Tell the group about yourself here. What do you hope to learn?
Social media is a broad topic with many implications. This course focuses on developing a strategy for one's career services department. There is so much more to learn beyond the course content by tapping into the collective knowledge of the group. However, this is completely dependent upon you and if you choose to interact to collaborate by teaching and learning from one another.
Introduce yourself and explain what you hope to learn in this course. I encourage you to read the posts from others in every forum. If you see something you can help someone with, something that you want to comment on, or perhaps you want to further a discussion - respond to each other and engage in dialogue.
Social media is about connecting and collaborating so I encourage all of you to model this as we learn together in this course.
My name is Allison Reiner and I am a Career Services Advisor. Ive been a Career Advisor for over 1 1/2 years but before this position I was a staffing recruiter for over 3 years. Currently I only used LinkedIn and facebook but I hope to learn from this class how to use different social media sites such as twitter.
My name is Michelle and I recently started a Career Advisor position. Though I believe I am technologically savvy I find myself confused when it comes to most social media. I have been a Career Advisor in the past but it was before social media became as important as it is today. I have had an account on LinkedIn and Facebook for many years and have used Facebook as a Career Advisor presently and previously. This social media works great for finding out if graduates have found employment and is also a great way to communicate with graduates. What I want to learn from this course is how to use other social media such as Twitter to distribute information. I tried to use Twitter to find employment in the past and found that it was very cumbersome in searching the tweets for positions I would be interested in. I am assuming I was not using it properly. It would be great to learn to use Twitter and other social media to improve my Career Advising skills.
My name is Taunia and I have held the position of Director of Career Services for 1 year at the career college I'm current at. I held the same position 4 years prior at a career college in a different state. Before securing this position my career coach insisted that I fine tune my LinkedIn account and enhance my profile by increased interaction with other professionals in the same field, joining discussion groups and memberships in the career counseling sector.
As a job seeker over a year ago it was to me advantage to also "lock down" my FB page so that only limited information would be available to the general public and to limit/monitor closely my connections. By changing my profiles it helped me to be recognized as a professional in my field and set an example in the social media arena. I use these same methods in group lectures for graduates ready to seek their careers based on my own experience.
What I hope to learn from this course is to relay a more structured message to not just my students but my staff as well.
My name is Katarina and I have been a Career Advisor for over 4 years now. Our constant struggle have been to get our students to check their email for communication from us. After this course I hope to have found a strategy to use social media as an alternative way of reaching and interact more closely with our students. I also hope to find channels to improve and increase communication and engagement with our employer partners.
My name is Mary Ellen and I am a Career Services Advisor with our University. I hope to learn how to further use and benefit from social media. Building relationships and networking is crucial to my career and I've never understood how to use these sites to their full advantage and know this course will fix that for me.
I hope to learn all about social media because It's important to improved my knowledge, my habilities and it's the best way to manage or interact with students and the rest of the people.
I hope to learn all about social media because It's important to improved my knowledge, my habilities and it's the best way to manage or interact with students and the rest of the people.
Jason,
I encourage you to ask questions if you need clarification on anything discussed in the course and/or to address any of your specific interests not covered int he course. I even offer myself to schedule phone calls if anyone would like to discuss in further detail to better understand any of the concepts we cover in this online course. I also encourage you to take your time and not rush through the course. You will get a lot more out of the experience if you take your time and actively participate. I look forward to participating in this journey with you.
Take care!
Robert Starks Jr.
Hello, my name is Jason and I am the Career Services manager at my campus. I am VERY new to social media and what I can accomplish with it. Facebook is something everyone I know is using, again, still very new to me. I have heard of Twitter, but I don't use it, same with LinkedIn. I hope to leave this course with a better knowledge of what each is, and how I can use them to better my department. I know the possibilities are endless when it comes to communication and the internet, but I am only truly familiar with email, and instant messaging. I have so much to learn. I'm looking forward to the journey.
Susan,
Your purpose for using social media as a means to build a sense of community and support among alumni and current students is a great intervention strategy to overcome the challenge of isolation. This purpose will guide how you use social tools. For instance, it makes sense that you form a Facebook Group vs. a Facebook page if your idea is to build an active community where members feel connected through their alma mater affinity. You'll find that you will have to lead by example and instruct members on the purpose of the group. For example, when I would advise students, I might get a question like, "Where's a good site for tutorials on Graphic design?" I would provide some resources and then say, "you should join the alumni Facebook group and pose that question to your peers. I bet they have some ideas." I would also post the question on the student's behalf and then share the results with the student who asked it. This got them to see that their peers were a resource for their learning and development. They then saw value in being a member of the community and also saw a demonstration of how the community was to be used - to help one another. This is an example of a how student-by-student, we marketed our Facebook group as a source of community support. Of course, it takes consistent marketing and effort to build a community but it is worth it. The group can then be used to crowd-source information, job leads, and resources.
I encourage you to take your time during this course, really soak up the information and ask many questions. This is how you will maximize your online learning experience. I'm hear to help and look forward to our continued interaction.
Robert Starks Jr.
Hello! My name is Siouxie and I am the Career Services Director for a small technical school. The training we offer is in a career that can be isolating at times and it would be nice for grads to have a place online that they used regularly as a forum - or way of staying in touch an current with trends within the industry . Over the past 3 years I have developed a facebook page as well as facebook 'secret' group to maintain and manage contact with graduates, but I do feel that I use it the same way I use email. I contact grads individually as well as in groups letting them know about events and opportunities through the school. I am hoping to discover ways to help grads connect to each other and possibly form a cyber alumni association of sorts - exploring ways for them to share experiences and information with each other to decrease the feelings of isolation. I look forward to reading more posts here and gathering ideas of what has worked and what hasn't for everyone!
Hello LeWando,
There are so many things one could do to get students to use social media for professional development. Here are some assignment ideas for you:
1. Have students conduct research on how social media is used for professional development. Instead of writing a paper, you could ask them to write a blog or make a brief PowerPoint and upload to SlideShare.com. Instead of a PowerPoint, you can also introduce students to Prezi for those who want to learn to use a different presentation tool. My point is you can get creative in having them learn about social media for professional development while using social media tools.
2. Give students an assignment to create a Presentation Resume such as these http://workawesome.com/career/top-10-powerpoint-resume-presentations-on-slideshare/. This might be an assignment after a discussion about the importance of online personal branding.
3. Have students complete a LinkedIn profile
4. Have students conduct research on how businesses are using social media or how social media has changed business. If you want to provide recommended reading materials, I suggest the following books:
- The End of Business as Usual by Brian Solis
- The NOW Revolution: 7 Shifts to Make Your Business Faster, Smarter and More Social by Jay Baer
- Return On Influence: The Revolutionary Power of Klout, Social Scoring, and Influence Marketing by Mark W. Schaefer
5. Have students design a Twitter PLN. Draw a circle in the center of a paper with a goal in mind of what they want to learn. For example, they could write "Entrepreneurship." Lines connected to the circle branching out could then be where students indicate the thought leaders from whom they should be learning regarding that topic such as Guy Kawasaki, Richard Branson, Seth Godin, Inc Magazine, Fast Company or Forbes. Once they identify the sources which may require research using tools such as Twitter Directories, they can start following these thought leaders, thus constructing their PLN. You would have to educate them first on what a PLN is and how it can be helpful.
Some resources you might want to share with students are:
A Free Handout: http://www.careercollegelounge.com/pg/blog/rstarks/read/35342/a-beginners-guide-to-social-media-for-the-job-seeker
Have them Watch this Video entitled Job Search 3.0: http://www.careercollegelounge.com/pg/blog/rstarks/read/32706/job-search-30
Merry Christmas everyone. I am LeWando McGruder-Patterson. I am an instructor in the Mnangement Department Miller-Motte Technical. I am seeking information to instruct my students in using the social media and social networks to further their careers and profession.
Most students use facebook, very few even know of Linkedin. I want to create assignments/projects for my management students, most have entreprenuer aspirations, for PLN and professional networking. I am seeking suggestions and advice on how to promote students to use social media and social networks for professional growth?
Mary,
Welcome! You'll definitely become aware of many different websites and tools but I challenge you not to think of social media as a means to search for jobs in the traditional ways one might think. If networking is the number one way people discover career opportunities, think of social networking as a means to enhance traditional networking. We have access to people we never had access to before and tools that allow us to engage with experts. The question is how do we leverage this access and the relationships/partnerships we are capable of developing if we just invest the time? Pay particular attention to the concept of the PLN and how it relates to professional development and provides us with an ability we never had - to engineer our Personal Learning Networks (PLN).
You said you hope to become more engaged in internet employment searches but rather than searching for employment, social media allows us to search for the people we should be connecting with and this is a very different concept than "employment search." By connecting with the right people, we can enhance our learning (career-readiness), strategically build our networks, and optimize our ability to enter an industry/career field/sector through purposeful networking. This is definitely different than "Employment Search" in the traditional understanding of the phrase and something you will likely find challenging to teach students. Teaching students about how to purposefully use social media is an important part of any Career Center's social media strategy since they must learn as well!
There are certainly ways to establish online communities and manage the content you publish. First just be aware that when you use social media, you are a publisher so one must always be aware of what they share and why they are sharing it. A social media strategy requires a content strategy. For instance, if you decide you would like to build an online community for the purpose of enhancing service to students by having the online community help each other (Which essentially extends your career service department by having students help students), how will what you post encourage the very goal you have established? How can you architect a community through content publishing that fits your stated purpose? One might decide to share tutorials or advice articles and ask the community to share their advice or to post their tips & Tricks strategically designing a community focused on helping one another. This is merely one example of a content strategy. This is the way one needs to think when they build their social media strategies. Check the forum of Case Study Examples at the end of the course for real-world examples of Career Services Department using Social media! Keep asking those questions and let's continue the great dialogue! If there's something you come across where you need further explanation or would like to discuss further, please don't hesitate to ask. I look forward to our continued dialogue!
Robert Starks Jr.
My name is Mary and I have been a Director of Career Services for more than 12 years. With the explosion of social media I hope to learn how to become more engaged in internet employment searches, besides the typical websites.
I would like to learn how to set up sites for my grads to network with others and myself, without risking damage of too much or the wrong type of information. Can this be done????
I hope to gather information from my fellow classmate about what has and is working for them.
Any thoughts and recommendations would be gratefully appreciated.
Jennifer ,
Thank you for sharing the current tools you use in your career center and what you hope to learn. I'd be curious to learn more about how you are using Facebook, LinkedIn, and your blog. What is the strategy behind each platform? This would help provide more insight to me and others to perhaps have better discussion/dialogue and suggestions on what new techniques and strategies to implement that align with your objectives. Could you elaborate?
Thanks.
Robert Starks Jr.
Hi, I serve as a Career Services Consultant at an Online Associate Degree granting college. I’m interested in learning more about developing and strengthening relationships with students using social media. We are currently using Facebook, LinkedIn and a blog with a monthly “career corner.†I think we are off to a good start but I want to do more! I hope I will learn some new techniques and strategies.
THANKS!
Jennifer Ruggiero
Kelly,
Thanks for introducing yourself. I look forward to your continued contributions to the forums.
Robert Starks Jr.
I'm Kelly, the coordinator for our university's career services department. While we do have items such as a facebook account and a blog, neither are currently being used to their potential.
I'm looking forward to being very strategic about our social media strategy, creating a sustainable plan that focuses on effectively using the best platforms for our office.
