Improving Employability through Improving Employability through Social MediaSocial Media

Creating a Professional Online IdentityCreating a Professional Online Identity

(presentation for Solent’s Careers and Employability team)(presentation for Solent’s Careers and Employability team)

Inspired by Sue BeckinghamInspired by Sue Beckingham

Why use Social Media?Why use Social Media?

• Social media is an umbrella term for tools that support communication in an online community

• If you ‘Googled’ your name what would come up first?

• What would you want potential employers to see?

• Social media can be used to give you a voice and create a ‘brand’ (@suebecks)

Google yourself:Google yourself:

Create a simple Google+ account:

This will appear at the TOP of any Google search

What would come up if you ‘Googled’ your name?

Get blogging!Get blogging!

• Wordpress/Blogger/Tumblr

• Free platforms

• Use it to write about an area you’re interested in

• People with a similar interest will respond with comments or further questions

Get tweeting!Get tweeting!• Place to share your blog posts,

videos, photos and ‘retweet’ other people’s interesting tweets

• Place to develop your PLN – your Personal Learning Network

• You must decide whether it’s an ‘all-round’ twitter account or just for a specialist interest

• Hash tags can be useful!

• Specific job seekers sites available too!

http://edudemic.com/2010/06/the-ultimate-twitter-guidebook/

Get LinkedIn!Get LinkedIn!

• Business focussed social network

• Up-to-date CV

• Collect references and recommendations

Share your workShare your work

• YouTube/VimeoVideo/Animation/Music

Share your workShare your work

• YouTube/VimeoVideo/Animation/Music

• FlickrPhotos/drawings

Share your workShare your work

• YouTube/VimeoVideo/Animation/Music

• FlickrPhotos/drawings

• SlidesharePresentations

Share your workShare your work

• YouTube/VimeoVideo/Animation/Music

• FlickrPhotos/drawings

• SlidesharePresentations

• MyPortfolio (Mahara)Work experience and examples

Create a universal ‘about me’ page:Create a universal ‘about me’ page:

Facebook can be used too…Facebook can be used too…

Use facebook (but ‘lock down’ your profile!)Use facebook (but ‘lock down’ your profile!)

• Some unis will have pages to push out jobs and advertise workshops (can be linked to Twitter too!)

Use facebook (but ‘lock down’ your profile!)Use facebook (but ‘lock down’ your profile!)

• Some employers will have pages to advertise their own jobs!

Use facebook (but ‘lock down’ your profile!)Use facebook (but ‘lock down’ your profile!)

• Great start – but what’s happened to it?

• No activity since May 2010!

Considerations:Considerations:

• Identity theft• Personal opinions• Spelling/grammar• Defamation• Colourful language• Content ownership• Takes time to build up

your PLN

Find me:

• Email: Samantha.Moss@solent.ac.uk

• Homepage: http://about.me/samwise

• Twitter: @samwisemoss

Yes I am mad!