Can you turn your tweets into a real career?

By Randy Woods

A few weeks ago, I received a notice from Indeed.com about the the Top Job Trends of 2009, which listed the 10 fastest-growing employment sectors in the country. Normally, lists like this are predictable, and this was no different, with fairly obvious job sectors showing growth, such as education (38 percent), hospitality (20 percent) and retail (17 percent).

What stood out, however, was the "job opportunity" named at the top of the list, based on keyword search frequency: Twitter. Granted, everyone's favorite Internet trend was listed as a "micro-segment," so it can hardly be compared to something as established as, say, the legal profession. But I immediately wrinkled my brow thinking about how Twitter could be considered a job, in and of itself.

Now, I'm on the record for being not exactly thrilled about the 140-character medium. Far too much of the Twitscape has become an endless echo-chamber of re-tweets and pithy observations for it to hold my interest. Twitter is clearly a marketing force to be reckoned with, and all job-seekers would be wise to use it as much as possible to stay in touch with potential job leads, but calling it a profession (unless you're Ashton Kutcher) is a bit ludicrous.

I contacted Indeed.com to find out what they meant by adding Twitter to the top of their list. "As more and more businesses utilize Twitter, they will require employees who are familiar with or experts in the communication model," explained Hillary O'Keefe, a marketing associate with Indeed. One listing (now no longer on the site) sought someone to provide customer support responses via Twitter, she added.

Twitter isn't the only social media opportunity on the Indeed list. Other popular keywords include "Facebook" (#4), "Blogger" (#6) and, well, "Social Media" (#9). "In general, there is a trend with companies wanting to have greater branding through social networking and social media so the recent rise in job listings that include the keyword 'Twitter' is a reflection of that," O'Keefe said.

A more recent segment on ABC News by Tory Johnson touted the money-making potential of Twitter, using sites like SponsoredTweets.com. But after three months of being sponsored by advertisers with fees based on the numbers of followers, the best Johnson could show for her efforts was roughly $15 per tweet (far more than the average hosted per-tweet average of $1 or $2), which amounted to "more than $200." Hardly enough to pay the bills, I'd say.

So I put it to you, Hire Ground readers: Have you ever made serious money using Twitter? Or is merely a very good tool for broadening your network and spreading your brand? I invite you to share your experiences with me, either here, or, of course, on my Twitter account.

Writer and editor Randy Woods has filled out more job applications than he can count -- so you don't have to. Email him at hireground@nwjobs.com.

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