by Kevin Smith
I really mean it when I say that Twitter got me my job.
About a year and a half ago, I started to realize that my job dissatisfaction was rapidly rising. I was joining the ranks of people who read Dilbert for the empathy more than the humor.
Several months of combing job boards, sending applications, and doing interviews went arduously by. I was stuck in Office Space hell, right down to the Hawaiian shirt day (I kid you not).
It wasn’t that there weren’t other jobs; they just didn’t promise to be any better. I explored every option: do contract work long-distance, work 12 hour days with no benefits, quit and go freelance, and even considered a company that never gave me a phone number – only suspicious emails with very broken English. I just couldn’t find what seemed right.
Early in this frustrating process, I started using Twitter. I’m regularly an early adopter of most things except social media, but Twitter seemed different and worth a try. For months it served mainly as an outlet, a way to share my woe and maybe steer others away from working in a gray fabric cube.
Some of my early tweets:
“An optimist is simply a pessimist with no job experience.”
“i’m officially the only one in the office choosing to not wear a hawaiian shirt. /sigh”
“i’m going to lose my mind”
“so, who’s up for another day of meetings? :-/”
“ah linkin park, i’ll let chester scream for me”
Not surprisingly, this is not how I got my new job. Whining on the Internet does not get you jobs, and it does not get you Twitter followers. It also doesn’t make your job any better. Lesson learned.
About the same time, I started getting more interested in the programming language Ruby. As it turns out, Twitter is a great place to meet people that share your interests. I started getting more involved in the Ruby community via Twitter, went to conferences, and met some great people.
Being surrounded by people who actually cared about their craft amazingly helped me endure the job I was stuck in. Not only that, but it gave me hope that I could find a company that was a better fit for me. I started making a list of my ideal company: local, small, open-minded to new ways of doing things, focus on quality and design, Mac-users, and a place where everyone was expected to be continually learning and improving their craft.
Not long after this revelation, I realized that one of my fellow Rubyist Twitter friends, Alan, worked for a company in Greenville: Gnoso. I went to their web site (now under reconstruction) and was immediately drawn to their philosophy: “Imagination. Function. Beauty.” From the site, they seemed to fit each of my “ideal company” requirements. I couldn’t believe I’d never seen this company before, so I quickly sent them my resume. After I didn’t hear back for a couple weeks, my sudden “yes we can!” hope dwindled.
Finally, I got the nerve to tell Alan that I had sent my resume but hadn’t heard anything. Turns out my resume didn’t get through, so I sent it again.
Alan recounts the situation, “I got to know Kevin as a friend on Twitter, and then when I heard that he already sent his resume to Gnoso I ran to Peter’s office to make sure that everything was going smooth with reviewing it. I felt like I already knew Kevin, and I knew that I wanted to work with him.” After a few lunch meetings over the following months, I was hired – and it all started with Twitter!
About Twitter’s role in my hiring, Peter Waldschmidt, CEO of Gnoso, says, “We were able to get a good idea of Kevin’s skills and interests just by conversing over Twitter for several months. While it doesn’t remove the need for interviews, it makes the interview process more like hiring a friend than hiring a stranger.”
Keep an eye on how you present yourself online — you never know who is watching!
* * * * *
This post was written by Kevin Smith, a software developer with the great people at Gnoso, Inc. in Greenville, SC, as one of an occasional guest-posts on MarketingProfs. Kevin loves to be inspired by passion and craftsmanship. You can find him learning about cutting-edge tech, savoring his wife’s yummy food or relaxing with friends. And, of course, you can find him on Twitter, @smithk14.
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Hey Congrats!
Your job story will really make people to use Twitter intelligently.
I agree you need to carry yourself and present yourself online in a purposeful way.
You dont know whoz watching you.
Great post I liked it!
Great post! I love reading social media success stories. And, you’re absolutely right… you never know who is watching. It’s OK to be yourself, as long as you keep it professional.
Congratulations on the new job!
My friend David Griner told me a few months ago that Twitter is networking as people, inside of job titles. He’s exactly right, it’s such a wonderfully laid-back way to meet and connect with other people. Congrats on your new gig, Kevin!
Congrats! This is really inspiring.
Congrats on the new job! Any bit helps for our members getting $405/week from unemployment at http://www.the405club.com.
Check us out! Congrats again!
-405er
Is there any hope of finding normal job?
Anyway, I wish you alot of success in your new job
Thanks for all the congrats! It was fun thinking back on how it all came together and how simple software like Twitter was the key.
As Twitter becomes more popular, I do think it will become more of a tool for finding even “normal” jobs.
Great story. A poster boy for Twitter! Good luck in the new job.
Great success story!
Our company develops our apps in Ruby too, which makes this story even more interesting to me. There is a philosophy that drives most Ruby developers and “Imagination. Function. Beauty.” captures it very well.
The way you describe your use of Twitter to speak with like-minded people interested in improving their craft reminds me of Ben Franklin’s Junto society.
From Wikipedia:
“The Junto was a club established in 1727 by Benjamin Franklin for mutual improvement in Philadelphia. Also known as the Leather Apron Club, its purpose was to debate questions of morals, politics, and natural philosophy, and to exchange knowledge of business affairs.”
The 140 character limit is a huge restriction to get the sorts of depth you need to really focus and challenge issues, but with hyperlinking, in some ways it is liberating, as it allows you to control the amount of depth you explore a topic.
Cam,
That’s an interesting connection, and I think that it is spot on. The 140 character limit is one of the awesome things about Twitter, too. I love the idea of freedom from constraints.
Great info for new twitter users, such as myself. This is most helpful and a good lesson for all.
Thanks,
Steve Turner
yournewhomeadvisor.com
Congratulations – I am inspired.
It’s hard to make oneself stand out in this market and Twitter at least narrows the field. I’ve seen a couple job postings on Twitter recently that I haven’t seen anywhere else. I think there’s a window of opportunity here for those of us willing to give in to the lure and the joy of Twitter.
I’m glad you found a job this way. There is a great rule in the world, if you let people you know you have a need, you are never alone. You build a relationship in place of a secret. I just made that rule up, however I bet you already knew it.
wow amazing.. I will definitely try to twitter my way thru some jobs myself.
Wow, this is an amazing blog. I completely empathise with Kevin as I’m feeling exactly that way right now about my grey office job. Also amazingly, is that just today, I’m meeting tweeple who have similar interests as myself!
This post has inspired me to be positive and let my light shine!
I think this is just awesome!! Congratulations on your new job!
Well done on the job through Twitter, thats a great achievement. I wonder how many other people will start using Twitter for more than just ranting?? For those looking for cv advice check out: CV Tips
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Amazing success story!
Really inspiring!!
thankss
thankss
Well done!! It just shows you what a great tool twitter is> Take note everyone.
Twitter without doubt is the best of the social media, and it is indeed a great way of landing your ideal job.