The World Is My Oyster...

At least until I graduate and my parents cut me off.

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99 Problems...

I am being a little over-dramatic with that one. But after three months on Tumblr, I have just realized something I should have known before even setting up this Tumblr page. Tumblr is not for text; it is for pictures and memes and other creative and visual stuff. 

My execution with this assignment was a little off, since I completely chose the wrong platform to start my written blog. Blogger or WordPress might have made a little more sense, but oh well, what's done is done. 

The past three months of experimentation have been pretty fun, but a little overwhelming since every time I reached out to a company through social media, I almost had a heart attack. But I will say, it did work... kind of... My interview with this firm in New York went smoothly, although I didn't end up getting the job, I wasn't shivering in my seat and incapable of speaking during the interview.. I also got contacts from the recruiters for other companies I should look into, so that's another plus! Practice makes perfect, hopefully my next interview will be the lucky one that gets me to the Queen! :) 

The next few months will be crucial for me, and integrating social media into my job search will be a million times more important... especially if I want to find a job across the pond, all the way over in London, UK.

If anyone has any tips, please please please share them! 

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Look studious to feel and be studious 👍 

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Only 25 more days until I see my silly and extremely handsome boo boo 😘❤

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Art Form of Social Media Creeping

Interview making you anxious? Nervous? Nauseous? All of the above? Yes, yes, yes, and yes. 

When I am in this hellish situation, I do a little bit of research (creeping, stalking.. take your pick). 

I am a naturally curious person. I always read a plot before I watch a movie, I sometimes read the ending before I start a book.. basically, I always do my research in all ambiguous situations. 

So whenever I have interviews, to ease my anxiety, I do research. I research the company, the position, the recruiters, and some people who already work for the company. And with the excellent tools available nowadays, before going into your interview, it'll be like talking to a friend!

Don't think this is one-sided, recruiters do their research as well. In fact, take a look at this very insightful infographic via Reppler:

So you might want to re-think posting that picture of you wasted, doing body-shots... awkward. 

But anyways, this is my two step process (judge all you want, but it definitely helps me with my interviews):

1) Get a better understanding of the company. For this I use Glassdoor, it provides reviews about interviews, organizational culture, etc. 

2) Once you've got a better look at the overall company, research your recruiters. I use LinkedIn first; see their past experiences and how it matches up to my own, look at their skills, how long they have worked at the company, etc. Then I use Twitter, at first, I totally felt like a creep, but I didn't go through pictures or anything... just got a sense of their personality. It definitely helped me figure out how to act and react during interviews.

PS. If you're still really curious.. use Facebook, it will probably provide the most personal information, but I think this crosses the line... a little bit... or not. Up to you!  

Like I said earlier, employers are doing this as well. Time to use social networks to your advantage. They may have called it stalking and creeping back then, but nowadays I call it research and preparation :) 

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The Power of Social Media

I am not going to lie, I was never really up-to-date with current events until the emergence of social media. The ability to get "in the know" through Twitter is amazing and has definitely increased my awareness about events around the world. 

But, now comes the scepticism, especially after Hurricane Sandy, it was glaringly bothersome. The concept of legitimacy. 

At first, there were EXTREME pictures and videos of the damage Sandy has done to New York that were circulating my feeds, and for the most part I believed what I was seeing (the fact that almost half of my feed were retweeting the same content, I thought "this has to be true"). So I passed along the same information, telling my parents and siblings, only to find out it was all fake! These pictures and videos were dramatized, as is usually the case, when they come from Hollywood films! 

Stumbling upon Facebook as well, people were circulating these pictures and there was an out roar and an extreme exaggeration of what has happened in New York. I am definitely not saying what happened has not been extremely detrimental to the various states and people affected, but these pictures were intense (hence why they fit perfectly in FICTIONAL movies). Yet again, I am not being insensitive or trying to lessen the damage done from Sandy, but come on.. in one picture, the only visible part of New York was the iconic Statue of Liberty! 

It completely boggles my mind, how fast things circulate in the social media world. It's great that more and more people have this tool to increase awareness, but it is also kind of scary when you don't actually know what is legitimate or not. Viral marketing can be great, but also scary when it may involve people you care about.

Don't get me wrong, I am extremely grateful for social media, but as Spiderman always said, "with great power, come great responsibility".  There are families and friends out there already in a panic over their loved ones residing in the east coast, they don't need these fake pictures circulating around making them even more anxious and worried. 

For the top seven fake pictures circulating the feeds, check it out here. 

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Getting comfortable for another long day 😩 #Grunge #LookingHomeless #StudyLife

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A Little Bit of This, A Little Bit of That.

In the past, for the social media platforms I had, all privacy settings were on, didn't ever use # or tags. Basically, I didn't want to be found by the public. It was a realm full of friends and personal relations and I suppose "acquaintances" (not going to lie, I talk to probably 10% of the "friends" I have on Facebook). 

But, since I decided to take Marketing & Social Networks as one of my electives this year, it made no sense to keep my privacy settings on since everything I learn wouldn't apply to me, well not really. I wouldn't be able to measure the new "best practices" I research to see if my following was growing. People wouldn't be able to find me, never mind follow me. 

Anyways, I'm about six weeks in my second last semester in university and I have implemented simple practices. So far I think it has worked? I am getting followers from industry people and others with common interests, which is pretty cool, right? 

So for Twitter, I started following some people my prof recommended. Of all the recommendations, I highly recommend @ThatEricAlper . He tweets mainly about music, but he also offers media job postings, tid bits about his life, and other random things. He's also sarcastic and subtly funny, that's always a plus. 

If you're interested in social media news, I would recommend @Mashable (obvious choice, I'm sure you are all following them already) and @NeilPatel. Neil Patel founded the blog QuickSprout and KISSMetrics; he was my saviour this past summer, as I had to learn best practices, SEO, anything marketing at my internship fast in a short amount of time. 

With fashion, @Fashionista_com, @VictoriaBeckham (obviously), and @KENTONmagazine are some of the few I follow; and some have surprisingly followed me back! 

Now for all things celebrity, @PerezHilton and @JustJared !! These are my two saving graces. I am obsessed with celebrity gossip and these keep me in the loop.

Anyways so what have I been doing differently? 

- Started posting relevant information about these industries (not as many "I am going to the gym" or "I am currently sitting down on Tumblr" kind of posts) 

- Started using "#" properly; in the past I would use ridiculous hash tags that no one would ever be using... counterproductive. 

- Started following key industry people and their followers as well

- I changed my BIO. I honestly feel that this may have been the biggest determinant to my recent increase in followers (if this is entirely wrong, let me know). I listed who I was and what I was interested in. Why do I think this works? Well, when you follow people, you usually look at who they follow as well. When I was finding interesting people to follow, I didn't have time to check each and every person's actual accounts. Instead I read their bios, if I was interested I went to the follow button beside their names and clicked. Simple as that. 

I don't know if these little changes are what caused it, but it seems to be working for me! I am getting about 2-3 new followers every few days. That sounds little, but ever since I started these new practices, I received about 30 followers who had common interests or whom I can benefit from in the future within a month and a half. I am definitely WAY MORE connected and knowledgeable to the industry I want to work for come June. 

Give it a try, let me know if it works or if I'm completely wrong. I'm writing this for a social media class, so obviously I am here to learn and hopefully become an expert in this emerging industry. 

[popculturebrain]

Pixar Launches Faux .Edu for ‘Monsters University’

[thispopculture]

There’s an admissions page.  Who’s joining us at monster college?

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Love this idea!

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Dinner is served 😍

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Happy Thanksgiving! Extremely thankful for these people and the fabulous family I was gifted with. ❤

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Woke up this morning after wearing these shoes last night feeling all kids of sore in my legs. I am definitely not cut out for these shoes or anything with a heel. Shout out to all the ladies out there who wear heels everyday, which I'm assuming are MUCH more uncomfortable and painful than these suckers.

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WORD. At least not for another ten... or twenty years. 

[haute2trot]

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Love. Love. Love. 

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London Street style, love the bag

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Absolutely love this. Need to find a cable-knit sweater pronto. 

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"What happens with people is they lose sight of who they are, and they become either who they want to be or who they are perceived to be. But whatever it is, it is no longer who they are."

Mila Kunis, Esquire Magazine

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Hope your Thanksgiving weekend is much more exciting than this. Times like this, I wish I was home with mi familia.

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Am I A Brand?

What do you think? Would you consider yourself a brand? ... Before you think it's super narcissistic for people to see themselves as a brand, think about it. 

We all wear certain clothes, choose specific foods, music, and movies to enjoy; they all usually have something in common. And even though you may not think it (and it might only account for <5% for your decision), most of us choose these things because we want to be perceived in a certain way. 

Not going to lie, at first I started listening to indie music because I didn't want to seem so 'mainstream'; thankfully it grew on me and now I am an advocate for MOST things indie. 

But that's what brands are all about, aren't they? The art of perception and deception. 

So now I ask, what percentage of our decisions come from how we really feel and want versus what we want to show, or maybe even prove to, other people? 

That's tough to answer. 

Another question, how much of our real personalities do we show future employers during interviews? Do we completely embody this brand we've put together our whole lives? Or do we tailor our brand to what the company is looking for? 

As a recruiter, with most people tailoring themselves during interviews, how easy (or hard) is it to filter through all the potential candidates and cut through the 'noise'? 

With interviews coming along, it would be pretty darn convenient to know how a recruiter thinks, filters, and decides. Don't you think?