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Hundreds of people have signed up for a new twitter recruitment service just days after it launched.
The London-based jobsite sends followers tweets every time a job matching their requirements is advertised. It is one of several firms offering recruitment via twitter.
“Twitter can be overwhelming, so we are very careful to only send people the jobs that really are relevant to them,” said Gary Robinson of jobsite. “So far it has been a huge success, we've had over 300 people sign up in less than a week, and we are confident we will start placing people very soon. It's really another method people need to consider when looking for a job these days.”
Users of the service tell jobsite their expected role, salary and location. The service then sends them a direct message once a day via Twitter, telling them which jobs meet their specification. Millions of people a week are now checking Twitter, with 17 million logging on to the site between March and April 2009 – an increase of 83% on the previous month.
It comes as unemployment reaches a record high. Last month, the number of people without jobs reached 2.2 million, the highest level since Labour came to power in 1997. The total includes one in six 18 to 24 year-olds – who experts say are often more comfortable with searching for work on social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook than approaching their local JobCentre.
“We already use Facebook, so twitter seemed a logical next step,” said Mr Robinson. “People are used to the site, but too often it is used for reading about celebrities. We think this lets you do something more useful, and I have no doubt it will soon become commonplace to find a job through twitter.”
In America, Gary Zukawski launched Tweet My Jobs in February. The service is already used by more than 6,000 companies.
“Job seekers and recruiters are all rushing to use social media such as a way to find and post jobs,” said Mr Zukowski.
“Twitter means that subscribers receive notification of a posting immediately. In this economy that could be the difference between getting a job or remaining unemployed.”
