I’ve written frequently about the value of journaling during a job search as a way to record your activity and your feelings during the process. By keeping track of what’s happening along the journey you can learn many valuable lessons and potentially minimize the chances of repeating mistakes.
Today I read an article in The New York Times about how Twitter plans to donate their public tweets to The Library of Congress and supply it with continuous updates. When viewed collectively, tweets may provide considerable value to historians. After I read the article, I started thinking of the applications of tweeting your job search.
Think about it. Once a day you would write one pithy 140 character statement about some aspect of your job search…answering an online ad, going to a networking event, going to an interview, getting turned down for a job, etc. You would document the event and how you were feeling about it. Each week you could reflect on these short entries and look for trends to see what’s working and not working. And since tweets are generally shared, others would benefit from your observations and once the word gets out about what you are doing, the number of followers you have may skyrocket and maybe even some recruiters and employers would start following you too. Tweeting your job search could be a very cathartic experience for you and at the same time it could serve as a way to build community with others in the same situation.
While I only recommend this strategy for job seekers who are not currently employed, job seekers conducting a more confidential search could still benefit from keeping a private journal and following the tweets of others in a more public search.
One of the reasons we document history is so we can reflect on the past and be part of a society that makes better, more informed choices in the future. Job seekers can benefit from the same type of reflection and make better choices about their search strategy moving forward.
I love the idea of using Twitter as a journal. I usually tweet about useful articles and blog posts I find. My primary goal is to provide resources for job seekers. However, I’ve also found it a great way to keep track of all those resources for my own use. For example, when I’m writing an article, I can easily go to my Twitter account and browse through my tweets to find links to blog posts that might be useful for my article.
Thanks, Barbara!
Susan,
That’s a great idea too! This could also be a good way for job seekers to find links they tweeted that they could send to others they are networking and interviewing with.