Evaluating the Twitter Accounts of Job Applicants for a News Writing Job (Podcast)

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I got my list of 100+ applicants for this evening news writing position at ReadWriteWeb whittled down to a list of top 10 applicants tonight. (Related story about how to get a job as a professional blogger here.) I mentioned on Twitter that in summarizing the pros and cons of leading applicants for the rest of my team to evaluate I’ve included an evaluation of their Twitter accounts. A good Twitter account isn’t a requirement at all but… it helps. A number of people asked me just exactly what that meant. And so I wrote a song about it, and it goes a little something like this…

It’s not really a song, sorry! It’s just me talking. It got cut off at the very end by an incoming phone call, but I suspect you may find it interesting none the less. Speaking of Twitter, here’s my account there. Let’s be buds if we’re not already, huh?

Direct MP3 download here, iTunes subscription link here and podcast subscription feed here.

  • It’s mind-boggling when I hear that journalists are not using Twitter or see that they have wonky accounts. Twitter is an amazing resource for journalists, especially to track down breaking news(see link on my name). BTW, I invite you to follow me on Twitter, @JesseLuna.

  • Genuinely fascinating stuff. Particularly glady you mentioned Jay Rosen’s comment not to worry about embarrassing Facebook pictures, but to look at your Twitter stream.

    I’ve always had a problem with employers judging candidates by their Facebook pictures. Nobody photographs themselves working/studying/being sensible.

    I can’t get over how few of my journalism classmates are on Twitter. I’ve gotten jobs, stories and sources from Twitter, it’s an amazing resource.

  • Marshall,

    I find it interesting that you find following a large amount of people to be valuable. I find it be quite the opposite, in my view of the matter, I see a lack of focus, and a lack of caring about who you’re following. Every single one of the people and companies I follow comes with a story about why and how I chose to connect with them, and I prune the list every month. If I can no longer recall that story, I unfollow out of respect. It would be nice to see more of that IMO.