In today’s society, it’s common practice for clients and recruiters to turn to social media before interviewing or hiring a potential candidate.
In the past we've looked at ways in which limited company contractors can boost their presence on LinkedIn in order to win more contracts, but increasingly more and more candidates are turning to Twitter to find their next opportunity. Therefore, we've provided 5 of our top tips on how to improve your Twitter profile in order to win more contracts. And don’t forget to give PayStream a follow too to keep up with all our latest news and industry updates.
1. Tidy up your feed
Facebook and Twitter tend to sit at opposite sides of the spectrum. Facebook is a much more personalised social media platform used for connecting with family and friends, so we’d recommend keeping this channel private, concealing your feed and interaction with others from a potential clients view. Twitter is all about networking with others and therefore should be kept open to the public where possible in order to get the most out of the platform. However, as a result, everything you post on Twitter is public. According to a recent CareerBuilder survey, "70% of employers are now screening candidates on social media". Therefore, make sure that all of the content you have on your Twitter feed is content you’d be comfortable with a potential client seeing.
2. Customise your account
Once you've done a sweep over your feed and are satisfied that it's free of any compromising content, the next top tip we suggest is to make your profile look great in order to stand out from the crowd.
Choose a profile picture that compliments your personality without looking too unprofessional. Never leave the default egg as your profile picture, it can make people think you aren’t active on the social network. Then select a couple of keywords for your summary that highlight you and your skill set. Make sure you include a link to any personal blogs, websites or your LinkedIn profile, so clients can get a deeper insight into who you are. One great online tool we’d recommend is Linktree, it allows you to embed multiple links within a single page.
3. Professionalise your feed
It will always look great in the eyes of any client if you show that you're engaged and passionate about the field you work in. So for example, if you're an IT contractor, start sharing links as retweets (RT) or quoted tweets (QT) which include your own opinion on IT related content.
It's also key to be consistent with your twitter feed, make sure you don't go for days without posting or sharing any content.
4. Follow and engage
The next key step is to engage! Keep your eye on hashtags that are trending in your industry, for example if you operate in the financial services industry, are there any hot topics or legislative changes worth tweeting about and providing your opinion on?
Make sure you're following influential people in your industry including recruiters, key industry news figures and organisations. Interacting with influential figures could provide you with more gravitas which may result in you winning more contracts than if you were to simply push out a steady stream of content.
5. What works well?
Twitter Analytics is a fantastic tool which allows you to see what percentage of engagement each of your posts achieved. Building an understanding of the type of content that works well on your profile will mean the content you post in the future will be more engaging, and will in turn look good in the eyes of potential clients.
Remember, Twitter is not only a great tool to highlight you and your industry knowledge to potential clients, but it also acts as a fantastic networking tool. Giving you access to key influencers, recruiters and industry professionals at the touch of a button.
These five top tips will help you make the most of your Twitter profile, making it stand out from the crowd and in turn potentially helping you win more contracts.
