It seems that for every new person using Twitter, there’s another new tool to let people use it. For searching for jobs on Twitter, we’ll be looking at the 5 top sites to search for jobs on Twitter.

But first and in case you haven’t noticed, there’s been lots of talk about using Twitter to find your next job:

• Tweet Your Way to a New Job – or Not? – About.com
• A New Job Just a Tweet Away – The Wall Street Journal
• 20 tips to Twitter job search success – JobMob
• Searching for Jobs on Twitter- Can Twitter help you get a job? – Southwest CEO
• Twitter in the Job Search? – JibberJobber
• Everyone’s slingin’ hash(jobs) on Twitter – Cheezhead

Before we get to the job seeker tools that exist for job searching on Twitter, let’s briefly illustrate the current problems that are inherent in using Twitter to find a job (and trying to be brief and not rehash the issue that some people have with the whole Twitter+jobs=hired concept:

• All information on Twitter is limited to 140 characters, which isn’t much space to fit a link, title, location, company name & brief description. This sentence, for example, is 192 characters.
• To make links shorter, tweets using URL shorteners to condense long urls (like http://jobsearchwebsite.com/location/job-title.html) to something shorter (like http://tr.im/asd123). The problem with this is that you don’t really know where a link is going to take you.
• Since there’s no universal standard for marking a tweet as being for a job listing (many people append #job to a tweet), there’s no way to make sure that a search will include all job openings on Twitter. Likewise, there’s no way to guarantee that everything with a #job is a job listing.
• Most job searches have 2 factors – keywords and locations. Because tweets are mostly keyword-focused, its very spotty to search Twitter for job openings in a certain area.
• Tweets are all micro blog-posts. So, unlike a typical job posting, there’s no expiration/closing date mentioned – or attached – to a job posting. So the only way to see if a tweeted job is still open is to click the link(s), which can be exhausting to say the least.

So like every job search tool that we’ll review, none of these should be a job seeker’s only resource. But they can be a valuable part of a job seeker’s toolkit and help find some opportunities that might not be so obvious in other places. And even in the relatively short time that Twitter has been around, some Twitter-related job search sites have already gone belly up (like HashJobs.com). We’ll only be glancing at the websites that appear to still be actively maintained and improved.

(Roughly in order of best to worst)

Pros:

• LinkedIn integration
• Offers a public forum to discuss bugs & desired features
• Lets visitors browse for jobs by company
• Segments tweets into 30 categories and 117 geographic regions
• Great keyword and location-based searching
• Ability to refer a friend to any desired tweet
• Email & SMS alert services
• Jobseekers can flag tweets as spam

Cons:

• Many of the listings, once clicked, show that they’re no longer available
• Listings quickly get clogged by a single source

Verdict: There’s a good reason that PCMag listed this as one of the web’s top 20 job sites. For anyone wanting to search for a job on Twitter, this site is a must!

Pros:

• Many search options (make sure you use their Advanced Search, and know how to use search operators)
• Allows limiting tweets by date range
• No advertisments & clean interface
• Includes all tweets, everyone gets equal attention

Cons:

• Location based searching is very limited
• No mechanisms to filter out duplicate postings
• Very limited vetting process to guarantee postings are from legitimate employers

Verdict: There’s nothing like going straight to the source.  When job searching on Twitter, don’t overlook this basic tool.

Pros:

• Neat new Job Map tool
• Offers a public forum to let visitors discuss bugs and desired features
• Results can be narrowed by job type or salary
• Awesome ability to filter out listings from overzealous tweeters (who typically turn out to be spammers)
• Results can be delivered via RSS
• Ability to bookmark preferred tweets when logged in
• “I Can Do This” feature, though I can’t find any section that explains how this works

Cons:

• Offered search capability returns incorrect results
• Results are very cluttered and can be a bit exhausting on the eye
• No apparent way to view the original tweet of a posted job
• Continuous search results mechanism prevents visitor from scrolling to the bottom of the page
• Only 25% of other sites number of tweets, though still heavily saturated with job board spam

Verdict: Has potential, but offers nothing that you wouldn’t find on the above services.

Pros:

• Search functionality that includes keyword and (limited) location
• Tweets are grouped together based on location in major metros
• Tweets are automatically analyzed into different categories

Cons:

• Very heavy integration with Google Ads
• Results are clunky and poorly displayed
• Search logic appears to rely purely on what Twitter offers without any server-side improvements (e.g. it doesn’t translate 12345 into Hersey, PA)

Verdict: Nothing you’ll find here that you won’t find on other sites.

Pros:

• Segments listings in Design, Programming and Other categories

Cons:

• No search functionality of any kind
• Updates are few and far between. On second thought, this service may have been abandoned…

Verdict: Nothing to see here. Move along…

In the end, Twitter is still more about networking and finding resources than being a replacement for using job boards, job search engines, and company websites. If you’re in an ultra-niche position and looking for work regardless of geographic location, you might find what you’re looking for on Twitter; otherwise, be cautious on how much of your job search time you’re investing in this region.

What is localbacon? As they put it…

localbacon.com solves fundamental problems for both job seekers and employers by flipping the traditional model upside down. On localbacon.com, job seekers receive benefits that no other job board provides including guaranteed feedback, handpicked standardized, full-time available opportunities, and real-time updates about their applications. (Learn more)

What does this mean? Well, it depends on who you ask. LocalBacon launched in September 2009 at TechCrunch 50, where there was plenty of press coverage of the new startup, their odd name, and their ambitions:

Click here to view the embedded video.

They do accept feedback from their users in a public venue, and although some of the questions are obviously staged and activity is low, it does give some interesting insight into the company’s philosophy. When asked why the site isn’t free:

There are plenty of free options out there, localbacon gives candidates the ability to send their application to employers through a spam free channel as well as receive premium services such as seeing the status of their application as well as receive feedback from employers.

Note: I’ve yet to find out how they’re able to make their channel spam free.

Getting down to the nitty-gritty of the service, there are really 4 factors that need considering:

• The service charges $1 for each application (you get discounts when you buy in bulk). The promise is that you’ll get feedback on every application – though there’s no example of what that means.
• The service is only available, at present, in NYC. Their growth is planned city by city, with Chicago probably next; you’ll need to wait for this train to come to your station, and it’ll be a long time before its in anything other than a major metro.
• Their application process involves uploading a Word doc for your resume, and another for your cover letter, and then letting a 3rd party (Scribd) handle it from there. Though I appreciate being able to send employers my resume as I intend it, I can’t imagine many employers will adopt this since they expect applications to arrive in a unified format.
• The site still allows recruiters to post jobs directly, so there’s no promise that your paid application is actually going to someone who’s offering a real job.

This site has a lot of rough corners (like their “Welcome to localbacon” email) and the company’s 4 employees are clearly still working hard on it. The week-to-week progress of it is impressive, and their leveraging of social media (such as the ability to login via Facebook Connect) shows they understand the direction of modern web development.

They’ve certainly seen growth since their launch:

… but keeping things in perspective, they’ve still got quite the hill to climb…

… and conversations about them on Twitter are non-existent.

To put it simply, this egg should still be in the incubator. LocalBacon’s sole point of existence is that if you pay them money and apply for a job, you’ll hear back from the employer. And although that is a noble goal and a worthy cause, there’s no proof of their promise, no insight into their process, and a scarce amount of jobs (most of which can be found on other free sites) to apply should you want to put the rubber to the road. So jobseekers, save your time and give something else a shot. LocalBacon is a young site, under heavy development, and I’m not saying count them out yet – just don’t count on them right now.

When I started JibberJobber I called it a career management tool.  From that point on I was quite curious to know what other major sites would offer to job seekers and career managers, specifically curious when they called it a “career toolbox.”

I recently stumbled into AOL’s career page – while they don’t call it a career toolbox it was interesting to see what tools they (a) include and (b) point to.  Here’s what I found (at jobs.aol.com):

1. Salary Calculator: I don’t have very good experiences with salary calculators… because when I used the info to do salary negotiations the response I got back from my bosses was that those numbers were skewed to big cities, or big companies, or something like that, and completely unrealistic for our situation.  Basically they were telling me to not expect the higher numbers I was seeing in those calculators.  This one is powered by PayScale (which is Salary.com’s main competitor, I think).
2. Cost of Living Calculator: Also powered by PayScale, I do like this concept as it helps you understand the differences from where you live now to where you think you want to move.  Can be quite overwhelming for someone moving from podunk, USA to an expensive city (like Boston or NYC).
3. Career Features, Retirement Jobs: All job search info is powered by CareerBuilder, which became the largest job board in the US (surpassing Monster a couple of years ago, IIRC).  This link goes to PrimeCB.com, which is CareerBuilder’s tool for Baby Boomers.
4. Career Features, Skills Training: This also goes to a CareerBuilder site called CareerBuilderInstitute. I hadn’t seen this before but it looks like there are videos and training courses to brush up skills, get certifications, etc.  Some are free, I’m guessing some are not.
5. Online Education, Go Back to School: This goes directly to the University of Phoenix website… Interestingly there isn’t anything in the link that indicates it is coming from CareerBuilder… I would think they (Phoenix AND CareerBuilder) would want to know how many clicks turn into paying students.
6. Online Education, Get Your Degree Online: This goes to AOL’s “online campus,” which is sponsored by the University of Phoenix.  Weird that the link above goes straight to Phoenix’s website where this goes to an AOL domain with info and content and features by the University of Phoenix.
7. Career Fairs, Find a Career Fair Near You: Powered by CareerBuilder also – there are a lot of resources here for career fairs – whether you want to attend or you are an employer and you want to pay lots of moola to buy a booth.  Interestingly, there are only 2 upcoming career fairs listed.
8. Create a Resume: Powered by Emurse, which was acquired by AOL in 2008.  Go Emurse!!
9. Resume Management: Goes to the front page of Emurse.com.  The front page looks almost identical to what you see in #8 above.

Looks like there is a lot missing, if I wanted a job search toolbox.  They lean heavily on CareerBuilder – luckily CareerBuilder has a pretty comprehensive suite (for a job board company).  Cool that they bring in Emurse, but I’d think that AOL would tap into a lot of other sources to have a fuller offering.

The Career Czar® is an educational service providing career information.  The goal is to provide relevant career information in an entertaining way for both listeners and guests.

Some typical career questions asked are:

What is a particular career like? What is the right career for me? How can I get a job in the field I want? What training and education will prepare me for another career or enhance my current career?  What is certification and how will it benefit my career? How can I get more satisfaction from my current career? How can I get more balance between career and personal life?

Career Czar can be found at:
Career Czar website – http://careerczar.com/
Career Czar Internet Radio Show blog – http://careerczar.wordpress.com/
All Talk radio network – http://www.alltalkradio.net/alt/show.php?folder=careerczar

The Career Czar Internet Radio Show blog, in addition to program information, features the bio of Career Czar Paul, Coach Christine, life skill hosts, and career hosts.  Other blogs and websites of interest to job seekers are mentioned, as well.  Coach Christine, and the other contributing hosts, bring many years of experience and quite impressive resumes to augment the news, views, tools, and tips offered by Career Czar Paul.

Programs are provided on the All Talk Radio Network and the Career Czar program home page at www.alltalkradio.netcareerczar as well as at the Career Czar website at http://careerczar.com/.

Broadcast time for the show is Friday, 10AM – 11 AM Pacific Time, live on AllTalkRadio.net

Coming Up on the Career Czar:

11/06/09 – Write better and get published with Patrika Vaughn. Visit her website at www.acappela.com.

11/13/09 – Off Road Racing with Nicole Johnson. Check out the Johnson Motor Sports website is www.johnson4×4.com.

11/20/09 – Management Consulting with Craig Holt. Visit his company’s website at www.sierrasystems.com.

11/27/09 – Happy Thanksgiving! Repeat Show – Eli Amdur – The Rules of the Game Have Changed!

12/04/09 – Host Anne Marie Cross of our sister show CareerSuccessRadio.com talks careers from Down Under. Check out their show at http://careercommuniqueradio.ning.com/! It’s great!

The blogs and podcasts include some excellent tips for both job seekers and career changers that may provide some new perspectives on looking for work during the current recession.

LinkUp, the fastest growing job search engine in the U.S., has launced a similar job search engine for Canada. The site, Canada.linkup.com, includes job listings throughout Canada that are only found on company and employer websites.  As a result of this unique approach to job listings, jobs on LinkUp.com and Canada.linkup.com are always current, often unadvertised anywhere else. LinkUp job listings are only from company site and contain no fake jobs, old jobs, work-at-home scams, identity theft postings, or listings from recruiters, staffing companies, search firms, or headhunters.

“We’ve seen phenomenal growth in the U.S. by delivering the highest quality job search engine on the web, and expanding our coverage to include Canada is a logical next step for our business,” commented President & CEO Toby Dayton. “We’re excited to be able to offer job seekers and employers everywhere a vastly better alternative to the outdated resources currently available on the web today.”

LinkedIn just reached huge milestone – 50 million members and it is growing by leaps and bounds.  In fact, it’s amazing how quickly LinkedIn is growing, CEO Jeff Weiner says “When LinkedIn launched in 2003, it took 477 days — almost a year and four months — to reach our first million members. This last million took only 12 days.”

If you haven’t started on LinkedIn, if your LinkedIn profile needs a boost, or you need strategies for effectively using LinkedIn, Jason Alba has all the information you need for LinkedIn success: I’m On LinkedIn Now What?.  Here’s information on how to use LinkedIn to job search - it should be an essential part of your job search.

You’re welcome, as well, to join the About.com Job Search and Careers Group on LinkedIn, for lots of news, tips and job search advice.

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Job search engine LinkUp’s Facebook App -  Current-Jobs-at-Our-Company - provides a way for companies to automatically publish jobs from their corporate websites onto their Facebook Fan pages. Recent additions to the list of companies using the App includes USA Today, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, CentraState Health Care Systems, Medtronic, and Hyatt Hotels and Resorts. Staffing agencies, recruiters, and advertising agencies using LinkUp’s Facebook App, as well.

LinkUp’s Facebook App places a jobs widget on a company’s Facebook wall, as well as a separate Jobs tab on the company Fan Page that lists all of the current job listings from the company’s corporate website. When Facebook users click on a job listing on Facebook, they are directed to the job listing on the company’s website to apply.

Jennifer Greenfield, Director of Interactive Services at Alstin Communications, explains how easy it is for companies to use, “Our first implementation of the LinkUp Jobs App was on the Christiana Care Health System Career Fan Page. The App was easy to implement and syncing with their career site and ATS was seamless. All of their job postings were viewable on Facebook within one hour of adding the App and CCHS’s Fans increased 96% in a six-week period. The LinkUp Jobs App will definitely become a ‘must have’ element to all our Fan Pages.”

Remember the question “what do you want to be when you grow up?” How about, what SHOULD you be when you grow up?

I met Mike Ballard, the owner of Turning Points and True Path, online and our paths have crossed about once a year.  He gave me a demo of True Path last year but frankly, I didn’t get it.

This week I got another demo and it gelled quite a bit more.  True Path is a tool he uses with his own job search clients to help them understand who they are, what they could and should do, and how to communicate that.  His logo says True Path is a “Career Branding Tool” and that you:

• Define your brand,
• Ace the interview,
• Create your job.

When you first login to True Path you’ll see a screen that walks you through a number of questions – going through these questions is what helps you understand your brand, strengths, passions, likes, etc.  Here are the main categories… I would logically start from top left and go to the right, then the next line, etc.

At a very rough glance, my first thought was this was a touchy-feely thing that I didn’t need.  I’m one of those types who already knows what I want to be when I grow up, and am cocky enough to think I’m above any kind of help or process like this.

However, as I walked through it with Mike this last time I realized that going through the questions is a very valuable experience.  I think there are two significant values to this system:

1. The Report: This is a summary of all of the stuff you put in the system.  It provides a great deal of informtion for self-reflection and helps you compare who you think you are (or, what you think your brand is) with what the evidence shows.  Perhaps you think you are a risk-taker but there is nothing to support that from the stories and experiences you put in the system!  Either put better info in the system, or face it: you might not be a risk-taker!
2. The process: Just filling out the questions helps you understand some of the thought process a career counselor would have you go through.  I wouldn’t know where to start… using this system is better than starting with a blank piece of paper.

Information you get from this process and the report would be used in developing your brand, crafting answers to interview questions (with stories), developing your resume and online profiles, etc.

Mike Ballard is based out of Colorado.

CareerSuccessRadio.com offers free career tips for job seekers, career changers, HR professionals & recruiters.   The site is created with Ning, an online platform for creating your own social networks, and comes with a personal page where you can post your own blog, discussions, photos, and videos.

The Career Success Radio Community page has upcoming events; as well as podcasts of their weekly radio show – Career Communiqué Radio,  which is a regularly featured program on blogtalkradio.

Job seekers will find news, views, tools, tips on this site, and might enjoy a different medium – such as a podcast or video to gather career information advice.   The site includes podcasts, videos, a discussion forum, and career services.  The most recent podcast is:

• Career Change is not only possible…It’s exciting – Oct 04,2009.

Other podcasts worth reviewing are:

• Powerful interview strategies to outshine the competition – Sep 06,2009

• JOB SEARCH 101: Practical Job Search Strategies to ‘HIT THE GROUND RUNNING’ – Aug 23,2009

The video library offers some great perspectives, and tips on interviewing, career management,  and job search,  to name a few.   A few examples worth reviewing are:

• Taking your job search to the next level with Social Networking – Part 1

• Job Loss: strategies to get your career back on track

• Career Management 2.0 – Powerful tool for job seekers and ongoing career management (interview with Jason Alba, CEO of JibberJobber.com)

The mission statement on the main page sums up the goal, “Career Success Radio Community page is committed to bringing you inspiring career-related topics to support you in accelerating your level of success in the job market and the workplace.”

I’ve written a lot about LinkedIn and about how everyone should have a profile on LinkedIn and should be actively using the site to connect,  to build their career, and to job search.  LinkedIn is the site for professional networking and it’s an invaluable tool for job searching.

That’s why I was thrilled to read that the White House is using LinkedIn. Nancy Ann De Parle, Director, White House Office of Health Reform, is using LinkedIn Questions to ask: “The White House wants to know: What is the biggest health care problem in your state?”

If you haven’t started on LinkedIn, if your LinkedIn profile needs a boost, or you need strategies for effectively using LinkedIn,  Jason Alba has all the information you need for LinkedIn success: I’m On LinkedIn Now What?.

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