Twitter: The MBA Job Hunter's Best Friend

Twitter is quickly becoming a powerful business tool and can be especially helpful during these economic times when unemployment is on the rise. For current MBA applicants, students and grads, it's now more important than ever to make sure your online presence reflects the value and skills your MBA degree brings to the table.

It's not uncommon nowadays for top MBA employers to tweet about new jobs available. If you are actively participating in the Twitter community, you could be one of the first to see and respond to those announcements. You can connect directly with hiring managers and CEO's on Twitter to introduce yourself in a non-invasive way to establish an initial relationship. In addition, it's very easy to learn about company culture and personality types by following employees and CEO's who work at your dream company. They'll be impressed when you enter the interview knowing you can reference some of their most recent tweets.

We came across 50 Terrific Twitter Tips for Job Seekers on MBAjobs.net. We thought we'd highlight the most important ones for you here:

Branding Yourself:

• Create an easy-to-remember Twitter name.
• Put your professional Web site or even your personal LinkedIn url on your Twitter profile.
• Offer valuable content. Avoid posting anything inappropriate.
  
• Don't tweet too often or too infrequently. 3-10 tweets a day is a reasonable amount.
  

Networking:

• Branch out. Start following and connecting with people with similar interests.
• Don't just use Twitter as a soap box for your own content. Converse with other users through @replies, direct messages and re-tweets.
• Tweet other people’s blog posts and links to spread the love and catch the attention of industry leaders.
• Post links to your work and don’t be afraid to promote yourself in a responsible, non-annoying way.

Etiquette:

• Make your words count: Since you only have 140 characters to share, make sure you use the right ones.
• Reply to friends who message you directly or indirectly. You’ll come across as accessible, helpful and friendly.
• Don’t get too casual: Twitter is meant to be an informal way to spread information but almost like e-mail, it’s starting to become a more popular way for even professionals to connect.
• Follow up off of Twitter: Don’t rely on Twitter to make all the connections for you. Network off Twitter or follow up with an e-mail when it’s appropriate.

And remember, if you are looking for an automatic friend on Twitter, follow us @MBAPodcaster and introduce yourself! We'd love to share tweets with you and give you daily insight and personalized advice on the MBA application process. Good luck!