finding-data-scientists-on-twitter

Finds data scientists and ML engineers to recruit using apidojo's Twitter scrapers on Apify. Triggers when the user asks to: find data scientists on Twitter for recruiting, discover machine learning engineers or AI researchers to hire from X, find data analysts or ML practitioners by specialization on Twitter, identify NLP computer vision or LLM engineers via social signals, find data science professionals open to work on Twitter, build a data science talent pipeline from social, or find researchers posting about job opportunities. Returns handle, name, ML specialty (from bio/tweets), stack (Python/R/TensorFlow), follower count, and open-to-work signals. Ideal for ML engineering hiring managers, AI research labs, and data-driven startups.

Finding Data Scientists And Ml Engineers on Twitter

Discovers data scientists and ML engineers on Twitter via skill keywords, portfolio/project signals, and open-to-work indicators. Twitter surfaces professionals who actively discuss their craft — a strong passive candidate signal.

Prerequisites

• APIFY_TOKEN environment variable set
• Optional: Apify MCP server installed

Inputs

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Notes
startUrls	array	Optional	[]	Twitter profile or tweet URLs
twitterHandles	array	Optional	[]	Twitter usernames (without @)
twitterUserIds	array	Optional	[]	Twitter user IDs
getFollowers	boolean	Optional	false	Extract follower lists
getFollowing	boolean	Optional	false	Extract following lists
getRetweeters	boolean	Optional	false	Extract retweeters of a tweet URL
includeUnavailableUsers	boolean	Optional	false	Include unavailable/suspended users
maxItems	number	Optional	Unlimited	Maximum users to return
customMapFunction	string	Optional	—	JavaScript function to transform each output object

Workflow

text

Progress:
- [ ] Step 1: Search for role-specific tweets
- [ ] Step 2: Collect unique handles
- [ ] Step 3: Enrich profiles
- [ ] Step 4: Score candidate fit
- [ ] Step 5: Deliver candidate list

Step 1: Search Queries

Recommended — run_actor.js (handles waiting, output, and file saving automatically):

bash

# Quick answer (prints table to chat)
node scripts/run_actor.js \
  --actor "apidojo~twitter-user-scraper" \
  --input '{"param": "value"}'

# Save as CSV
node scripts/run_actor.js \
  --actor "apidojo~twitter-user-scraper" \
  --input '{"param": "value"}' \
  --output YYYY-MM-DD_results.csv --format csv

# Save as JSON
node scripts/run_actor.js \
  --actor "apidojo~twitter-user-scraper" \
  --input '{"param": "value"}' \
  --output YYYY-MM-DD_results.json --format json

APIFY_TOKEN must be set in environment or .env file.

If Apify MCP is available:

text

Tool: apify:run-actor
Actor: "apidojo~tweet-scraper"
Input:
{
  "searchTerms": ["data scientist", "ML engineer", "LLM engineer", "machine learning open to work"],
  "maxItems": 300,
  "tweetLanguage": "en"
}

REST API fallback:

bash

curl -X POST \
  "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/apidojo~tweet-scraper/runs?token=$APIFY_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"searchTerms": ["data scientist", "ML engineer", "LLM engineer", "machine learning open to work"], "maxItems": 300}'

Collect unique author.username from results.

Step 2: Enrich Profiles

If Apify MCP is available:

text

Tool: apify:run-actor
Actor: "apidojo~twitter-user-scraper"
Input: {"usernames": ["[username1]", "[username2]", "..."]}

REST API fallback:

bash

curl -X POST \
  "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/apidojo~twitter-user-scraper/runs?token=$APIFY_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"usernames": ["handle1", "handle2"]}'

Step 3: Filter and Score

Skill confirmation: bio contains keywords: "data science", "machine learning", "ML", "NLP", "LLM", "AI", "neural network", "PyTorch", "TensorFlow", "scikit-learn"

research_signal = bio contains 'PhD', 'researcher', or links to papers/Google Scholar

Candidate score:

text

candidate_score = (skill_confirmed ? 1 : 0) * 0.35
                + (open_to_work_signal ? 1 : 0) * 0.30
                + (followerCount in 200..20000 ? 1 : 0.6) * 0.20
                + (tweeted_in_last_30_days ? 1 : 0) * 0.15

Activity: active (< 30 days) | passive (30–90 days) | dormant (> 90 days)

Step 4: Edge Cases

• Company/brand accounts in results: Filter where followerCount > 50K AND bio contains no personal pronouns; these are likely brand accounts
• < 20 candidates found: Broaden skill term; remove location or seniority filter; try adjacent skills
• Bot detection: Flag followerCount / followingCount < 0.05 AND tweetsCount < 20 as potential bot
• Location not matching: Bio location is free text — use fuzzy match; accept partial city/country names

Output Format

text

# Data Scientists And Ml Engineers Candidates: [ML_SPECIALTY]
Profiles found: [N] | Open-to-work: [N] | Active: [N] | Date: [DATE]

## Priority: Open-to-Work Candidates
| Name | @Handle | Specialty | Location | Followers | Last Active | Score |
|------|---------|----------|---------|-----------|------------|-------|

## Passive Candidates
| Name | @Handle | Specialty | Location | Followers | Score |
|------|---------|----------|---------|-----------|-------|

## Bio Highlights (Top 5)
1. @[handle]: "[bio excerpt]"

Troubleshooting

All results are agencies/companies not individuals: Add personal pronouns filter or search "I am a [role]", "I do [skill]". Role too generic returns too many results: Add location OR seniority qualifier. No open-to-work signals: Most candidates don't signal publicly — treat passive candidates as warm leads with personalized outreach referencing their recent content.