Writing your Twitter bio is a bit like writing your profile for a dating website (with a professional twist, of course). You want to make sure that you come across as highly date-able and unique! And that readers understand exactly what you offer, what is special about you and what you are looking for. Don’t let all the talk about personal branding put you off. Just read this and you will be ready to write your own Twitter bio in no time! Your Twitter Bio (profile) is limited to 160 characters and is prime real estate to showcase the following:
What is your profession/industry/key areas of expertise?
What is unique about you and what you have to offer?
What are you looking for? (you might want to leave this one out if you are currently employed – recruiters will find you anyway!)
By the way, the above 3 bullet points is also the very definition of your personal brand (natch!). Start by thinking about what kind of key words a recruiter or HR would use to identify/find someone like you. What are they keywords for your industry? A good place to start your profile is by stating your profession/job title. People need to know what you do. However, since there are probably quite a few of your kind online, it’s important that you also mention what’s unique about you and what you offer. Maybe you are bi-lingual. Maybe you have international experience. Heck, maybe you recently saved your company some money (always a good one!). Or maybe you have a highly sough-after (relevant) qualification. Include that. Then you might also briefly state what you are looking for.
Use short sentences. Be descriptive and informative. And don’t forget to sound like a human with a personality!
Bear in mind that the tone on Twitter is more casual than on LinkedIn, so feel free to maybe allude to a hobby or passion (as long as its ‘PC’) to add a little personality to your bio. I mention in mine that I am a green tea drinker and it’s interesting how people often mention that to me as a point of common interest. However, don’t despair too much about sounding highly original. After all you are using your Twitter account for your job hunt and not for a popularity contest as to who has the most wacky personality or interest! Here are some examples of what profiles could look like:
Accountant who actually like my profession! Partial to multinational employers and Man U. Past the spreadsheet jockey stage and loving the senior advisory side
Former crime journalist turned Cupcake Maker in own kitchen. Would love to apprentice with an established bakery and share my secret recipes. Visit my blog!
Project Finance Director with a background in oil & gas engineering and a global sense of humor looking for my next gig. South East Asia would be nice!
HR Manager with 15 yrs+ experience looking to practice my fluent French outside of the UK. Former employers include Shell, Citi and Barclays. Keen golfer
Bilingual (Eng/French) Secretary great at handling difficult investment banking personalities. Currently studying for PRINCE2. Loves good food
You will also note that you have the option of adding a link to your profile. This is good news, as that’s where you can add the link to your online CV or your LinkedIn profile (which has your CV uploaded, right?;)). Remember: The more specific information you give recruiters and HR about yourself, the more of a chance there is that those keywords will be picked up in a search and lead to your profile.
If You Only Do One Thing This Week: Write Your Twitter Bio! And don’t get too hung up about it being too original or perfect. What matters is that you use relevant keywords and can easily be found. You might also want to experiment with a couple of bios to see what gets the best response (but keep your professional identity consistent!). If you struggle to decide what key words to include, then just look at job ads you have recently applied for (or search job boards) to see what key words they consistently use. Again, spend some time looking at bios around Twitter for inspiration and then write your own unique one!