Consider Ditching LinkedIn for Twitter
So, you want to be a writer? But not the type of writer who proposes grants or technical reports. Or the type of writer who delivers the nation’s tragic news to online journals.
It’s a risky career choice. That’s what they told you. They told me too. While, I don’t have much claim to fame, I made a silly career choice that has actually helped my path as a writer.
I joined Twitter.
What does a seemingly outdated social media platform provide to a young writer?
1. Community.
2. Access to literary agents.
3. Show-runners scouring the web for staff writers.
We all know that connections are the most important factor amidst the job hunt. Companies that take mass submissions of applications often have machines weed through applications. Factors that don’t exactly match the company’s demand are automatically deleted by the software before ever reaching human eyes. This means that perfectly good candidates are never considered — simply because they didn’t have an opportunity to explain their skillset or argue that their one year of experience is as valuable as three.
Luckily, we live in an age where most people are accessible online. Politicians, celebrities, and organizational headquarters are all accessible via social media. It is becoming more widely known that the old-fashion humdrum of churning out applications and CV’s is dying.
“I’m not sure where to start with querying,” I told a friend in the English department.
“Join Twitter.”
A platform full of 280 character thoughts? What good could come from having a public social media account? Don’t career advisers discourage public social media accounts?
At the turn of the New Year, I flipped my account into a creator’s account, sharing progress on my work, asking writing questions, sharing tips, and posting excerpts of my own work. Within a month, I gained a thousand writers, published authors, directors, and book lovers following my account. In the grand scheme of social media, I know 1,000 followers might not mean much. But to me, that is potential.
Twitter is more than about raising my numbers. I’ve found community.
Outside of my creative writing classes, I know little people who care to discuss the intricacies of the publishing world. Twitter has given me a space to connect with people in the same boat as me, as well as talk to people further along in my dream career.
Jobs in the arts are undervalued, underpaid, and we spend a lot of time explaining to employers why our arts degree actually prepared us for the skills they demand. In the right community, you will be heard.
I believe there’s no better time than now to pursue a job in the arts.
