Looking for a Technical Writing job? I’ve started to use Twitter to find leads and other opportunities to develop my career as a technical writer. To use Twitter to find jobs, you need to understand how it works, how to connect, and how to lead prospects from your twitter stream back to your technical writing website.
Technical Writing Jobs On Twitter: Where to Start
Where most technical writers go wrong is that they don’t use Twitter as effectively as possible. That’s not a direct criticism of anyone, it’s just that to use Twitter for strategic purposes, you need to examine how it works and develop a Twitter Plan that supports your recruitment strategy.
To do this:
- Twitter Bio – add the terms technical writing, technical writer, technical communication or variations of these to your Bio.
- Website – link back to your technical writing website and/or the Hire Me page. You have a Hire Me page on your blog, right?
- Follow Strategically – Search Twitter for other technical writers and follow them. Delete spam followers. Keep your account as focused on technical writing / tech comms as possible.
Technical Writing Jobs: How Twitter Works
Next:
- Engage with others.
- Create lists, such as my technical writing list, and use this to track technical writers on twitter.
- Create a column in Hootsuite (or Tweetdeck) and follow all tweets with TechComms in them. Use the hashtag to find this.
- Use search.twitter.com to find people with questions about technical writing.
- Share useful information, such as retweets, conference dates,
- Link to other technical writing blogs you recommend AND
- Help others.
Always look for ways to help others. Not only is this good Social Media karma, but a great way to position yourself as an Authority.
Technical Writing Jobs: How to Find Work
It all comes down to Authority.
You have to be the ‘default’ resource people go to when they have an issue with something specific.
For example:
- If you want to know about Adobe Tech Comms suite, you send RJ a tweet.
- If you want to know about RoboHelp, you send Colum a tweet.
- If you want to know about Tech Comms in large corporate firms, tweet Ugur.
- If you want to know about Technical Writing Training, you send Catherine a tweet.
- If you want to know about trends in Tech Comms, you send Florence a tweet.
- If you want to know about event planning, you send Randall a tweet.
- If you want to know why don’t more technical communicators write books, I read Scott at DMN.
In other words, these folks (for me) at the people I look towards when I want information on these specific topics.
Your job is to identify a specific sub-set of technical communications and then be the authority.
Remember, it has to be a sub-set.
Technical Communications is too broad. Choose something specific, e.g. FrameMaker template development and own this.
Why?
People pay good money for someone who can help migrate Microsoft Word documents to Frame or some other conversion headache they may have.
Technical Writing Jobs: How to Advertise Your Skills
Like I said, you need to be the Authority and then only way to do this is to make your site reflect it. Examine your site.
- Does it demonstrate your expertise in this area?
- How could you demonstrate your expertise? For example, samples, tutorials, information graphics.
- Share free information, such as slides, presentations, templates, and other downloads.
Design you technical writing site so that others bookmark it, share it with others, and keep coming back.
Conclusion
You can find work on Twitter if you understand how it works and then link it back to your homebase, i.e. your blog. Make sure to be consistent and offer useful information that helps others.
Others will begin to contact you with questions and, after you make stronger connections, recommend you to others. And once you have recommendations, the job offers will begin to come in.
That’s how I use Twitter to find work. How about you?
PS – I’ve written a very detailed article on how to create a marketing plan for twitter which explains how I use twitter in more depth. It’s not just about marketing but how to position yourself as an authority.
Related posts:
- How Technical Writers Could Use Twitter
- How to link your Flickr and Twitter accounts
- How to Get Out of Technical Writing and into Higher Paid Jobs
- Technical Writing News – FrameMaker Shortcuts, Life-Saving Checklists & Twitter for Professional Development
- Is 61k USD the Average Salary for Technical Writing Jobs?
