RIGHT after she was retrenched from her job this month, account manager Brittany Ward, 23, pulled out her mobile phone and typed in three words 'Need a job'.
Ms Ward, from Florida, US, hadn't even told her family yet. But through networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, more than 2,000 friends, family members and strangers learnt of her situation, reported Miami Herald.
She's among a growing group of job seekers who are turning to social networking sites to find work as unemployment continues to rise.
Twitjobs launched on Twitter in March and quickly gained more than 4,500 followers.
The microblogging site allows job hunters to spot and respond to vacancies instantly.
Ms Beth, a London job seeker, has been using Twitter to search for vacancies for a few months, reported Sky News.
'I've now had an interview because of applying through TwitJobs and have a second interview coming up,' she said.
To be sure, Twitter isn't the only avenue.
Ms Ward continued to talk about her job search on Twitter, Facebook and her blog after that first post. Some sent messages of support, others offered to circulate her resume.
It has been less than a month since she was laid off, and now she already has two job offers and more than 10 leads, all from people who read that initial message online.
All this while, she said she has not been proactively applying for jobs.
Employers are following suit too.
In the US, Weber Shandwick advertised for a web developer through a tweet from its digital strategy manager Greg Swan.
The chosen candidate Mr Doug Hamlin, 23, got the job after replying with his details.
Job ads is fast turning Twitter, which has millions of users, into a money spinner.
Twitjob creator Jason Barrett told Sky News Online that they charge £49 ($110) per role, which is then tweeted several times a day.
There are separate feeds for sectors including media, fashion and sales.
More and more
A growing number of users are searching for employment on the Web, sending job-related words and topics up the Twitter 'most-trending' lists.
Other organisations are also jumping on the bandwagon. CLJobHunt posts every vacancy listed on US website Craigs List straight onto Twitter so users can get instant alerts about their industry or area.
Not many people 'can afford to sit at your computer all day long, checking every 15 minutes or so for new Craigslist job postings', their website explains.
However, recruitment professionals have a word of caution: Jobseekers using their social networking profiles to contact or attract employers should take extra care not to share unprofessional details online.
