How far did your tweet get you in the #TwitterJobChallenge?

On the 7th of April Sara Bernard of the Guardian careers blog started what was to become the Twitter Job Challenge. The aim was simple: to assess what impact twitter really does have on employers and “to convince an employer to give you a job using Twitter.”

One week on and the response has been astonishing. Candidates started off by tentatively approaching prospective employers “@MNC Marketing, do you have any vacancies?” but this quickly progressed and some of the more memorable approaches can be seen below.

What started as a particularly slow day at the Guardian careers blog has turned into an interesting insight into the attention employers really do pay to the Twittersphere and social media in general.

Some candidates have found success in this approach and this has largely been the case in predictably ‘social media savvy’ industries such as advertising and marketing. An interesting or quirky approach to an employer can make for a good differentiator from the hundreds of other applications they receive.

But outside of these career areas it has also been seen to provide success for smaller employers who received approaches from eager, jobless graduates looking to broaden their approach. Social Media when used in this way clearly has the potential to provide a unique and successful approach, whilst also saving time and money for both the candidate and the employer.

But a word of warning: as with any attempt to engage in a professional way using social media, it’s important to be aware of just what you are opening yourself up to as Martin Nolan of @claimsweb commented; “interesting, but from an employer perspective beware what lurks in your twitter account”!