06/01/2010

What Can You Say in 140 Characters? Using Twitter to Market Career Services

By Caryn Statman

The use of social media is not going away anytime soon. Rather than a passing fad, it is a shift in the way we communicate, the way we share information, and the way we live.

Social media/networking includes all of the resources and applications that facilitate online interactions between people and allow for what’s referred to as user-generated content – it is our updates, opinions, reviews, news, etc. that are being shared. Conversations between mother and child, business and customer, or recruiter and applicant happen in real time from across the street or across the world. Popular social media sites include Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, YouTube, and LinkedIn (and in the time it took you to read this paragraph, a new site has probably popped up).

As career services professionals, the impact of social networking and an online presence is especially pertinent as backed up by studies such as the one commissioned by Microsoft in December 2009. It was reported that 79% of U.S. hiring managers and job recruiters checked out a job applicant online before making hiring decisions. Even more significant – 70% of these managers reported that they have rejected candidates based on what they found.

As we rush to educate students on how to build a successful online profile for their job search, social media also opens up a world of opportunities for us to reach students and alumni in a new space, while modeling for our students how to professionally utilize these tools.

The Hegi Family Career Development Center at Southern Methodist University (SMU) in Dallas started its Twitter page https://twitter.com/SMU_HegiCareer in the summer of 2009. Since the launch, the account has more than 650 followers from both the SMU and outside community and it has become a staple in the marketing strategy of the office.

 

The Basics

Twitter is a form of social media known as a micro-blogging site. (Blog is a contraction for “web log.”) Users exchange “tweets”, which are posts of 140-characters or less, similar in style and immediacy to a text message. As the site has grown, there has been a significant increase in businesses using Twitter to market their services, as well as consumers using it to share with the online world what they may think about a business. It was not long until HR departments and job seekers alike began using the site to post opportunities, respond to opportunities, and promote their personal or company brands. The goal of Twitter is probably summed up best by its CEO, Evan Williams: “It tells people what they care about as it is happening in the world.”

 

Benefits

Marketing tends to be an ongoing struggle for career services offices. How do we break through the clutter of everything students are receiving to promote an event or advertise a service?

 

What to Say – or Tweet!

So you have decided to give Twitter a go… now what? There are many purposes for which a career center might tweet. Some of these include:

Remember, you only have 140 characters to make your point, so we are talking about an attention-grabbing sound bite. You can always include a link for more information.

 

Breaking Through

Simply using Twitter is not enough to rise above the polluted marketing space. A recent article in The New York Times reported that 55 million tweets go out per day! Maximize your Twitter potential and credibility with some of these tips:

 

We will always be competing for the coveted attention of our students and using social media tools such as Twitter will not be the end-all, be-all strategy to capture it. It does, however, provide a new forum for reaching out and communicating in the “quick glance” style to which our students are now accustomed. Happy tweeting!


Caryn StatmanCaryn Statman, M.Ed., LPC-Intern is an Assistant Director and Career Counselor at the Hegi Family Career Development Center at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. In addition to career counseling, Caryn plans workshops, presentations and events for students and coordinates the marketing efforts of the HFCDC. Prior to joining SMU, Caryn worked in the public relations industry for six years. During that time, she received her Master’s in Education in Counseling from the University of North Texas. She received a Bachelor’s of Science in Journalism from Northwestern University. She may be contacted at statmanc@smu.edu or 214-768-7304.

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6 Comments

Marva McGrew   on Tuesday 06/01/2010 at 05:30 PM

This is a great article! It really is an inspiration for Career Services to get on board with Twitter. What a great tool to get a quick word to students and peers.

Phil Rockwell   on Wednesday 06/02/2010 at 08:12 AM

Good job Caryn! I liked your "What to Say - or Tweet" section as I sometimes struggle to write something - of interest!

Keep up the good work

Phil
"thecareerrock" on Twitter

Kimshi Hickman   on Tuesday 06/08/2010 at 05:50 PM

Excellent article. Thanks for sharing your knowledge.

jen costello   on Friday 06/25/2010 at 06:31 PM

Dear Ms. Statman,
I am fairly new to Twitter and sometimes feel like my head is spinning trying to understand how to use it in a manner that fits for me. I particularly appreciate the sections of your article on What to Say and Breaking Through.
I work at a small private university in Chicago, Roosevelt University, but am going to follow the Hegi Family Career Development Center at SMU on twitter. Thanks again for such a helpful article!

Caryn Statman   on Tuesday 06/29/2010 at 11:02 AM

Thanks Jen. I know Twitter and all social media can seem overwhelming at the beginning -- especially because it is always changing! But I'm glad some of the tips were helpful. There are many great resources online as well. I always try to remember that we don't have to use EVERYTHING. Just what works for and is manageable for us. Good luck with your social media endeavors!

Steve Chang   on Tuesday 04/02/2013 at 01:51 AM

Great Ideas and Tips Caryn,

consistent posting (but not overly spamming), engaging questions, "follow us on twitter" signs, are all good starting points, and so is putting student workers to maintain it.

overall, as you mentioned, there is a difference between having a twitter vs breaking through. and ultimately, creativity, persistency, and a good understanding of social media is going to be needed by each individual career center to break through... but after that it should be smooth sailing.

Thanks for sharing.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in the comments shown above are those of the individual comment authors and do not reflect the views or opinions of this organization.