A recruitment ad for a Sr. Manager – Emerging Media Marketing Job at US retailer Best Buy includes an item under the “Preferred Qualifications” heading that applicants have “250 plus followers on Twitter.”
I guess it’s one way of noting a preference that applicants are savvy, active and connected in the twittersphere and, by implication, might have a better understanding of how social media tools like this work in a business context.
I’m not surprised to see this in a recruitment ad by Best Buy.
This is the company whose President and COO (now CEO), Brian J. Dunn – who, incidentally, is on Twitter – was awarded the IABC EXCEL Award this year and whose keynote address about communication at the IABC conference in San Francisco in early June was one of the most inspiring I’ve ever heard from a senior corporate executive of any company (here’s a taste of what Dunn said, in a brief Audioboo I recorded from my spot in the auditorium).
The IABC EXCEL Award recognizes leaders who foster excellence in communication and contribute to the development and support of organizational communication.
So, Twitter followers as a preferred “qualification” when recruiting. Is this a sign of the (coming) times?
This has clearly captured many people’s imaginations this morning, judging by the number of retweets of my original post on Friendfeed about it, as well as retweets of this blog post.
[Later] A comment by Best Buy’s Joshua Kahn talked about a new development regarding this recruitment opening that would be posted today on Barry Judge’s blog. He is Best Buy’s CMO.
Sure enough, there is now a post that opens up an intriguing development in what I’d call the co-creation of a job description in a way that would make a distinct connection with people who have an interest in the company, not only those looking for a job. There’s also the huge buzz potential that gets Best Buy talked about.
[…] In following the conversation around this job posting we discovered that many people had other ideas for how this job description should look, and what the qualifications should be. We realized that perhaps we hadn’t thought of everything. Beyond that we thought perhaps we could find a way to enable a more pointed discussion about this relatively new job category of Emerging Media.
It seemed to us to be a natural progression to get the community involved in crafting the job description and qualifications. So that’s exactly what we’re going to do.
We’d like you, (yes all of you), to help us write the job description for our Sr Manager of Emerging Media Marketing job.
We’d also like you all to help us pick the best description.
Here’s How To Participate
1. Starting now, until Tuesday, July 14th, at 5pm central submit your job description idea to our Best Buy IdeaX site. IdeaX is a site where people like you can share your own ideas on how to make Best Buy better – through idea posts, popular vote and discussions with the rest of the IdeaX community.
I do like the rationale Judge expresses, especially his number 2 point:
This role is a new one for us as it likely is for other companies. We have a lot of smart and social media savvy people here and amongst our partners and friends. However, there are a larger number of smart and social media savvy people “out there”. So instead of thinking we know it all, we’d like to increase our chances of getting it right by surveying the wisdom of the industry.
Sort of an Ideastorm for HR.
This should catch on.
134 responses to “Job requirement: Twitter followers”
Bottoms! I have 249 followers.
Heh, better get clicking!
I’m not surprised at all. Other companies think this way, Best Buy is just the first one bold enough to say so in a recruitment ad. During my recent job search, I met with several companies both in-house and agency side. A couple roles I considered made it clear they were interested in me in part because of the size of my Twitter following.
That’s an interesting point, Eden, re your own experience. Not heard of that here in the UK, but I think it’s just a matter of time.
One’s connectedness has always been valued by potential employers in key roles. But it is very cool to see the fuzzy-edged adhoc group forming connectedness of twitter specifically.
At the moment, I think it’s probably smart… but as soon as it becomes common practice amongst employers, then the first thing anyone will do to get a new job is purposely scale-up their twitter followers… they’ll accept anyone, including any spam followers, and follow folks they don’t really want to in hope of a return-path follow…
It’s arguably an example of old world thinking clouding a new world opportunity? “Lots is good, let’s get lots, everything else will work itself out afterwords…”
John, you make an excellent point about scaling up your twitter followers. Interestingly enough, none of those companies asked how I engaged with people on twitter (or other platforms.)
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Job requirement: Twitter followers — NevilleHobson.com [link to post]
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Reading: Job requirement: Twitter followers? [link to post]
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Sign o’ the times: RT @michelfortinReading: Job requirement: Twitter followers? [link to post]
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Job requirement: Twitter followers – [link to post]
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@mattuk That’s pretty cool – it’s nice to see some innovation when it comes to job advertisements instead of usual crap.
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RT @mattuk Job requirement: Twitter followers – [link to post]
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RT @mattuk: Job requirement: Twitter followers – [link to post]
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Photo: Crazy World! From ( [link to post]
) http://tumblr.com/xmd2a05r1
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RT @koskim: Best Buy is hiring… and one of the job requirements is 250 Twitter followers! [link to post]
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RT @mattuk Jobs starting to require applicants to have certain number of Twitter followers – [link to post]
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@Rosalie_V3 At first, I thought that meant STEVE Jobs was requiring applicants to have a certain number of followers…
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RT @Szczepanik RT @koskim: Best Buy is hiring… and one of the job requirements is 250 Twitter followers! [link to post]
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Marketing Job ad require applicants to have certain number of Twitter followers – [link to post] (via @mattuk)
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Numbers are nice, and like a lot of numbers and other metrics in social media, how do you quantify them? I bet about 15-20+% of my followers (1300+) are nothing more than get-rich-quick or porn accounts — ones I definitely do not follow back.
So, my follower numbers may look good, but they’re not really “real.” Most of are high-quality — and I appreciate the compliment with the follow — but how does one convey quality in a brief profile?
Thanks for the post, Neville (and thanks to @OnwardSearch on Twitter for the pointer).
-Mike
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RT @Rosalie_V3: RT @mattuk Jobs starting to require applicants to have certain number of Twitter followers – [link to post]
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RT: @Szczepanik RT @koskim: Best Buy is hiring… and one of the job requirements is 250 Twitter followers! [link to post]
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RT @Maxicom: Marketing Job ad require applicants to have certain number of Twitter followers – [link to post] (via @mattuk)
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RT @darringrella: RT @koskim: Best Buy is hiring… and one of the job requirements is 250 Twitter followers! [link to post]
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RT @Szczepanik RT @koskim: Best Buy is hiring… and one of the job requirements is 250 Twitter followers! [link to post]
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I guess the number of Twitter followers you have adds up to recommendations these days.. [link to post]
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RT @koskim: Best Buy is hiring… and one of the job requirements is 250 Twitter followers! [link to post] <-- srsly? – Posted using Chat Catcher
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Marketing Job Ad that has requirement for applicants to have 250+ Twitter followers – [link to post] (via @mattuk)
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RT @Maxicom Marketing Job ad require applicants to have certain number of Twitter followers – [link to post] (via @mattuk)
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RT @Szczepanik: RT @koskim: Best Buy is hiring… and one of the job requirements is 250 Twitter followers! [link to post]
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RT @Aerocles @koskim: Best Buy is hiring… 1 job requirement is 250 Twitter followers! [link to post]
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rt @mattorchard Marketing Job Ad that has requirement for applicants to have 250+ Twitter followers – [link to post] (via @mattuk)
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RT @tomiahonen: job used need driver’s license RT @davidcushman Job description demands 250+ twitter followers @jangles [link to post]
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RT @pviktor Job requirement: Twitter followers [link to post]
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RT @davidcushman Job description demands 250+ twitter followers. Neat. Via @jangles [link to post]
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Not neat. It’s a measure of nothing. You could get 250 followers in a day by finding people who autofollow. [link to post]
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The way of the future? RT @davidcushman Job description demands 250+ twitter followers. Neat. Via @jangles [link to post]
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Hey Neville, I’m on the staffing team at Best Buy. I’m the guy who originally tweeted this out to Jason Falls, Jeremiah Owyang, et al.
Keep your eye on http://barryjudge.com (the blog for Best Buy’s CMO) today for a new development related to this job and qualifications.
Cheers,
Josh
Thanks for the heads up, Joshua. I see the new development you mention is now posted on Barry Judge’s blog. I’ve updated my post to reflect that.
Nice work on this!
[…] is a very interesting article over at NevilleHobson.com this morning titled “Job requirement: Twitter followers” that discusses a recent job posting by BestBuy in which there is a preffered qualification […]
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Job requirement: Twitter followers – [link to post] (via @mattuk)
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Job description demands 250+ twitter followers. Neat. Via @jangles [link to post]
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RT@davidcushman Job description demands 250+ twitter followers [link to post]
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Best Buy is hiring… and one of the job requirements is 250 Twitter followers! [link to post] (via @koskim)
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This is unquestionably a growing trend where HR professionals are already using social media to research and discover more about potential candidates for employment. Savvy employees are using their online personae to then position themselves according to the level and types of jobs they want. In fact, prospects should be pushing employers towards social network profiles when and where they become relevant.
The no. of followers in this case is almost irrelevant – what’s needed by a prospect here is a demonstration of their social media whuffie. Further, the idea that they can trick an employer by building their following through dodgy means won’t wash – any half-smart employer should be looking for quality as a balance to quantity.
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RT Job requirement: Twitter followers – [link to post] via @corblimey
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RT @koskim: Best Buy is hiring… and one of the job requirements is 250 Twitter followers! [link to post] <-- srsly? (via @agent0x0) – Posted using Chat Catcher
@andrewgerrard “social media whuffie”
Gonna use that! Can I just check I’m guessing the def right first?
‘whuffie’ = credentials, cajones…yeah?
@Alastair “Whuffie”: as coined by Cory Doctorow (http://twitter.com/doctorow) – http://craphound.com/bio.php – and used to ephemerally describe or measure an individuals reputation and, commonly, their social media creds. Ref. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whuffie
ty @andrewgerrard
Whuffie…..I like it, and will use… unrestrained & attributed :D
Thinks: Crap! It’s in Wikipedia. Can’t claim it for my own! ;)
Um, it’s an emerging media marketing position. Of course they want to find people who tweet, blog, and are otherwise fully immersed in new & emerging media. Counting the number of followers is merely a low-effort metric to narrow the field.
The really interesting aspect is how they now want to engage with anyone who has some useful ideas to suggest what the spec for a job like this ought to contain.
Now that ought to be a trend.
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RT @Aerocles: what if i have 2800? RT @koskim: Best Buy is hiring… 1 job requirement is 250 Twitter followers! [link to post]
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RT @brob35: Job requirement: Twitter followers — NevilleHobson.com [link to post]
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Job requirement: “250 plus followers on Twitter†[link to post] (via @BarryBowman)
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[…] A comment by Best Buy’s Joshua Kahn talked about a new development regarding this recruitment opening that would be posted today on […]
[…] more ideas than a small group.” Isn’t that basically the definition of crowdsourcing? Neville Hobson, part of the great podcast team that produces For Immediate Release seems to […]
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RT @DarenBBC 250 Followers required for the job , serious [link to post]
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RT @DarenBBC: 250 Followers required for the job , serious [link to post]
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RT @DarenBBC: 250 Followers required for the job , serious [link to post] [Interesting idea, not necessarily wrong imho]
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RT @DarenBBC: 250 Followers required for the job , serious [link to post] (via @ollieparsley)
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Job Requirement – Twitter Followers! -> [link to post]
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250 Followers required for the job , serious http://bit.ly/43pSOS
RT @DarenBBC 250 Followers required for the job , serious http://bit.ly/43pSOS
RT @DarenBBC: 250 Followers required for the job , serious http://bit.ly/43pSOS
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RT @TwitjobsMedia: Job Req – Twitter Followers! [link to post] >Interesting thought as long as you don’t accept heaps of spammers!
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RT @TwitjobsUK: Job Requirement – Twitter Followers! -> [link to post]
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RT @DarenBBC: 250 Followers required for the job , serious http://bit.ly/43pSOS [Interesting idea, not necessarily wrong imho]
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@Jason_Smuvrd that’s great, Jason, thanks! Very interesting what Best Buy is doing, don’t you think? [link to post]
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@jangles incredibly interesting,will become a trend for future job descriptions…im sure its already asked at interview stage now.
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RT @DarenBBC: 250 Followers required for the job , serious http://bit.ly/43pSOS (via @ollieparsley)
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@T0mRowlands Checkout this job requirement then! [link to post]
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250 Followers required for the job , serious [link to post]
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Twitter followers as a preferred ‘qualification’ when recruiting – [link to post]
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Job Requirement: Twitter Followers > 250 Wah Wah [link to post]
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RT @elenko: ИзизÑкване за работата – 250 поÑледователи в Twitter: [link to post] -> не Ñтавам за Ñ‚Ð°Ñ Ñ€Ð°Ð±Ð¾Ñ‚Ð° 153 followers, Ñлаба ракиÑ.
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RT: @elenko: ИзизÑкване за работата – 250 поÑледователи в Twitter: [link to post]
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RT @elenko:ИзизÑкване за работата – 250 поÑледователи в Twitter: [link to post]
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ИзизÑкване за работата – 250 поÑледователи в Twitter: [link to post]
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@elenko в Щатите това е възможно. Тук джоб диÑкрипшъните не Ñа мръднали в Ñъдържание от 10 години.
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@elenko interesni samo kato svurshi venture capital-a na twitter kakvo shte stane a projecta. Vseki mu se kefi, no nikoi ne go kupuva
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RT @elenko: ИзизÑкване за работата – 250 поÑледователи в Twitter: [link to post] Яката работа :)
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Job requirement: Twitter followers! > [link to post]
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[ Almost able to get a job at Best Buy ] RT @Nico_Lanter: Job requirement: Twitter followers! > [link to post]
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RT @Nico_Lanter: Job requirement: Twitter followers! > [link to post]
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RT: @ParisComLight: hallucinant RT Nico_Lanter Job requirement: Twitter followers! > [link to post]
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Ще го включа към изиÑкваниÑта RT@elenko ИзизÑкване за работата – 250 поÑледователи в Twitter: [link to post]
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Not surprising since Best Buy is a technology driven store. (I have over 4,000 followers and counting)
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Reading: Best Buy Job Requirement is 250 Twitter followers: [link to post]
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rt @danperry: Reading: Best Buy Job Requirement is 250 Twitter followers: [link to post]
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RT Jobs starting to require applicants to have certain number of Twitter followers – [link to post] (via @LeilaMakki)
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[…] Twittera nie ma pracy … przynajmniej w Best Buy. Sieć handlowa opublikowaÅ‚a ogÅ‚oszenie rekrutacyjne na stanowisko Senior Managera w dziale marketingu i jednym z wymagaÅ„ byÅ‚o posiadanie konta na […]
[…] […]
[…] A Best Buy job listing for a Senior Emerging Media Marketing Manager position got the blogosphere and twitterati chattering. In the original posting, a preferred qualification was for the ideal candidate to have a graduate […]
[…] lelapin Job requirement: Twitter followers — NevilleHobson.com – http://nevillehobson.com/2009… […]
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Job requirement: Twitter followers — NevilleHobson.com – I wouldn’t qualify… I couldn’t care less [link to post]
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Not surprised that more and more companies are requiring their employees to be social network savvy.
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Job requirement: Twitter followers [link to post]
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Lean Mean chases down “250-plus followers on Twitter” needed for job at Best Buy (a US version of Currys). [link to post].
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Jsem zvedava, kdy se zacne vyzadovat neco takoveho i u nas:-) – Job requirement: 250 plusTwitter followers [link to post]
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Should the # of Twitter followers you have be a requirements for emerging media jobs? [link to post]
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[…] requirement that qualified applicants have a minimum of 250 + followers on Twitter. This launched a flurry of debate specific to this one issue, but the bigger issue as we’ve discussed here before is that […]
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RT @MichaelBerner: Should the # of Twitter followers you have be a requirements for emerging media jobs? [link to post]
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RT @fightingmachine: Lean Mean chases down “250-plus followers” needed for job at Best Buy (a US version of Currys). [link to post].
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A preferred qualifications in a job applicants “250 plus followers on Twitter†([link to post]) What next?
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Is this a sign of the (coming) times?- “Job requirement: Twitter followers”- [link to post]
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I guess I shouldn’t have been blocking all those spam followers then: [link to post] #dumbestfakemetricever (via @bistrekov)
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Interesting blog by @ jangles on job advert for Sr Manager Emerging Media specifying number of Twitter followers [link to post]
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US retail Best buy crowd sources job requirement for Emerging media role [link to post]
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RT: @jodykoehler Job requirement: 250 Twitter followers [link to post] HA!
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[link to post]
Wow. Its sad how people do this. Follow me. #musicmonday Moon
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Need another good reason to Tweet? [link to post]
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RT @jangles Job requirement: Twitter followers  NevilleHobson.com http://bit.ly/9GCob
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If you want a job in social media, start tweeting. RT @jangles Job @۠NevilleHobson.com [link to post]
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If you want a job in social media, start tweeting. RT @jangles Job @۠NevilleHobson.com http://bit.ly/9GCob
Guess my number of followers won’t help me get a job @ #bestbuy http://bit.ly/2ruQyD
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RT @jangles Job requirement: #Twitter followers [link to post]
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Job requirement: Twitter followers http://bit.ly/RBJ3m
RT @jangles Job requirement: #Twitter followers http://bit.ly/RBJ3m
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Best Buy darba piedÄvÄjumÄ MÄrketinga speciÄlistam bija vÄ“lama prasÄ«ba: 250 followeri [link to post] :)
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Guess my number of followers won’t help me get a job @ #bestbuy [link to post]
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Best Buy darba piedÄvÄjumÄ MÄrketinga speciÄlistam bija vÄ“lama prasÄ«ba: 250 followeri http://bit.ly/2ruQyD :)
Old, but still fascinating news for us job-hunters – Best Buy leverages social media to create a social media job req: http://bit.ly/JyzWs
[…] thing that I’ve found, particularly in the social media and marketing space is using “number of Twitter followers” or “number of Facebook friends” as a qualifier for an experienced […]
Job requirement: 250+ Twitter followers http://bit.ly/7O0T8S
It seems that followers gets you jobs now! http://bit.ly/9GCob I'm running a beta for a system that gets followers DM if interested.
( 250)+(followers) =job requirement: http://bit.ly/gfxq7 In other news? Confusing punctuation really makes *this* tweet A True Joy To Read.
Excellent article, I purchased 5000 twitter followers from http://www.socialkik.com and they delivered them sooner than promised, that made a huge positive impact on my online business ! I started receiving more customers and better conversion rate because of the big number of followers which enhanced my reputation ! I highly recommend them : http://www.socialkik.com
[…] is a very interesting article over at NevilleHobson.com this morning titled “Job requirement: Twitter followers†that discusses a recent job posting by BestBuy in which there is a preffered qualification of […]
Job spec: Degree, check. 2 yrs experience, check. 250 followers on twitter-that's what we want. How twitter is growing
http://bit.ly/JyzWs
Preferred job requirement for @bestbuy: 250+ Twitter followers http://ow.ly/25Dyw This still gets me thinking! #socialrecruiting #sales
Preferred job requirement for @bestbuy: 250+ Twitter followers http://ow.ly/25Dyw This still gets me thinking! #socialrecruiting #sales
RT @SocialHonesty: Preferred job requirement for @bestbuy: 250+ Twitter followers http://ow.ly/25Dyw This still gets me thinking! #socialrecruiting #sales