If you prefer to live in the real world you will agree that the job situation in the US is not getting better any time soon. If there are any political pundit types out there who want to duke it out about the what’s and why’s of this situation that’s fine. I’m just stating a fact.

This reality of the times we live in is played out all the time across social media channels. In particular, LinkedIn is the recruiters haven of social media as headhunters who collect connections like the business version of baseball cards. Collect’em all and trade with your friends who need a new VP of something or other. Hey, I’ll trade a VP of Biz Dev for two Directors of marketing!

Of course, you can’t expect something as current and pervasive as extreme unemployment to escape the grip of Twitter. The social media powerhouse is still figuring out those revenue thingys while other are using it for more and more practical purposes (that generate a penny for the company).

The newest is TwitJobSearch. We learn more from the New York Times technology blog Bits.

In the last month, 340,000 jobs have been listed on Twitter, said William Fischer, co-founder of WorkDigital, which created TwitJobSearch, a site that searches Twitter for jobs.

The latest tool that job hunters can use to find openings is called JobDeck, a new product from TwitJobSearch and TweetDeck, a desktop Twitter application.

TwitJobSearch scans Twitter for job postings by paying attention to the context in which employment-related keywords appear. For example, if a Tweet links to a story about the construction industry losing jobs, that should not show up on the list. If a Tweet says there is a job listing for an assistant to the vice president, the search engine needs to categorize it under openings for assistants, not vice presidents.

There are many early success stories in using Twitter as a job search tool and recruiting tool. JobDeck even pulls job listings from LinkedIn. This all makes sense especially of you are looking for some help with social related activities since those using the service are already at least on the platform. It doesn’t stop there though as the opportunities for many different jobs are popping up on Twitter.

The article gave this quick sketch of a real success story.

On Jan. 7, Richard Barton, chief executive of the real estate Web site Zillow.com, fired off this Tweet: “Greg Slyngstad & I are cooking up a consumer internet startup. R U our founding CTO? Seeking smart, passionate team-builder.” (Mr. Slyngstad and Mr. Barton helped start Expedia together.)

“We were deluged with résumés,” Mr. Barton said. “It’s the most powerful recruiting tool I’ve ever used.”

He has also hired three Zillow employees using Twitter, including its new marketing director. Mr. Barton says Twitter is especially useful for job announcements because, unlike e-mail, recipients do not need to respond unless they are interested in applying or know someone who might be.

So if you are in the market for a job or are looking for new job opportunities don’t discount Twitter as a great resource. Just be ready to make that first impression in 140 characters or less.

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