Yes. One of the strategies that we have used to stay ahead of the game is partnership with local SEO and Web development firms that utilize Social Media in branding companies, products, and services. Bringing them in as guest speakers allows both the school and students stay abreast of social media trends as it applies to branding. These companies see value in this partnership because they are often in need of video services for their clients. Some students have found jobs and freelance work from these partners. Aside from that, we help them brand themselves by carefully evaluating and providing feedback on the way they present themselves through all social media platforms.
Hi Daniel,
Whereas younger generations tend to be earlier adopters of social media platforms, they aren't necessarily skilled at using platforms for personal branding, research, job search, etc. Do you have any strategies such as following blogs or other tactics to stay ahead of your students and teach them?
Robert Starks Jr.
I find that the best way to stay current with social media trends is to listen to the younger generation who are more in tune with this world. I then, make sure that our organization takes part in all these social media platforms on both a personal and professional level.
Hi Robert,
I have found that whereas many career services professionals use social media for data mining and skip tracing to help them track, document, and verify employment, not as many use social media as part of an integrated marketing strategy to increase career services participation and/or foster relationships sooner. What is your experience? How are you/will you be using these tools to help?
Robert Starks Jr.
I am actively involved with my own social media image plus I follow industry leaders on FB, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
At this point in time I personally have a good social media presence and use it to seek out leads and useful information to pass on to my students but our company does not yet have a strong social media profile. I hope that by having this course available and by me and my colleagues taking it, we can change that and utilize current trends to do our jobs better.
Hi Jason,
I am curious how you stay current, not with your graduates, but with social media platforms, practices, and trends. For instance, do you follow certain blogs, people on Twitter who are social media experts, or participate in webinars to maintain and continue to enhance knowledge of ways to use social media effectively as the tools and practices change often.
Robert Starks Jr.
We stay currentby following up with graduates via facebook, google plus, linked in etc. it allows us to track and follow where a student is working and any potential red flags we need to address
By reading current article and blogs and the changes and trends in social media.
Hi Kristin,
I'd have to agree with you that most institutions have simply started using social media tools but without intent. It is mainly used as another megaphone to make announcements when it has potential to be part of an integrated marketing strategy to achieve multiple career center objectives. It can help increase student awareness and participation, recruit program advisory board members, leverage word-of-mouth to discover career opportunities in the unadvertised market, and enhance career preparation and learning by strategically designing personal learning networks. These are just a few of the ways it can be used with purpose.
Robert Starks Jr.
In our Career Services Department, we have already adopted Facebook as a very important part of our student and graduate communications, but we haven't actually built a strategy around it. It's something we just kind of do, but after reading the information here, it seems we would be better off to create an effective strategy and plan to utilize social networking to its potential.
linked in groups, facebook and twitter
By becoming a user or practitioner of the tool.
Hi Mendy,
I am wondering how you stay current with social media trends. What do you currently do to maintain your knowledge of new media, its purposeful usage and trends? Can you also elaborate on what the strategy is behind using social media channels to "post encouraging comments" and "tips on how to interview?" I think its great to encourage alumni and help them with interview tips but I am curious to know your strategy - what is social media helping your department accomplish?
Robert Starks Jr.
We are actively posting encouraging comments to our alumni along with tips on how to interview to help with the process..
Helen,
People search engines such as Pipl.com and KGBpeople.com came in handy many times for me when trying to skip trace MIA graduates. When using people search engines, it's best to use multiple tools since each scans different social networks for data. They simply are tools to help you optimize your researching skills by leveraging the data on social media platforms. Make sure to explore all the tools in the resources section related to people search. I have found that many career services professionals are not using these tools to help themselves be better "private investigators." If they can help you track down one person, it could make all the difference!
Robert Starks Jr.
The entire career services staff is on facebook, twitter, and linked in. We have been utilizing these social networks for quite some time. You are absolutely right about graduates not staying in touch, changing their phone numbers, not answering calls or returning calls but, have found that with facebook, twitter, etc. - we get an immediate response. We have found many graduates working with these options. We also text quite a bit and feel that this is also an immediate response. I do like the Tin eye.com, Pipl.com and KGBpeople.cm - I had never heard of these networks, so I will definitely bring that to the attention of the department.
Petra,
When you say your department uses social media to "keep up with graduates," can you elaborate on what you mean? What does "keep up" mean, how do you keep up, how does this strategy contribute to your goals and what made your department decide to incorporate social media as a tool to use? If your department has determined it is important to use as a tool, regardless of your personal use, how do you stay informed regarding social media trends and/or how do you intend to keep yourself educated?
Robert Starks Jr.
I am not really into social media, I have a Facebook account but I hardly use it. However our career service dept. utilizes, Facebook and Twitter to keep up with graduates.
Lynda,
Can you explain what you mean by social networking "comes and goes?" Let me share another perspective that might help reshape the way you look at "social media" and its impact on society. When we talk about social media, we are not talking about platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and the other usual brands the term "social media" typically conjures in peoples' heads. We are really talking about web-based tools that facilitates human interaction where Facebook, etc. are merely examples of such tools.
That being said, the way we interact changes everything from how we learn, how we get our news, how we shop, how our decisions are influenced, how we do business, how we collaborate, and even how we define "friend." It changes everything and there are serious implications in all aspects of life. When you think about platforms such as Facebook with over 1 billion people or LinkedIn with over 200 million and all the other forms of this new technology that has permeated society and is global - it has arguably become infrastructure and it will continue to evolve.
It requires an entirely new set of skills to navigate but before those skills can be developed - before we ever talk about how you specifically use a platform such as Facebook, there needs to be a change in mindset - in how we view "social media." Changing perspectives is one of the fundamental intended outcomes of this particular course - it is a necessary starting point to start talking about how to use this new infrastructure strategically to help us achieve goals. Understanding social media is a blend of understanding technology, sociology, and human interaction among many other things. Keep all of this in mind as it provides much needed context. I encourage you to ask many questions as needed to get as much out of this learning experience as possible. View the content in the course as merely a foundation to the discussions we should be having. If you need clarification on anything - don't hesitate to ask. This forum is actually an example of social media in action!
Robert Starks Jr.
