Tweeting Your Way To The Top

Tweeting Your Way To The Top

By Lindsey R. Guest Blogger, Senior Brand Strategist and Sister of RSP Founder

Legend has it that social media is the quickest way to kill a career.  Remember those cautionary tales from only a few years ago of the woman blogging a Devil Wears Prada-style roman a clef about her job, only to be given the pink slip?  Or stories about the promising young woman with a great resume who wasn’t given an interview because she had racy pictures up on Facebook which she didn’t protect with privacy settings?  Bravo’s Kell On Earth series recently featured People’s Revolution employees checking out a potential hire on Twitter only to find her pompous and dismiss her on the spot.

Of course, if you are mindful of your privacy settings, social media can have its career perks. Headhunters often contact me with great jobs, thanks to my public profile on LinkedIn. I even learned about the opening for my current job, which I love, because a grad school peer posted a status update on Facebook that she had just accepted an offer elsewhere. But perhaps, the social media vehicle with the greatest potential to boost my career – and yours- is Twitter.

As Twitter has “grown up” its become a 24/7, real-time platform for industry heavyweights to communicate their perspectives on the issues that face their business. Social norms have made it appropriate to “follow” these people, even if an introduction has never been made. As such, the savvy career woman stays in the know by following these kinds of Twitter personas:

• Your Company: If your place of employment has a voice in the digital world, you should definitely be listening. This keeps me up to date on the latest awards, creative, leadership changes and job posts coming out of my agency.

• The People Who Run Your Company: Face it- the people shaping the future of your company are also shaping the future of your career. You need to know what they’re thinking. I follow the founder of my agency, the CEO, the Chief Creative Officer and the CEO of our holding company, amongst others.

• The Heavyweights In Your Area of Expertise: Companies tend to bring specialists from different disciplines together to create a product or service. If there are only a few people who share your area of expertise at your company, how do you grow your skill set? I have daily access to one brilliant Chief Strategic Officer and seven bright account planning minds at my agency. Twitter enhances my ability to hone my craft by also giving me access to the inner musings of such accomplished brand strategists as Colin Drummond, Gareth Kay, Edward Cotton, and David Terry, to name a few.

• Places You Might Want To Work Someday: Have you ever been to a job interview and not been asked why you want to work at that specific company? Of course not! People want to hire those who are passionate about the company, the values it stands for and the product it sells. This helps you become acquainted with those companies on a more intimate basis. Sometimes these companies tweet when jobs are available, giving you first dibs on getting you resume in.

• The Organizations and People You Are Passionate About: No one wants to hire someone who is only passionate about their work. These outside passions create a unique reference point that actually helps you become better at what you do professionally. So make sure you also use Twitter as a vehicle by which to follow what you love. Fashion writer Derek Blasberg and interior décor blog Habitually Chic are two of my favorites!

If you don’t have a Twitter account yet, now is the time to sign up! Go to www.twitter.com and start following the people and businesses that will arm you with the knowledge you need to keep your career on the fast track. Pretty soon, you’ll be tweeting from the corner office and legions of ambitious young career women will be following you!

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