Are you Networking? It’s Time to Talk about Twitter

If you’ve been reading my networking guides, you’ve been living on LinkedIn for a while now. You perfected your profile, you’re consciously connecting with people, and your DM game is strong.

But you’ve been fighting with one hand tied behind your back (metaphorically speaking — don’t punch people).

LinkedIn is a fantastic tool, don’t get me wrong. There’s a reason I dedicated a huge chunk of this guide to it.

Now it’s time for some Rocky Balboa-style training. You’re on the fight card with Apollo Creed, and it’s time to switch to Southpaw and add Twitter to your networking arsenal.

Cue the training montage.

If you haven’t already read my 7 Steps to Make a Marketable LinkedIn Profile, stop reading this and check it out first. A lot of the basics, including your cover photo and “About” section, are already covered there.

Leverage Linktree

Unlike LinkedIn, which gives you a whole section for links and content that you want to feature, Twitter allows you to post one link in the header of your profile.

I use Linktree to drive traffic where I want people to go.

What should you put in your Linktree?

Do you have a blog? How about your GitHub? Do you have any live projects living on the internet? How about a personal website?

If you say yes to any of those, include those links in your Linktree and add THAT link to your Twitter header.

Check out mine if you need some inspiration.

Introduce yourself with a video.

One thing you’ll notice on my Twitter profile is my pinned video introduction. Video carries so much weight in the hiring process. And what do hiring managers ask in every interview?

“Tell me about yourself. What are your greatest strengths? What are your greatest weaknesses?”

Why don’t you selfie-style up a video and pin a video to your Twitter to get some of those introductory questions out of the way? You can get a feel for what I’m talking about with my video here:

You might be thinking, “Taylor, that looks really well done. I don’t have the means for that kind of video production.”

That’s okay!

It doesn’t have to be professionally done. Just set up in some nice lighting and take a selfie. Then tell recruiters and hiring managers your story in two minutes or less.

Lists are a fantastic way to network on Twitter.

Lists are a great way to get plugged into different communities on Twitter. I have a list called “Taylor’s Tech”. It’s a list of really smart people who post about stuff in the field that you’re trying to get a job in. If you follow that list, you’ll get a bunch of those people showing up in your feed.

Like LinkedIn, Twitter rewards liking and commenting. Follow my lists and treat good lists like “meet-ups”. Consistent, well-crafted comments will create familiarity.

That’s why Twitter is so important. If you’re consistently commenting on people’s statuses on a tech list and they follow you, and you follow them, you’ve suddenly started building out a network of relevant people in your industry.

Spend fifteen minutes a day browsing lists and making intentional comments.

Spend fifteen minutes a day reaching out to people on LinkedIn.

The point is this: it’s easy to fall into the trap of mindless scrolling on social media. Don’t fall into the trap. Be present on social media, but use or time intentionally. Be mindful and intentional about what people you’re following.

If you approach Twitter and LinkedIn with a career strategy in mind, you’ll open so many more doors than throwing endless job applications into the abyss.

Want to catch all five parts of this guide in one place? I gave a complete talk about How Social Media Can Help You Land Your Dream Job on egghead.io HERE.

I’m a recruiter! I match job seekers with folks who are hiring. Check out my job board and more guides at taylordesseyn.com.

I host a daily podcast called Guidance Counselor 2.0 where I talk to job seekers, hiring managers, and tech industry professionals about all things jobs HERE.

Tweet at ya boy @tdessyn.