Twitter is growing exponentially. Employer's are using Twitter and other social sites to research job applicants. But still, few job seekers have no idea how to use Twitter for a job search.

One of the primary drivers of twitter growth has been the ability to share and find information. Savvy Job seekers can use Twitter and this real-time information feature to not only research companies, their products, and services, but also build credibility and influence by providing followers with good, relevant, and interesting news, articles, and insights.

Doing this in your chosen profession and industry can help you build a substantial number of followers who can be leveraged into direct contacts within companies, which are imperative when you are searching for a job.

Twitter can build credibility and authority during a job search.

Top 10 Benefits of using Twitter in a job search:

1. Differentiate yourself from other job seekers, while building your credibility and authority with industry contacts, thought leaders, as well as employee s, inside companies you are interested working with.
2. Prove your industry experience and expertise, based on your twitter posts, your followers, your twitter friends, and your retweets. Your resume can't do this!
3. Directly connect with senior management, employees, and owners of the companies that you are interested in working with, while building rapport and credibility, before you ask about job openings.
4. Build, Grow, and Maintain Relationships with your personal network and referral networks; including, current and former co-workers, clients, vendors, and other industry contacts.
5. Add value to your Personal Brand distinguishing you as a Subject Matter Expert, with connections to other industry thought leaders.
6. Keep your connections up-to-date on your job search progress.
7. Intimately know the companies you are interested in working with, through researching their products, their industry, their management, and their employees. You will not only gain critical information about the companies, but you will be able to make a much better decision about whether you want to work there or not.
8. Research the companies and publish your findings. This is basically using your job search time to learn about the companies and industries, but instead of just keeping the information to yourself, you publish it, making it available to others, including the people who are going to hire you. There are several stories of job seekers that were hired just because they knew more about social media and what was being said about the company than people inside the company. Publishing your finding, not only shows that you know a lot about the company, but that you are serious about your intent to work with them.
9. It's Easy! Twitter only allows 140 characters, so you don't have to spend an hour or two writing a blog posts, or racking your brain to find something to write. Finding and posting or retweeting relevant and interesting articles, tips, tricks, news, and information is easy to do and very rewarding. Not only do you learn about the companies you want to work for, but you also learn about all aspects of their industry, their management, etc. This is critical information to know if you want to find you Dream Job.
10. It's Fun!

If you are using Twitter or other social media tools in your job search, please comment below! I'd love to hear what kind of results you are achieving.

Did you find a job through Twitter?

Let me know by emailing me at jonathan at jonthanduarte.com

You can also follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/JonathanDuarte