A new wave of job-seekers is leveraging Twitter, LinkedIn and other social networks as quick ways to access job referrals, screen potential employers and obtain interviews. Twésumés (personal bios in 20-word chunks) and Twinterviews (interviews conducted on Twitter) are helping to speed up the hiring process. All of it can help cut through red tape.

“Instead of submitting a résumé to a black hole, such as a job board, you can connect with someone who can hire you,” explains Dan Schawbel, author of Me 2.0: Build a Powerful Brand to Achieve Success.

A 2009 poll by Standout Jobs and PBP Media shows that companies are moving away from job boards, recognizing the need to communicate and interact with candidates online. Also, more corporate websites are giving people a look inside the organization as a way to help candidates self-qualify at the front end of the recruitment process.

Twitter supports job hunts via its search engines, TwitterJobSearch.com and TweetMyJobs.com, which sort out unrelated chatter. Offshoot networks have formed, such as the grassroots JobAngels.org, which started with a single Twitter feed last January and continues to connect unemployed individuals with volunteers willing to help them find work.

Source: The Christian Science Monitor