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

__________

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.

__________

Want to have your voice heard online? Guest Blog with eBranding Me: Click Here

Receive The Latest Posts Directly To Your Email – It’s Free:

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

__________

Word-of-mouth used to be the primary way that a business’s or individual’s reputation could be enhanced or damaged. But with the growth of social media, like Facebook, YouTube, Google+ and Twitter, almost anyone has the power to affect the reputation of even the largest companies.

A recent case in point was Bank Transfer Day, which began on September 29, 2011 with Bank of America’s announcement of a new $5 monthly debit-card fee. This prompted Kristen Christian, a 27-year-old art gallery owner from Los Angeles, to log on to Facebook and share an idea with friends: Let’s all withdraw our money from big banks and open new accounts with credit unions and smaller community banks. She even suggested a date: November 5. Next she created a Facebook event page for Bank Transfer Day. Within a month more than 80,000 people had RSVPd.

According to The Christian Science Monitor, approximately $4.5 billion was transferred from big banks to smaller institutions on or before Bank Transfer Day. This amount may be just a drop in the bucket compared to the total assets of the nation’s largest banks, but as a symbolic protest, the impact of Bank Transfer Day was immeasurable. Bank of America has dropped all plans to charge customers for using their debit cards and other banks, like Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase, have followed suit.

Netflix is another company that recently paid the price for ignoring the power of social media. The company announced its decision to form a new entity called Qwikster, effectively splitting the business in two. Customers would have to join both Netflix and Qwikster and pay nearly double in fees for the same services they were already receiving from Netflix alone. Unfortunately, Netflix seemed to have underestimated the impact of this change on customers as well as neglected to trademark the name Qwikster or check on who owned the Twitter handle. It turns a college student named Jason Castillo already was Tweeting under the name Qwikster and refused to give up the moniker.

Netflix was soon dealing with customer uproar over an increase in fees as well as lack of control over the name Qwikster. Within a few weeks, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings announced in a blog post that plans for Qwikster had been scrapped. The Huffington Post reports that more than 27,000 people commented on Hasting’s post, leaving disgruntled responses like, “Splitting Netflix in two so that you have Netflix and Qwikster is the worst business decision since New Coke.”

What can members of Generation Y take away from these examples? Simply that social media can be a power for either good or evil when it comes to reputation. When using social media channels, companies need to focus on creating two-way conversations with their customers. Using it as an avenue for electronic press release to announce changes that customers will perceive as negative introduces the risk of a very public backlash. In the future, the social media winners will be companies that maximize the opportunity for opening up a dialogue with customers before making controversial changes. Read more suggestions about the effective use of social media in business on SocialMediaToday.com.

On a personal level, social media can incredibly useful for building networks of friends and professional contacts, but when misused it can damage a reputation in ways that are hard to undo. College admissions offices and employers have started to research candidates by performing Google searches and visiting sites like Facebook and MySpace. Reputation.com, a leading online reputation management company, states that 70 percent of people responsible for hiring in the U.S. have rejected a candidate due to something found online. Guarding your online reputation and keeping  your online image clean can make all the difference in the world when it comes to getting into the college of your choice or landing your dream job.

__________

Want to have your voice heard online? Guest Blog with eBranding Me: Click Here

Receive The Latest Posts Directly To Your Email – It’s Free:

__________

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.

The ebook begins by examining recent controversies about internships—unpaid internships, companies that set you up with an internship for a price, and using interns as replacement employees, just to name a few. Each of these issues seems to be a sensible result of the state of the economy and the competitive nature of our nation’s education system.

Huhman goes on to speak about the importance of internships and how useful they are as a stepping-stone to a career. While she continues to point out the downfalls of the current state of internships, she also offers a solution to the problem presented.

I could sit here and go through each section of the publication, but I truly believe that this is one everyone should read for themselves. I finished this book feeling very empowered and in-charge—a feeling that I did not expect. As someone who is currently involved in her fifth internship, I found Huhman’s message to be inspiring.

True to her intern-advocate-self, Huhman’s main point (or what I understood it to be at least) is that interns are really in control. No one forces you to take an unpaid internship, and if you do take one, you can take a part-time job on the side. If you’re being mistreated at your internship, you can speak up for yourself—there are laws protecting your rights. Your internship is what you make it.

__________

Want to have your voice heard online? Guest Blog with eBranding Me: Click Here

Receive The Latest Posts Directly To Your Email – It’s Free:

__________

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? Well, I was less than satisfied about the results. Among other things, the first page of results included:

1. My twitter page – okay, fine, totally acceptable.
2. A Facebook group dedicated to the two years I spent on crutches, that I am no longer a member of – definitely not ideal, but I guess there could be worse results.
3. Two Facebook profiles for “Erica Petri,” neither of which are actually me – this is certainly not something I want possible employers to see or to associate with my name.
4. A list of the articles I have written for HerCampus.com, a national website for which I founded the Emory branch of, and serve as the Editor-in-Chief – definitely something I want my prospective employers to see—I just wish this came before the Facebook group and the misleading Facebook profiles.
5. A YouTube video of an Erica Petri singing a Spanish song – I’ve always wanted to be able to sing, but it’s just not a talent of mine. And I definitely cannot sing in Spanish.
6. A LinkedIn profile for the wrong Erica Petri – come on, at least show a list of the other Erica Petri’s on LinkedIn.
7. My blog that I have yet to start writing for – I should definitely do that soon.

The possibilities of what they could find are endless, and in today’s world, the unverified and elusive information on the Internet poses a huge problem to job seekers. A 2009 study conducted by CareerBuilders.com indicated that “45 percent of employers questioned are using social media networks to screen job candidates” (source). In addition, 35 percent of employers did NOT make a job offer due to the content they discovered on a social networking site. This is where Vizibility comes in, the world’s first SearchMe button for Google.

Vizibility helps individuals distinguish and highlight themselves online by creating the most precise personal search results. Vizibility allows users to pre-select the information shown in search results. The user can then post their SearchMe Button on a variety of personal profiles and social networking sites, thus directing possible employers to the information that they chose to be displayed.

Based on the mediocre results my name produces in a Google search, I decided to try Vizibility for myself. I was pleasantly surprised with how easy the site is to use, and the control they give you in choosing your search results. You can even choose your top five favorites and arrange them in the order you want them to appear.

Now, when possible employers click on my “SearchMe” link, it directs them to my top five results I chose through Vizibility—the Her Campus Emory home page, the correct Erica Petri’s LinkedIn, my twitter, an article in the Emory Wheel about Her Campus Emory, and all of my articles on HerCampus.com. These results are a major improvement over the originals.

In this day and age, it is crucial to have a positive online presence—and to be easily found through search engines. Vizibility can help you distinguish yourself online. For more information on Vizibility and an interview with the founder and CEO of the company, click here.

__________

Want to have your voice heard online? Guest Blog with eBranding Me: Click Here

Receive The Latest Posts Directly To Your Email – It’s Free:

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.

Make viewers want to learn more about what you and your business can do for them.   Be creative and use all the applications that LinkedIn provides you can show videos, presentations and documents.

Reason #2: Remember LinkedIn is a social human network.

Most resumes lack that human touch that LinkedIn can provide if used correctly.  You need to make your profile interesting and enjoyable to read.  You have to keep in mind that if you want others to read it, you should want to read it too.  Here is an excerpt of my summary to give you an idea of what I mean.
With over 80 million professional members in over 200 countries, LinkedIn offers small business owners and internet marketer’s unlimited opportunities to build, and nourish profitable relationships online.

However, out of the 80+ million people on LinkedIn, only a FEW successful companies and internet marketers are using LinkedIn to its’ fullest profit-making potential.

Do you want to know some of my top secrets on how to get more business using LinkedIn? As a Social Media Expert (not a self-proclaimed expert, the New York Times called me that) who specializes in LinkedIn, I’ve uncovered…”14 Underground Secrets to Making Money And Taking Complete and Total Control Of Your Industry and Niche on LinkedIn” Here I reveal mistakes that other LinkedIn experts are even making.

Reason #3: The goal of LinkedIn profile is to get people to connect with you so that you can funnel them back to your website.

Your profile is a way to tell prospects what you and your business can do for them. Your LinkedIn profile allows you to show the different areas of your business and then lead prospects to the appropriate webpage to get even more information. The goal of a resume however, is to list accomplishments, achievements and jobs held. It simply lists your job descriptions, past and present.  A resume does not mention the kind of person you are and why someone should connect with you. And, a resume doesn’t allow you to focus on the here and now and what you can provide your potential clients today like your LinkedIn profile should.

Reason #4: Resumes are usually limited to 1-2 pages while a LinkedIn profile is not.

While it’s usually not a good idea to submit a resume that is more than 2 pages long, you don’t have that kind of restriction with an online profile.  You can include more information, more details, more accomplishments, more strengths and more keywords.  The more information you include the more credibility you will gain, the more connected to your prospects you will become. Once you gain their trust, it will become much easier to sell your products, services or even the idea of joint venture relationship.

Reason #5: A LinkedIn profile enables you to brand yourself much better and much easier than a resume ever could.

Everything from yourself, your company to your products and services can be branded on your profile.  For example, if you are the best at selling widgets, then make sure your profile clearly articulates that – and reinforce your brand throughout the profile. LinkedIn recently added some new sections that will further enhance your ability to sell yourself to potential clients. What resume will allow you to include postings about your publications, certifications or skills.  Those sections usually get edited out due to space.

Now, do you think of your LinkedIn profile as your online resume?

Do you now realize the marketing potential LinkedIn gives you – if only you’d change your mindset?

Great! Now, I invite you to check out what other LinkedIn marketing mistakes you are making and opportunities you are missing. Grab my free special report at: http://www.GetLinkedInHelp.com

About the Author:

LinkedIn Marketing Expert Kristina Jaramillo creates online marketplace opportunities for small business owners who want more website traffic, prospects and profits. Now, with her free special report, you can uncover how you can become “the trusted source for your industry on LinkedIn” fast plus learn how to avoid the top 14 mistakes. Get this information for free at: http://www.GetLinkedInHelp.com

__________

Want to have your voice heard online? Guest Blog with eBranding Me: Click Here

Receive The Latest Posts Directly To Your Email – It’s Free: