Michael M. McEvoy

Michael M. McEvoysOnline Networking andExperiences AwardPresentation

Hi, my name is Michael McEvoy and I would like to tell you some of the things that Ive learned and some of the skills Ive developed during the Online Networking Award and how I am applying this to meet my career objectives.

My use of online media at the beginning of the courseIve been very active on LinkedIn for over 7 years now and have over 500 contacts, Im adding new connections and write and receive recommendations all the time; Ive joined lots of groups that Im interested in and try to be helpful to my fellow group members; I think LinkedIn is an excellent tool for professional social media networking I used to use Facebook to stay in touch with my family overseas but some of the people that I was connected to were posting things that I did not want to have associated with me so now I keep a very low profile on FacebookI opened a Twitter account to help me with my research while I was writing my dissertation but I really didnt use it for any other purposes I have a Google + account that has my profile on itGiven my current type of employment, Ive worked hard at keeping a minimalist digital footprint

My use of online media at the end of the courseIve learned lots of new ways in which social media can be used for employability purposes which I got to practice through activities, discussions with my course mates about topics we were learning about in our e-workshops, as well as through our assignments. For example, I learned about some social networking tools that I was not aware of, let alone using, such as RSS Feeds and social bookmarking, which would have come in handy while I was writing my dissertation, had I have known about them One of the most useful exercises that we did was the critical reflection on some of my skills that Ive developed and how I can use these to further my career aspirationsI learned how to promote myself online and stay connected, but I need to practice this better in order to keep my digital footprint up to dateIm more connected to organisations that Im interested in, thanks to our course activities

Reflection on my personal brandThe ONE programme has helped me to better understand who I am and what I want to achieve through the activities we engaged in, the discussions we had and the assignments we needed to completeIve learned to hone in on skills which I possess that help me stand out and also help others to remember me better through activities that I participated in and assignments I completed during the Online Networking Award

Do I think that I am now projecting the image online that I want employers to see

I have a clean, clear, minimalist blog which projects a professional imageIm beginning to build an online portfolio that highlights my skills and experiences and reflects upon my personal development but Im not yet projecting the image online that I want employers to see, and indeed, that employers would like to see, as it isnt that prolific and doesnt include that much about me yet I dont think that using social media just for the sake of staying current serves me well in my current profession, and with the exception of LinkedIn, I have tried to keep a low social media profile as having personal information out there about me could compromise the safety and security of the people, places and things that I am charged with protecting. My current and future employers would likely consider finding certain types of information about me in social media a breach of the trust that they place in me professionally I will continue to build my online portfolio as I have experiences and develop skills that I can share with others that wont compromise the safety and security Im entrusted with

Reflection on my peer feedbackMy peer feedback buddy provided some helpful practical tips, such as increasing my font size and breaking my blog into shorter sentences and paragraphs in order to make it more visually appealing to my readersMy buddy thought that I was projecting a professional image and that after reading my blogs, employers would want to get to know more about me and my skillsetMy associate tutor suggested that I incorporate more exact details such as numbers, days, etc. which I will try to incorporate in future

Reflection on my personal brand grid

I think that having participated in the ONE programme has helped me enhance my ability to communicate better as it has increased my awareness of communicating through social media and how to communicate well utilizing social mediaI think that having participated in the ONE programme has also helped me enhance my ability to conduct research more effectively with tools such as social bookmarking, as online research becomes the norm more and more, at least for preliminary researchThe new things that Ive learned and the new skills that Ive developed through the ONE programme has helped me grow and develop and shown that I am adaptable to change, always willing to enhance my skillset; Ive definitely been able to improve my digital skills as Ive increased my ability with using a range of online resources in order to support my work and improve the presentation of my work

Reflection of how my personal development and career plans have grown through the ONE programmeThrough the ONE programme Ive learned lots of new ways in which social media can be used for employability purposesMore importantly, the activities, discussions and assignments we engaged in caused me to think about the skills I possess and how I can better present them to others through social media in order to further my career aspirations and then do so through social mediaThrough the ONE programme, I learned how to promote myself better online and how to get better connected, and as a result I have forged new connections with potential new employers that I might not otherwise have engaged in, and in a manner that might get me noticed, in a good way

Evaluation of how my personal development and career plans have grown through the ONE programmeBased on my current profession, I dont think that I was fully able to participate in all of the activities so I dont think that my personal development and career plans have grown as much as they might have grown through the ONE programme, however, the good thing is that I can continue to expand and revisit what I did learn and continue to grow as my circumstances change in the future

How my online presence will help me meet my goals and objectivesthe things that Ive learned and some of the skills that Ive developed during the Online Networking Award will help me to develop my online presence for my long term goals and objectives such as my retirement job as a commercial building inspector

What I will do next to develop my online presence I will continue to build up my online portfolio as I build new skills and have new experiences that can round out my online imageI will continue to build my social media skillset by using social media to pursue my personal interests, as for example, I can see seeking out advice from fellow SCUBA divers on locations where I have not dived as yet or offering tips on places Ive dived to others who would like to dive there; keeping track of my research on different dive locations with tags and social bookmarking in order to help me plan my next trip; tweeting about an awesome experience when I come up from a dive; posting pictures on Facebook or blogging about an underwater adventure that future employers could then view to get a better picture of the whole me I can see utilizing the things that I learned and the skills that I developed through the ONE programme helping me more with long term future career aspirations, such as my ability to enhance my online presence in order to promote myself and my future self-employed small business that will help with search engine optimisation through the use of keywords or tagging/labelling, or effectively networking with customers and potential customers

I hope that this presentation was able to show you some of the things that Ive learned and some of the skills that Ive developed during the Online Networking Award and how I am applying these to meet my career objectives. Thank you very much for listening to me.