Looking For A Job And Turning To Twitter

Dave Cutler, who is turning to social media to look for a job. (Jesse Costa/Here & Now)

Despite the positive news that 243,000 new jobs were added to the economy last month, 12.8 million people in the U.S. are still looking for work.

So how do you set yourself apart if you’re looking for one? Waltham, Mass., resident Dave Cutler is launching an all-out Internet offensive.

He has a website, hiredavecutler.com, he also blogs, he Tweets, he uses Instagram and FourSquare, he created his own app and his paper resume has QR codes on it.

Cutler is looking for a job in social media marketing, and he’s using his job search to prove his skills. He took an interest in social media after he was laid off last year from his job at a graphics production firm.

Balancing Professional And Personal

Cutler says he does not have separate social media accounts for personal and professional uses. For instance, on his one Twitter account he writes about marketing, but also his family and sports. Could a potential employer be turned off?

“I think increasingly the line between personal and professional specifically through social media channels is blurred. The term has been coined ‘profersonal,’ ” he told Here & Now‘s Robin Young.

Better Access To Prospective Employers

Cutler says that social media allows him more access to employers.

“It provides a mean of communicating with people during conventional work hours,” he said.

“In the past, you might not have picked up the phone and called someone and even via email they might not respond until after hours. But so many people are communicating and engaging in work-related tasks on social media channels and that’s a way to be able to connect with them during the day.”

Dave Cutler’s Blog

Guest:

Dave Cutler, social media marketer who started hiredavecutler.com

We welcome comments from all of our listeners. Post below. Please stay on topic and be civil. Comments may be moderated by us, but you are solely responsible for the content of your comments.

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1431280479 Mark Chesterton

I believe Dave mentioned that Narragansett is brewed in Rhode Island. Maybe someday! It’s brewed in Rochester, NY.
- http://CutlerDave.com/ Dave Cutler
  
  I believe you mean maybe someday it will again be brewed in Rhode Island. You are correct that I misspoke, but it was originally brewed in Cranston, Rhode Island and the company is still headquartered in Providence.
  - http://www.kaitlinmaud.com Kaitlin Maud
    
    Truth! The heart of Gansett will always be in RI
Dan

I’m using a similar, although much more limited approach by self publishing a book. My field is science based and to show my expertise requires something more than short tweets. With the book, I’ll have a hard copy and the option of sending potential employers to an online link for viewing. Hopefully this works.
http://profiles.google.com/willm.wade William Wade

I went the route of a resume website. It is a lot more expansive than a resume, and is in itself a bit of an example as to what I can do.

http://willmwade.com

It is also allows me to tell more stories of how I have helped companies, something very important for a renaissance man such as myself. A normal resume will only get me another normal job.