Twitter to a Job

When Warren Sukernek lost his job last December, he didn't spend a single second perusing internet job boards looking for work. He didn't shell out a single dollar to have his resume blasted all over the web, and he didn't consult a single career coach.

Instead Sukernek logged on to Twitter and sent out direct messages to a few trusted friends telling each of them, individually, that he'd just been laid off.

Why tell just me, why don't you tell everyone? Alison Byrne Fields, one of Sukernek's Twitter confidants, asked him when she got his private tweet. Twitter is, after all, a public forum on which Sukernek had built a strong following. Sukernek considered his friend's suggestion for a moment, took a deep breath, then composed a tweet that would reach his nearly 3000 Twitter-based  followers:

  “Friends, I have just been laid off. As a digital strategist, I would appreciate any leads or opportunities.”

Soon after Sukernek hit SEND his cronies leapt into action. They began searching their workplaces and networks for job leads in his behalf. They wrote blog posts that urging their readers to help their very talented friend find a job.

Blogger Peter Kim was the first to write a post, “Is your community prepared to help?”

Twitter follower Rick Murray answered that post with a blog post of his own, Happy to Help, was its title. In that post Murray indicated that he had already referred Sukernek to his employer and mentioned that he had access to 1300 of his company’s clients to whom he could also spread the word.

Tweeters Jackie Huba and Ben McConnell wrote a post of their own, ^How to prepare for being laid off, the Warren Sukernek way” 

Web 2.0 celebrity Saul Colt aka "Smartest Man in the World", chimed in with a post of his own.  A few things to try if you happen to get fired/laid off this holiday season.

Twitter-friend Jeff Shuey, who was also unemployed at the time, wrote still another post Twitter for the Gainfully Available and Actively Under-Employed.

Each time one of these blog posts was written, a link was sent out via Twitter. Thousands of  people were quickly learning that Sukernek’s influential friends were referring him for a job.

What did all that attention win for Sukernek? "I had ten well-qualified interviews scheduled by the end of that first day," says Sukernek. "I also became the rock star of the unemployed ," he adds,  noting that that's a title noone wants to hold for long (because joblessness is requirement.) And,  perhaps, most importantly, it helped Sukernek find and land a job he wanted and needed.

Could Sukernek have gotten the same results as quickly by any other means? "Probably not," says Dan Schawbel, author of Me 2.0,  Build A Personal Brand to Achieve Career Success. "Twitter allows people to connect in a way that was never before possible. It's quick; you can accomplish a lot in a very short period of time."

"But," Schwabel adds, "It's important to note that personal branding and social networking are long-tem strategies.. You can't expect to sign up for Twitter today and to get quality job referrals tomorrow. You have to build a network first. You have to pay it forward."

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