Twitter is a social networking and microblogging service that allows you to answer the question, "What are you doing?" by sending short text messages up to 140 characters in length, called "tweets," to your friends, or "followers."

Beyond the “What are you doing?” prompt, Twitter offers a variety of opportunities to enhance both your professional and personal life. Whether you’re a business professional embarking upon a new career, a student looking to connect with experts in your field or just someone who’s relocating to a new area, Twitter has the potential to help you build your brand, meet your goals and develop new relationships. I can say this with confidence because Twitter has helped me accomplish these goals!

If you’re job hunting or making a career transition…
Twitter can help you identify which companies are hiring, who has recently left their position and what actions successful job seekers are taking in order to get hired. You can also utilize hashtags such as #hiring, #job and #HAPPO (Help a PR Pro Out), to name a few, to quickly identify potential job opportunities and help refine your Twitter job search. (To learn more about hashtags, visit Twitter’s Help Center).

If you’re breaking into a new field, you can connect with professional organizations that can offer expertise regarding your transition. You can even seek advice from other Twitter users who have made a similar career change. This is a perfect time to take advantage of Twitter lists, which can help you organize who you follow by allowing you to create lists based upon specific topics and categories.

If you’re a student…
Twitter allows you to interact with experts in your field—both young and seasoned professionals—as well as classmates, university alumni and even professors.

As a student, a great way to stand out from the masses and strike up conversations with like-minded people is through Twitter chats. There are more than 130 chats on Twitter and they cover nearly every subject imaginable, from blogging and small business advice to gardening and wedding planning. Chats like #prstudchat, #collegechat and #u30pro are geared specifically towards students and young professionals.

For more about how to participate in a Twitter chat, check out Grind & Thrive’s “Beginner's Guide to Understanding Twitter Chats.” 

If you’ve recently relocated…
No matter what your career aspirations are, Twitter is a remarkable resource for anyone who’s recently relocated or is considering relocation to a new city or state. By reaching out to users within a specific geographic area, you can identify not only the best places to work, but also where to live, eat, play, shop and more. By connecting with your online network, you’re building new relationships that often carry into your “real life” that will make settling into your new location a bit easier.

How are you using Twitter?
Aside from simply answering the question, “What are you doing?” Twitter is an invaluable resource for business professionals and students to job search, seek advice, network and even transition to a new geographic region.

Personally, I wrote this post from first-hand experience. I found my job at Balcom Agency, valuable professional organizations, great friends, former classmates, amazing restaurants, a cute place to get my hair done, even the perfect home to rent all thanks to Twitter. Tell us, how has Twitter helped you?