Pizza Hut has generated quite the buzz in the last month with its hiring of a 22-year-old college grad as a “Twintern”. For those who aren’t familiar with the idea, a Twintern is an intern hired by a company to enhance its social media presence, or to simply Tweet and monitor a Twitter account. With all the attention Pizza Hut has been getting lately, one can expect that more companies will consider adding Twinterns to their staff. Is it a good idea to let an intern be the face of your brand?

Many businesses hire college grads as Twinterns because they believe younger generations are the most familiar with social media. This might be true, but most college students have only used social media for personal reasons, not for business. Gini Dietrich, a Chicago PR manager, said it best when she spoke to bigmoney.com about this issue, “You’re putting your brand and reputation in the hands of someone who has no experience.” The main problem with Pizza Hut’s approach is that it’s allowing a Twintern to speak for its brand, but it’s not monitoring her posts. This is a PR nightmare waiting to happen.

 London home-furnishing retailer Habitat provides a good example of what can happen when Twintern’s post are unmonitored. Habitat has recently been battling an onslaught of bad press after its Twintern included ‘hashtags’ containing popular search terms for the protests in Iran in the company’s tweets. This means that when people on Twitter searched for information on the protests, Habitat’s ads showed up instead. Yes tweets can be deleted, but in a medium that operates in real time, there is no telling how many people will see (and retweet) a tweet before it is deleted. The damage can be done the minute the tweet is posted.

Don’t get me wrong, social media is a fantastic way to connect to consumers and other business professionals, as long as it is managed correctly. Starbucks recently hired one of their baristas to act as the voice for its Twitter account. I like this approach for many reasons.

·         Maintains a consistent voice for the Twitter account (not changing every three months when new interns take over)

·         Ensures better brand representation by utilizing someone who has been trusted to be the face of the brand in the past and by someone who truly understands the brand

·         Leverages the barista’s understanding of  customers’ wants/expectations because he or she has experience interacting with them on a daily basis

·         Utilizes the barista’s experience dealing with consumer complaints because he or she has been trained how to respond appropriately

·         Frees up executives

What do you think about the Twintern craze? Follow Bolt on Twitter @boltbuzz108. But be forewarned, you

won’t find any Twinterns there.

By: Ashley Margo, ashley@boltpr.com

NextWork, a career transition organization helping individuals identify personal strengths to discover a fitting career path, have noted that the changing economy and the rising unemployment numbers have forced job seekers to discover new tactics to really stand out. However, what new job searching methods are almost too unconventional and leave the wrong impression with potential employers?

An article published by CNNMoney.com on February 14 (http://money.cnn.com/2009/01/14/pf/unconventional_job_searches/index.htm?postversion=2009011413), explored this question further and identified individuals exploring the good and the bad side of standing out from competing job searchers.

Most experts, including NextWork, agree that attending networking events is still the best approach in proactively searching for a job. Experts also note to expand upon face-to-face networking and to incorporate the wonderful world of online socializing by utilizing such sites as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn (see we keep gabbing about these outlets because they truly are the great wave of the future!). A couple of years ago these tactics were not so widely used, but now many individuals use these approaches and job searchers still need to take their approach a step further and try something unique.

A Web developer profiled in the article distributed an email to his family and friends with his job search objective and resume. He asked all of them to pass the information along to any appropriate contacts and even offered a $150 incentive to anyone who led him to a job opening. Utilizing friends and family can really help you gain the support you need during a job search and is a great approach.

Another tactic discussed in the article was one practiced by a private duty registered nurse and a marketing manager, who both wore printed t-shirts with their Web site, contact information, resume and cover letter. This is a very easy approach that can lead to discussions with strangers that may have a tip to get you in the right direction.

On the flip side, the article noted that while creativity is appreciated, 52% of marketing executives and 26% of advertising executives see unconventional job-hunting methods as unprofessional. One example that was mentioned was an individual who mailed a shoe, noting that the candidate was hoping to get a foot in the door.

The rule of thumb is to absolutely explore your creative side, but to be mindful of what is appropriate for your given industry. For more tips on job searching methods, call NextWork at (760) 420-8444 or visit www.nextworkservices.com.

Posted by: Monica Kenney, monica@boltpr.com