Sarah Fudin currently works in community relations for the University of Southern California’s Master of Arts in Teaching program, which provides aspiring teachers the opportunity to earn a MAT degree and teacher certification online.  Outside of work Sarah enjoys running, reading and Pinkberry frozen yogurt.

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Applying to college and looking for a job are not as straightforward as they once were. Individuals, schools and companies all have a presence on social media, which means more information is available to everyone. All of this additional information is incredibly valuable to job seekers and college applicants, but also poses its own set of challenges around applicants’ privacy and what they make available to those evaluating them.

For high school students applying to college, social media can be a tremendous resource. Most colleges maintain Facebook pages, Twitter feeds and blogs that prospective students can follow to gain a different perspective on a school. These constantly updated resources provide a glimpse into daily life at a college that you would not find in normal admissions materials. In addition to each university’s own resources, sites like Zinch help high school students connect with admissions offices and scholarships, and make the process more personal.

Beyond research, social media can be a great way to make your college application shine. One expert recommends making a brief video explaining why you want to go to a particular school, uploading it to YouTube and linking to it on your application as a way to make yourself stand out. Tufts University even added video submissions to their application recently. If you want to show that you have a strong interest in a certain area, consider starting a blog to showcase not only your passion but your writing skills and including a link to it on your application.

Social media is useful in similar ways during a job search, and using these tools as ways to engage with possible employers is even more important. The first step is creating a LinkedIn profile and filling it out, but savvy social media users can put Twitter, Facebook and blogs to use, too. Both Twitter and Facebook are useful for reaching a wide audience, beginning with notifying your friends and acquaintances that you are looking for a job, which might produce leads or referrals. Tools like In The Door and BranchOut work on top of Facebook to help job seekers find open positions and connect with those opportunities through existing relationships.

Twitter is also useful in a job search as a research tool, a way to build a personal brand and to connect with people at companies you are interested in applying to. It is easy to establish your area of expertise by posting relevant links to articles and engaging with others by responding to their tweets. You can find jobs posted on Twitter by searching hash tags like #jobsearch or #accountingjobs, depending on what you are interested in. Building a following and demonstrating your passion for a field will also help, as employers usually check applicants’ social media presences during the hiring process.

While social media has many positives, it can also adversely affect applicants’ chances when applying to college or jobs. Many admissions officers and hiring managers will search your name on Google as well as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and elsewhere, so it is critical to recognize someone is likely to see whatever information you post publicly online. Knowing this, take care to adjust privacy settings on your social media profiles to restrict what public users can see and think about how you want others to perceive you before writing a post or uploading a photo. Taking simple steps to craft and protect your online presence will insure that social media helps you get into college and land a job, rather than keeping you out of school and out of work.

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Erica is a Journalism student at Emory University. She is the Co-Founder/Co-Editor-in-Chief of the Emory branch of HerCampus.com, a national magazine for college women. She loves to write and is passionate about all things related to the media–her life-long interest. Her motivation and enthusiasm has landed her at BizBash Media in New York City, where she is serving as an Editorial Intern before heading back to Atlanta for her junior year.

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Internship—the word that haunts so many college (and even high school) students. Each summer, we all scramble to find an internship that will either pay and look good on a resume, or will fulfill requirements through course-credits and look good on a resume. However, the internship world is not always fun and games.

In her new ebook, Lies, Damned Lies & Internships, Heather R. Huhman explores the current state of the internship world, from the connotations of the word and horror stories to the laws surrounding internships—this book covers it all. Five-time intern and devoted intern advocate, Huhman presents all sides of the issues surrounding internships today. Continue Reading »

Erica is a Journalism student at Emory University. She is the Co-Founder/Co-Editor-in-Chief of the Emory branch of HerCampus.com, a national magazine for college women. She loves to write and is passionate about all things related to the media–her life-long interest. Her motivation and enthusiasm has landed her at BizBash Media in New York City, where she is serving as an Editorial Intern before heading back to Atlanta for her junior year.

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If the hiring director at your dream company were to search your name on Google,  what would they discover? Would they uncover some questionable pictures of you on Facebook out at a chic club? Or maybe an inappropriate comment you posted on a friend’s wall years ago? Perhaps they would come across information about other people with a similar name, or worse—find nothing to suggest that you’re even a real person.

I decided it was time to check out what my possible employers were finding out about me on Google. I opened up my browser, went to the search engine, and just typed in my name. Simple enough, right? Continue Reading »

Recently I read a LinkedIn article for small business owners that stated, “You should think of your profile as an online resume.”  I could not disagree more. And, when you are done reading this article, let me know what you think!

Now, while you think whether or not your LinkedIn profile should be regarded as a resume, let me ask you: When was the last time you read an interesting and intriguing resume?

Most resumes tend to be boring and bland.  Now, how is this going to help you attract viewers and prospects?  Simple, it can’t.

As a small business owner or a business development executive, you have to start thinking of your profile as a marketing tool and not a resume.  Since you have to change your mindset about this, I have developed six distinct reasons why your profile should not look like a resume.

Why You Should Not Think of Your LinkedIn Profile as Your Resume

Reason #1:  A resume is not personal enough.

The goal of LinkedIn is to connect with people and build relationships. The only way you will connect with prospects is to personalize your profile.  To do this you need to tell stories and share information that gives a better scope of:

• Who you are.
• What makes you tick.
• How you can help the prospect.
• What new and exciting information you have to offer them.

Continue Reading »

This blog post was submitted by Keith Petri, eBranding Me’s Founder/CEO. Keith is a graduate of Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, NY and Digital & Social Media Strategist at CNSLT.us. His studies in business, economics and studio art along with strong passions for marketing, technology and entrepreneurship led him to his current passion for social media and strong understanding of the new rules of networking. Through his prior entrepreneurial pursuits, recent blogging and extensive networking, Keith has seen the need for educating his peers on creating a positive online presence. eBranding Me is the culmination of his efforts.

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Many people exchange business cards and the majority of them end up in a desk drawer. Last week, during a conversation with Matt Bernstein, a fellow Skidmore graduate and the President of Pair of Shoes Digital Marketing, we briefly touched on the informal exchange of business cards at networking events. As the discussion continued we concluded, “connecting on LinkedIn is like trading business cards”. It doesn’t mean a personal relationship was made unless each party consciously decides to make an effort to continue the conversation.

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