Since I began using Twitter in 2009, I have made life changing friendships via social media. Many of these ‘friends’ have become professional colleagues, and personal friends.
Recently, I have discovered a great way to use tweets as ‘character references’ for my resume.
Twitter is the perfect place to gather character references from friends who tweet strong positive statements about you, and your expertise. Over the past few months, I have started collecting ‘screenshots’ of flattering tweets that are relevant to my art, blogging and social media careers. I can then use the screenshots of these special tweets when promoting myself, my social media seminars, art workshops, writing proposals for magazines, books and blogs, and other employment. These important digital character references add to my online and offline credibility ‘in real life’.
Here’s why…
Nowadays, companies and prospective employers want to ‘meet you’ before they interview you. They care how well versed you are in your niche. Companies do this by viewing your social media profile picture, and checking out your tweets and other social accounts. According to the Wall Street Journal, instead of asking for résumés, companies now ask applicants to send links representing their “Web presence,” such as a Twitter account or Tumblr blog.
“A résumé doesn’t provide much depth about a candidate,” says Christina Cacioppo, of Union Square Ventures. “We are most interested in what people are like, what they are like to work with, how they think,” she says.
Below are a few examples of ‘character reference tweets’ I have collected from Topsy and Twitter. I’ve chosen some tweets from highly influential social media personalities, successful and prominent individuals in the creative industry, as well as a few fellow artists and bloggers. Please click on each tweet to find and follow these amazing and talented Twitter friends.
…and a screenshot of my Topsy profile.
Here’s how to take a screenshot:Â
How to Take a Screenshot in Microsoft Windows
How to Take a Screenshot in Mac OS X
***PS. Let’s meet on Twitter, and on Google Plus, Pinterest, and join in the fun at Fine Art Tips Facebook Fan Page! Please checkout my art too LoriMcNee.com, or find me on Instagram lorimcneeartist. ~Lori
Great article! Shared this on my “Art Marketing Advice for Makers” Pinterest board. You can also “favorite” these tweets and display them in a stream on your blog or “embed” particularly great tweets too!
Well, thanks for sharing my post on Pinterest! That is great. What plugin do you use to display your favorite tweets on your blog?
Thanks,
Lori
PS. I’d love for you to share a guest post with us here one day. I’ve been a big fan of you!
Lori,
This is an EXCELLENT idea!
My tweet for your art would be way more than 140 characters. Your talent needs no introduction because it speaks entirely for itself with just one glance at the canvas. I think your paintings are magnificent, peaceful, reflective and show the soft side of whatever you are painting. They are all just beautiful…absolutely beautiful.
So fun to see you here. I am so behind on comments though…my apologies. Thanks for the visit, comment and nice words.
See you on Twitter,
Lori 🙂
I like this idea, now if I could only go back and see past mentions to take screenshots of.. Where do you store the screenshots? How would you suggest presenting these?
I just made a folder on my desktop for my screenshots. Then I can use them as needed. It is simple! You can share them directly or use the information as testimonials, etc.
I hope this helps you Stephanie.
Lori 🙂
Interesting idea, Lori! How has it worked as far as actual formatting? Are you using it for more creative jobs or traditional ones? It’s amazing how much social media has changed the landscape of how we connect and how we go about sharing our credentials. Excited to hear more!
Hello Jacqueline, you can see that I used some of my Twitter recommendations in the quote rotator at the foot of my blog. That is just one way! I also have used these recommendations in my resume. Glad you found this interesting.