Monday, July 19, 2010

do you put twitter on your resumé?

On a standard resumé, you list your phone number, mailing address and email address, but you might want to consider also including your blog, website and Twitter handle too. Depending on what job you're applying to – say web editor – it's becoming more important to  demonstrate your knowledge of social media and other web tools.

Use with caution, though. If you regularly tweet about things you wouldn't want an employer to know about you, don't include it. If your blog is about cute kittens, it might not be relevant. But if it strengthens your case for being an in-the-know editor, it might be a good idea.

What do you think?

3 comments:

Sarah said...

Both my Twitter account and blog are on my resume and I'll tell you why: Journalism is moving toward the web at a fast pace and you have to prove you have those skills in order to make the cut.

How can I say on my resume I'm social media savvy if I don't prove I have a Twitter or Facebook account? I can't claim to blog if I don't.

You're right about exercising caution, Corinna, but not about the decision to put your Twitter username on your resume. If your Twitter account is something you wouldn't want a current — or potential — employer to see, then you need to make sure all the privacy settings are in place so they don't.

All it takes a quick Google search to bring all those things up.

As for a blog, I think even if it is not "relevant," it should be included. A blog can show a potential employer your writing style, your dedication to writing and show that once you start a project, you continue to work on it.

I have a friend whose blog is mainly about her cat — she's in intern at the Toronto Star this summer. And her blog is linked to by the Star when she writes a blog post for their Interns blog. Not bad for something that's not relevant.

Corinna vanGerwen said...

Very true.

I think for a blog, and even for a Twitter account, having them on your resumé indicates that you are putting them forward as part of your professional body of work. It can, as you say, demonstrate your writing abilities and prove your social-media smarts, but they could also detract from your strength as a candidate.

I would liken it to listing hobbies on your resumé; if they are relevant to the job you are applying to, or demonstrate a skill (social-media savvy-ness, for example) or an interest that is relevant, then by all means, you should definitely include it. But if the hiring manager is going to end up thinking "Why the hell am I looking at this?," then it might be to your detriment.

And if they happen to find your stuff through a Google search even if you haven't put it on your resumé, as long as it's not a complete embarrassment, I think that's ok. Because it's there, but you haven't said, "Hey! Come see this. It's what I do!"

All that said, I think it's very important to have a Twitter feed and blog that you can put on your resumé.

Unknown said...

I think that putting your twitter account on your CV can be a great thing! As long as your tweets are respectable. I Suppose this shows twitter's greatest flaw in that everyone can see either all your tweets or none (protected) which is why I think for employment, things will definitely move towards google+ as you can filter what you post by your circles.

In fact, I've recently blogged about how Klout might be useful for CVs

Another mash up of the employment world and social media