I was first introduced to Twitter following the successful presidential campaign for Barrack Obama.  I have to admit, I failed to see the benefits straight away. The whole idea of tweeting random opinions and facts seemed rather pointless. However most of my friends were beginning to engage with Twitter so instead of being left out of the loop, I decided to set up my own account and see what all the fuss was about.

Four months on, I now view Twitter as an innovative approach to advancing your career or job search.  The big mistake candidates make is that they only ever look for a job when they need one. Instead, you should constantly keep in touch with recruiters and work on building a network of peers in other companies. Twitter is the ideal tool to help you do this. Below are a few pointers to get started:

1. Twitter bio

This is an opportunity for you to sell yourself as an employee. It is useful to include a link to your online CV or resume here so recruiters can view your CV instantly.

1. Profile picture

It is best to use a real photograph for this rather than an avatar. You are more likely to increase your followers by using a photograph of yourself.

1. Tweets

Tweet about your job search for example, what type of position you are looking for. Tweet about issues relevant to your sector. This is a way of demonstrating your knowledge base via your tweets and an easy way to back up your experience included on your CV.

When searching for a job, visualise yourself as running a campaign rather than applying for a position. Self-selling and self promotion are what it’s all about. The employer reach on twitter is astronomical; it is the ideal vehicle for promoting yourself as a potential employee.

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We published our monthly financial services London Employment Monitor to the leading media in this sector last week. (see link below).  Measuring the pulse of recruitment activity across the city, the signs based on January’s data are that London has come through a challenging 2009 and made a very healthy start to 2010…

Job vacancies in City up 60%, Financial Times – 10 February 2010

 We witnessed a 105% increase month on month in job volumes.  Always wary about the effects of Christmas and year end / budget submissions on these numbers the “real feel” is probably better reflected in the 60% uplift on the same month a year ago.

 What will be interesting over the rest of the first quarter will be to see how the time taken to fill roles is affected by this perceived increased demand.   I would fully expect to see this time to come down below the two month average that we saw last year.

It seems evident that the reasons London became a leading global financial services player endure:  geographically well-positioned, with a community of institutions that have accumulated some of the brightest talent - It is encouraging to see good career prospects returning to the City to attract the best!

Morgan McKinley London Employment Monitor January 10

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It is important to frequently sit back and evaluate how employable you are, regardless of whether you are employed or not!  Being a specialist in a certain area is not enough to ensure you are an attractive, employable candidate. This approach is naïve and disconnected from the reality of the jobs market of 2010.

Recently, a friend of mine who has worked in the same company for the last 20 years was told on his first week back from the Christmas break, that he faces the prospect of being made redundant. Having survived one of the most gruelling years in his sector, he was certain that his skills were enough to provide him with good job prospects for 2010, if not in that company then another. Not so. He is now faced with the prospect of having to find a job in a completely new sector with no relevant skills due to the fact that his sector (construction) was one of the worst hit, in the recession. The moral of the story is that allowing yourself to become complacent in your career, means you could run the risk of becoming unemployable in the future.

It is vital no matter what your career circumstances, that you make a continuous effort to educate yourself and progress with technologies and skills as they continue to evolve and change. This will ensure that you are equipped with some level of transferrable skills which may help, should you find yourself facing applying for jobs in a new industry sector.

Tips to ensure you stay employable:

• Adapt to new technologies
• Embrace change
• Be a life long learner
• Evaluate employability regularly
•  Maintain a positive attitude
• Hone your communications skills
• Improve your social and interpersonal skills

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