Thursday, June 9, 2011

TwitJobSearch

I realize that TwitJobSearch has been available since 2009, but results from their searches just finally appeared in my automated Twitter job search. So, yes, there are library jobs on this service and they include the obvious library job posters, such as  ALA Job List and LibGig. But they also get the infrequent tweeters, such as the small library or special library that infrequently posts or reposts jobs. Their dashboard also includes some interesting features that I think will help job seekers that are using Twitter:


  • Email or RSS alerts for search strings
  • A "featured accounts" setting, which either means they post lots of jobs that match your search terms, or they paid to be featured in relation to the keywords in your search. 
  • You can click on a button to allow the employer to Skype you, or send a DM suggesting that you can take on the job. Now this is cool if you know the employer or industry wants to fill positions right now, such as PR, writing, programming, but it might make a library HR person pee their pants thinking that they are being cyberstalked.(And I am not kidding about this reaction: do you know how many library HR people I have heard get huffy about a job candidate that dares to call them to ask a question about a job posting--too many. Only for my sick amusement would I Skype them.) But this is an excellent tool if you are looking for a gig as a writer, book reviewer, community manager, or coding.
  • And filters...which would be leave this Twitter search engine covered with awesome sauce, if they worked.
For example, a search for librarian includes the filters for "Engineer" or an "RN" and not as an employer or the name of the company, but for positions as engineer and a registered nurse. One content manager position came up, since you work as a "topic librarian". This was not in the job title, which the filter was supposed to search on. So the filters don't seem to do any filtering--and you need to get relevant jobs, before the successful filters of part-time/full-time or manager to work their magic.

The skills filter was also a little weird: what's a "COM", or a "PDF"? (No, there was no Adobe in that job posting.) It could be a translation issue, or it is possible there is a "collection management" hash tag that I don't know anything about--I guess a trip to Hashtags.org is in order.

Twitjobsearch does not tame the Twitter noise for job search, however, considering the alerts features and the assistance on finding good Twitter job sources, this vertical search engine will probably help people build up their personal Twitter for jobs list.

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

World's Best Cities to Work and Live

PricewaterhouseCooper has released a report called "Cities of Opportunity" and BNET has summed it up in a promotional slide show. I liked that it was international, so there is lots of variation and some ideas for people who would like to spend some time abroad.

It was also interesting that the Doonstang blog also posted a piece on the importance of geography. It's a little neoclassical, as in it focuses almost entirely on the economic and career benefits of a move, as opposed to how people really make a decision about where to move, as in how close is the beach? or how many of sexual preference are single and available? and do they have a sports franchise?