite (or just the most influential) people in your network; in particular, look at any lists they’ve put together. Adding those people to your network is a wise move.
You can follow up to 2,000 people straight away. At that point, Twitter needs to see an FF ratio of less than 120 percent before it will allow you to follow any more. Which means some of these people should follow you back. If, after a week, none of the people you chose to follow have bothered to follow you back, unfollow them.
This action decreases your FF ratio and allows you to follow other people who may actually reciprocate. To find out exactly who didn’t follow you back (and who you need to follow back), visit Justunfollow.com. Just type in your Twitter username and click on the Submit button to see your results.