CAREERS NOW 01-31-10

With a Tweet, Can You Meet Next Employer?

DEAR JOYCE: My girlfriend is pushing me to use Twitter to job hunt. That's fluffy kid stuff in my opinion. Waste of time. Who's right? - K.A.

Who knows? "Whether Twitter is useful or not (in the employment chase) has been hotly debated," says job search coach Jorgen Sundberg. He recognizes that many recruiting professionals consider Twitter a supplemental job search tool, but the London-based coach makes a don't-miss point:

"One thing Twitter is very good at is shooting out snippets of information to a lot of people very quickly. In today's job market, speed is of the essence and announcing new openings on Twitter is a fast-growing phenomenon among employers and recruiters."

In pre-recession days, it could be smart strategy to wait a few days or a week before applying until after the initial crush of job seekers. But in this brutal environment where every opening attracts unbelievable numbers of resumes, employers usually get plenty of candidates within the first 24-48 hours. Sundberg says job seekers can now get new openings sent to them before (most) recruiters get them by following the right tweeters.

He posts a regularly updated list of major employers that tweet their new job openings - the only such one I've seen. The list is sorted by industries and includes hyperlinks to each company'snbhbhbhbhbhbhbhbherr Twitter career page. Find the list on Sundberg's Web site, The Undercover Recruiter (theundercoverrecruiter.com; "List of Employers Posting Jobs on Twitter").

DEAR JOYCE: An attractive single man I'd like to date sits somewhat near me. I'd love to send him an e-mail valentine and perhaps stir up interest. I too am single. Any problems with that? - W.B.

The upside to office romances is that some people meet their true love that way. But the downside to office relationships is that they can turn sour and then you have to continue to see or work with the person, warns business etiquette expert Barbara Pachter (pachter.com).

As for e-mail valentines, Pachter reminds you that e-mail is not private. "And don't mail an unsigned Valentine Day's card to a coworker - especially an X-rated card," Pachter counsels. "Being a secret admirer is not a corporate concept."

DEAR JOYCE: I can't sleep - I'm so worried about my son's junior year in college this fall. I just don't see how I, a single mother, can come up with the money to help pay for it and I already work two jobs. Any thoughts? - R.R.

Google a new U.S. News & World Report story by Kim Clark, "10 Steps to Raise $15K or More for College Now." The story describes new tax breaks, campus jobs and federal grants to help students pay for college.

DEAR JOYCE: My wife is feeling so rejected after a seven-month unsuccessful job hunt for a managerial position. All she will do now is sit at her computer and answer job postings. What do you advise? - V.W.

These words of wisdom come from Tim Schoonover, chairman of career transition and coaching firm OI Partners (oipartners.net):

"Encourage your wife to increase her face-to-face contact. Some long-term unemployed may be spending too much time looking for jobs and posting resumes online, and have not had enough face contact. She should join networking groups and increase her networking contacts by volunteering her services with civic, charitable and religious groups. She should attend professional association meetings, and it's important to work the phones. Also, she should check out the competitors of all the companies for which she has worked."

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E-mail career questions for possible use in this column to Joyce Lain Kennedy at jlk@sunfeatures.com; use Reader Question for subject line. Or mail her at Box 368, Cardiff, CA 92007.

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