Companies are beginning to realise that many people want and need flexibility in their lives, in return for that they get the employee at their most productive self because they’re not stressed.
One of the ways to get flexibility is to job share, this is when two people divide the job between them.
Many companies are set up for job sharing, if they’re not then you would probably need to demonstrate that the job can be shared. Before that though let’s look at how Twitter could help you to get a job share.
Twitter can be used in many ways to reach out to employers who already have job sharers or are considering hiring job sharers, to employees who are looking to job share and to other job seekers who would be suitable to partner up with for a job share.
Use your Twitter profile
You have 160 characters to use in your Twitter profile, use them wisely.
Make sure to use keywords for what you do, i.e marketing, graphic design, web development and then also include the keywords jobshare, flexiworker. When someone is searching on Twitter for jobshare or flexiworker then those keywords will be picked out in your profile.
Follow the Hashtag #jobshare
Twitter was the birthplace for hashtags and because of that there’s many, you will need to find what hashtags are beneficial for you. One that you definitely should follow and engage with is #jobshare.
On this hashtag you’ll be able to chat to other people who jobshare, learn from specialist jobshare advisors, tweet with employers who are looking for job sharers and recruiters who have job share vacancies
Link from Twitter
When you tweet you only get 140 characters to play around with. It’s good to tweet to get to know people and let them get to know you, but sometimes you need to tell them a lot more and a tweet isn’t going to be enough. When this happens it’s good to link from Twitter to the destination you want the person you’re tweeting to go to. This destination could be to an online profile on another social networking platform or even a blog where people can find out more about you. Some people link to a video all about themselves on Youtube, this is always a great idea as it emotionally connects the person to you.
Be visual on Twitter
Many people forget to use images on Twitter, which is crazy as visuals get retweeted more than plain text tweets. ( A retweet is a share on Twitter) This is good news for you though because by using visuals on Twitter you’re going to stand out. Your visuals could give employers and prospective job share partners an insight to you, or put your CV in pictures or even photo samples of the type of work you do.
Join local Twitter chats
Where ever you’re based there will be a local Twitter chat, your job is to find out when they’re on. They all follow a hashtag which usually ends in hour.
For example: #Norfolkhour #Manchesterhour #Suffolkhour #Londonhour #Devonhour and so on. They will be on the same day every week at the same hour and it’s a huge local Twitter network who help and support one another. Once you know what one you’ll be chatting in, all you do is turn up on Twitter at the designated time and join in with the tweets. It might be good just to observe at first, then when you’re brave enough introduce yourself and tell your fellow local tweeters that you’re looking to job-share. These people will become your community who will help you achieve your goal, by letting them know what you’re looking for they will be able to tell you about any opportunities they come across.
Your perfect job share could be just a tweet away!
Written by Julie Bishop founder of jobhop.co.uk
