Why I love Twitter and Why You Should Too!

I have heard a lot of twitter bashing recently. 

But this is why I think students and young professionals especially should take advantage of Twitter:

1. A lot of professionals have Twitter, if they are there you should be too
2. Twitter is an easy was to establish your personal brand and show people you are knowledgeable in your industry
3. Twitter can help you stay on top of potential jobs, companies and networking opportunities

Getting started: No one wants to hear what you are doing every 5 minutes, but you can share what you’re learning every couple of hours! Read publications that interest you. Tweet cool finds using a service such as http://bit.ly/ to shorten links. Eventually you will start to develop a pattern to your tweets about things you care about. For example my tweets revolve around Augmented Reality in Marketing, Technology, and Philanthropy. By finding unique articles about these

TIPS:

• Meet a professional?  Follow them; it is an informal way to stay current on what they are doing and another touch point beyond their clogged Outlook inbox.
• Asking a favor of a professional? Check their tweets first to see what is going on in their life, if they are out of town or seem busy hold your email until their tweets indicate less stress. It will seem courteous and improve your chances of getting a reply.  
• Care about a company? Follow them and search for them on Twitter, so when that interview comes you don’t just have the knowledge of a couple of news articles but a real time understanding of what people are saying about them.
• Follow recruiters, they often post job openings!
• Interested in Communications, PR, Advertising, Marketing or Technology? Check out #coldpavement a great informal networking event happens monthly learn about it through twitter!

You will be amazed as your tweets start to get re-tweeted or you get thanked for sharing cool information!

There is far too much to cover with Twitter so many ways to use it and so many examples of networking and job hunting success via twitter. At the end of the day Twitter places you and your personal brand into the conversation, if your not part of the dialogue someone else will be.

If anyone has tips about how to get listed, get more relevant followers or wants to tell me your twitter experience, leave me a comment or give me a shout out @belmontej  http://twitter.com/belmontej

[Via http://jordanbelmonte.wordpress.com]