“Do more followers on Twitter make you more employable?"

"Not necessarily", writes Andrew Grill ....

Andrew Grill is CEO of PeopleBrowsr UK, a high-tech social media analytic company.  He is also a regular, and sought after conference presenter on social media, and digital strategy and is the editor of one of the world's leading websites on social & mobile networking LondonCalling.co. 

"Twitter is not a popularity competition", says Andrew Grill, CEO of social media analytics company PeopleBrowsr UK.  

Using Twitter can be a secret weapon in the hunt for a new job in IT but like any job hunt it needs to be part of a wider recruitment strategy. 

I generally look at a candidate’s twitter profile (via their LinkedIn profile)  when making a decision about inviting them in for an interview.  Of interest to me are the number of followers, how many and who they follow, as well as the number of lists people have added them to. A well written twitter biography also tells me they really get social media and how it can work for them. When analysing a candidate’s follower vs following count, an equal number of followers compared to the number they are following says to me that they aren’t really using Twitter in the best possible way. 

A higher number of followers than friends says to me that the candidate has something to say and people want to hear what they are saying. Keeping the following count to a manageable number means being selective about who you follow, and this can pay dividends.

When I started using twitter back in 2007, I had no idea of who to follow.  Just as when I started using LinkedIn back in 2004, the challenge was finding other users to invite. Now that both Twitter and LinkedIn members number in the hundreds of millions, it is no longer a case of should I be using twitter, but how.

Smart candidates use Twitter as an electronic “tap on the shoulder”. Those hiring managers effectively using twitter will take special note of someone who starts following them, and then applies for a job with their company. It says to me that they're are doing their homework not just on my company, but also on me. These are the modern day traits that set candidates apart and ensure they are noticed in today’s crowded marketplace.

Hiring managers and business owners are humans too, and we are always intrigued as to who might be following us on Twitter, or checking out our LinkedIn profile. Indeed the “reverse stalking” feature via LinkedIn’s “who has viewed my profile” tells you who really wants that sought after job.

My top 5 Twitter following tips 

1. Use LinkedIn to spot key executives/hiring managers in your target companies and see if they have a twitter handle linked to their profile
2. Review their twitter profile and see what interests them and how they use the medium
3. Follow them on twitter from your twitter account, and make sure your twitter biography accurately describes your skills AND the link on your bio points back to your blog or LinkedIn profile
4. Try and maintain a followers:following ratio of better than 3:1 meaning that you have 3 x more followers than you are following.  This will also help manage the “noise” on Twitter.
5. Regularly use a tool such as Manage Flitter http://lc.tl/follow to clean up your twitter follower/following list.

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