Tweet To Find Your Next Contract

It has been reported that 300 million people around the world are using Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and MySpace and even more use message boards, forums and blogs.

But how can a contractor use social networking to their advantage?

Recruitment companies and businesses are increasingly using social media to advertise both contract and permanent roles but a contractor can also use social media to their advantage by regularly using it to list their skills, what contract they are looking for, expected rate and much more.

Twitter enables contractors to effectively communicate with companies and vice versa. Bruce Stander, group chief executive of Optimal Internet says ‘Twitter-style job aggregation is very much alive and job boards are already ahead n the curve of this’.

Blogging can give a contractor the opportunity to detail all their skills, a description of the current contract, the contract length and what they are looking for next. It gives a contractor an online presence which can help to secure a new contract.

A contractor should also regularly visit message boards and forums to detail what they are looking for but also to look and see if there are any suitable contracts available. Forums and Message boards also enable contractors to communicate with companies but also other contractors who may be able to recommend agencies or know of contracts available.

Scott Burns-Smith, head of marketing development at The Orion Group says that they automatically feed vacancies to Twitter and messages to Facebook from its website. He goes on to say to say, “This is great as it’s getting the information out there as quickly as possible and it’s targeting a very new audience. Everyone is networking a lot more, they’re talking to people about where the vacancies are and the way people look for jobs is changing.”

According to Ofcom’s Communications Marketing Report, 2009, the number of people using Twitter between the first quarter of 2008 and the same quarter in 2009 has rose by a enormous 1,679%.