6 Things I wish Twitter had

If you’re anything like me, you’ve gotten a little overwhelmed with Twitter apps. I personally only have a few, and I just don’t have the energy (or haven’t mustered it up yet) to do the necessary research to figure out which apps to download. Not to mention I can’t even download apps at work, where I do half of my tweeting. So, I decided to come up with a list of things I think Twitter should have integrated – no apps necessary. And if there is an app for one of these, let me know – I might just download it.

6 Things I wish Twitter had

1. Better search filtering – ability to search about updates within your followers only
2. ‘Followers in common’ feature much like ‘Friends in common’ feature on Facebook
3. Automatic URL shortener (do I REALLY have to go to tinyurl.com every time?)
4. Search filtering within list of followers and people you follow. If I’m looking for a person’s profile, why can’t I just type their username in? It’s so difficult to find profiles.
5. List of people you follow who also follow you back separated from list of people you follow but are not following you (I think I actually found an app for this one)
6. Expanded feed list and better memory. For example, when going through feed page, you are sometimes a few ‘more’ clicks in. If you click on someone’s profile, and then hit back button, it loses expanded feed.

The main theme in this list seems to be improved filters. What do you think – how would you improve Twitter?

He’s just not that into you – the hiring manager, that is

“I had this guy leave me a voicemail at work, so I called him at home, and then he emailed me to my BlackBerry, and so I texted to his cell, and now you just have to go around checking all these different portals just to get rejected by seven different technologies. It’s exhausting.”  – Mary

We feel for you, Drew.

We’ve all been there – refreshing your email every 10 minutes and compulsively looking at your phone hoping that person will call. That special someone that seems to be offering it all – amazing benefits, great work/life balance, 401k match – wait, back up. Yes, I’m talking about your potential employer.

Here’s the scenario – Your browsing craigslist. Or maybe Twitter. You read the job description and you heart starts to swell. This sounds way too good to be true. You scroll down quickly to the qualifications. You are completely, 100% the perfect person for that job. You are a match made in heaven. Or at least, that’s what you tell yourself.

Whether you make it to the first, second, or final interview – it all goes the same. You check your email. You check your spam – just in case. You refresh and refresh your blackberry and wonder when it’s too soon to send a follow up email or phone call. Eventually, you give up, and daydream what that wedding (I mean, career shift) would have been like.

Here’s the difference – with dating, how much effort do we put in? Do we spend hours tweaking our resumes, writing cover letters, and sweating it out? Either way, it’s that same pang of rejection, wondering what we did wrong, and what could have been. What’s with hiring reps who pull the one-night (interview) stands? Is all this new technology making communication any better, or is it just driving us crazier? The national unemployment rate is up to 9.4% – that’s almost 10% of the population dealing with this kind of rejection. I wonder if Xanax sales are up…

I have taken the liberty of creating a Code of Etiquette. Recruiters, please follow the code to keep job seekers happy.

1. You will confirm receipt of resume/cover letter/application

2. You will post a closing date for this job so we know when to stop sweating it out

3. If the position has been filled,  you will remove the posting from your web site/e-mail us to let us know

4. If upon reading our resume or interviewing us, if you have no intention of hiring us, let us know. We’re big kids.

5. You will get back to us in a timely manner after an interview – at least provide a status update.

If you have anything else to add, please feel free. And recruiters, I’m sure you have a list out there for job seekers, too.