Work On It Wednesday: Twitter

By Emily Young MA ‘16

Networking and building your personal brand image isn’t top of mind when you think of social media platforms like Twitter.  If you have never utilized Twitter to build your personal brand you probably have perceptions of Twitter like this:

Jimmy Kimmel hits the nail on the head when he shares that by tweeting you have instant access to celebrities mobile phones.  If you view celebrities loosely, Twitter allows you access to well-established companies and professionals in your field.  You can not only read their thoughts and opinions, but also use them to leverage your own brand by retweeting and curating the content you post.  Learn how to use Twitter to build your personal brand with these #WorkOnItWednesday tips.  

1. Identify Your Brand

One of the goals of having a Twitter account is to post content around a subject(s) to gain followers and recognition. Brand yourself based on your passions, career, and skill sets.  People should enjoy following your account because you post about relevant content, up-and-coming trends, or fun and creative ideas, etc.  Be true to yourself and passions, but also think about who would potentially be your audience.  Keeping your audience in mind, few people want to follow an account that hasn’t been filled out, lacks a description, and has no profile picture (avatar).

2. Follow People in Your Field

The more you read about your field, the easier it is to build your brand on Twitter.  Start by following well-established companies and professionals in your field, hobbies, and passions.  Read their bios and see how they use backgrounds and experiences to build their personal brand.  Look at the type of content they post, how often they link to other posts, and use of hashtags.  See what type of posts gets favorited or retweeted the most and how you can emulate them.

3. Retweet Often

Whenever you see a tweet you like or agree with, retweet it.  Retweeting allows you to compliment someone you’re following with just a click of a button and helps you build your brand by sharing items of interest with your followers.  Even if ‘celebrities’ (industry leaders) are too busy to respond, they may still notice who retweets them.

4. Promote Your Work

When you do something awesome, tweet about it on Twitter! If you have a professional blog, you should link it to your Twitter bio, LinkedIn and Facebook profile. Share when you update your personal website or land a new job.  You can also use Twitter as a sounding board to gather opinions and thoughts on your current work and projects. The more you tweet, the more comfortable with Twitter you’ll become and the more you’ll realize how useful social media can be in helping you build your personal brand!

5. Job Search Resource

 Search on Twitter to find job openings.  Most companies and organizations have a Twitter account. Use this to your advantage. If there’s a company you’re interested in, follow them on Twitter. Not only may they post job openings on their page, but by following them you’ll know more about what’s going on in the company and their current involvements.

Some companies even have a separate Twitter account dedicated to Human Resources.  Look for companies that have “careers” or “work” or “HR” in their names. For example, if you want to work for ESPN, you should follow @ESPNCareers. If you want to work for NBC, you should follow @workatNBCU.

Things You Should Avoid

• Irrelevant content- you should ensure that what you post demonstrates your work ethic and passion. Especially if you are linking your Twitter to your LinkedIn and other profiles.
• Inconsistency- once you have chosen your brand on Twitter, try and stay true to those subjects.  If in your bio you claim to be an engineer that loves exploring new restaurants, but all you post about is heavy metal, there is a mismatch.
• Misspelling words and use of improper grammar- although this may be painstakingly obvious, treat each tweet like a resume to potential recruiters.  Spelling can get tricky with hashtags
• Negative and discriminatory opinions- don’t end up on Jimmy Kimmel mean tweets. Voice your opinion with poise and leave no room for     misinterpretation.

Feel free to follow me @eyvolleyball for sports, adventures, and fun!

~Emily