Twitter? For job-seeking? Consider Kyle Flaherty's story. He left a marketing position in Boston determined to find an in-house public relations job. He tweeted about his decision and included a link to his professional blog, where he described the kind of work he was looking for. Within days his tweet was retweeted. That is, an acquaintance forwarded it--to his current boss.
"I don't think I would have gotten this if not for Twitter," says Flaherty, who moved from Boston to Austin, Texas, for the new job with a pregnant wife and 2-year-old son.
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Twitter, as you probably know, is the social networking site that allows you to send tweets, the equivalent of text messages or Facebook status updates but limited to 140 characters. You have to keep them very short and simple. To sign up, you just fill out an online profile form. Then you can send and view tweets on your computer, cellphone and BlackBerry. Unlike on Facebook, you can follow (receive tweets from) anyone; there's no formal asking-and-accepting process.
When you sign up to follow someone's tweets, they see that you're following them. That's a good thing, because they may decide to reciprocate and follow you too, which is something you want if you're a professional trying to get noticed.
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