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Interviewing at BU

A lot of people come to college to increase their chances of finding a job and pursuing a career.  College offers a real benefit of higher education.  As a business student, I have been able to take a wide variety of different classes encompassing many different subtopics of business.  I feel that sometimes, however, college misses the hands on experiences that their students need to enter the working world. At Bloomsburg University (an ASCSB accredited school) we have little to no hands on interviewing practice.  We are offered resume building activities within the classes and chances to improve our abilities as potential job candidates. In any class I’ve ever taken here though I have never really received any interviewing practice. Students in the college of business are always looking for business electives to take.  There should definitely be a class or two on interviewing. This sort of class would be so beneficial to many students.  Even students who are not business majors could benefit from a class like this.  It could help teach students what to do and what not to do when they are interviewed.  It could include mock interviews and really help students improve on their ability to interview strongly.  I think it would be a very popular class to take not only for business majors but all majors. Everyone will go through the interviewing processes. If the university offered this kind of class it would only help students more than some of the other classes they are taking as electives.  Bloomsburg University should definitely consider offering interviewing classes as they could teach students the ways of successfully answering questions and they would provide students with the basic tools and understanding of how the process should be attacked.

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Facebook and its impact in the professional work place

While Facebook is a household name now, 90% of the people I know have an account.  It reached over a billion users in 2012 and continues to grow.  A lot of information about a person can be discovered through their Facebook.  More so then other social media accounts as it can provide more than just education and working experience like Linkedin.  It also can provide a viewer with an individual’s personal interests and everyday hobbies.  Now how does this all tie into the workplace?  Now, employers can use Facebook as a tool to eliminate resumes and narrow their candidates. They can also use it as a tool to approve potential candidates and schedule interviews.  More than likely they will look to see if there is anything on their Facebook profile that would portray potential candidate in a negative light to cut down on the amount of people that could possibly be hired.  So many people apply for jobs as they have stacks of resumes and applications.  I’ve heard that companies may even send somebody to look at your car while you are being interviewed to see how well you keep it.  It can be considered a reflection upon the individual.  If there car is messy then they can assume that is okay with the individual.  Employers have almost as much difficulty if not the same amount as the interviewees on deciding who the “right” fit is for the job.  Facebook can give the employer a feeling of what the person is like outside of work.  This includes their true personality and the true way they act.  That is why it is strongly encouraged that college students and people looking for jobs should keep their Facebook profile clean of any incriminating photos of them such as pictures of partying or drinking.  Job candidates should refrain from using offensive language in their Facebook posts as well.  These guidelines should be followed even after the candidate receives the job.  Employers may still look at things like this.  Facebook can also be a big distraction for people in the workplace as they are constantly tempted to check it.  As with all things it should be used in moderation.  So make sure you are marketing yourself properly on Facebook.

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Linkedin

Linkedin provides the public with a place to make themselves look professional and list all of their achievements and accolades that would be considered important in the eyes of other professionals.  Marketers can take advantage of this as there are many professionals on Linkedin potentially looking to do business or trying to find out more about a specific product or company.  Maybe they want to figure out what a certain company is all about.  This gives marketers a chance to really make their product, service, or company stand out above the rest.  The people with profiles on Linkedin are marketing themselves to job recruiters and the people who do interviews.  It is a very good idea for especially college students or anyone looking for a job to make sure that they have a professional and complete Linkedin profile.  Having a strong Linkedin profile would include listing all important experiences (whether they be jobs, volunteering, or anything that would be value adding to a professional career), education, certifications, awards, and being a member of a team.  One of the most important things I think Linkedin has is the summary.  This is the first thing that is read when one visits a profile.  It is crucial to have a strong summary that is attention grabbing and boosts one’s image to the viewers.  It also needs to be free of any grammatical errors and spelling errors.  I have worked very hard on creating my summary and hope that it helps my profile really get noticed and stand out above others. On Linkedin, people are really marketing themselves and need to be sure they are aware of this.  Today, I believe Linkedin is very important and everyone above the age of 18 should have one.  It has gained massive popularity in businesses and I have been hearing a lot that businesses have been using it to check out potential hires.  Do yourself a favor and make a Linkedin profile if you haven’t.

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Twitter

Twitter provides a cheap, solid way to spread the word about anything.  It also requires the user to be to the point as posts are limited to 140 characters.  This makes it a quick read for anyone and within five seconds, they know exactly what they are looking at and reading about.  They’ve understood the full message in five seconds.  Twitter is important to marketers because it is a popular social media tool that allows them to reach a large number of people.  Sometimes even I use twitter to easily find out deals that are going on at places that I like to shop.  Marketers use twitter in a way that is quick, concise, and to the point which helps them get attention and sound attractive at the same time in just those 140 characters allowed.  Those who use twitter should learn who to follow and why they’re beneficial to follow.  I think everyone should follow their favorite companies, celebrities, sports teams, friends, family, and anything or anyone else that interests them.  I personally find twitter the most useful for following famous people and athletes because I receive their actual thoughts on subjects through their very own tweets.  The search engine on Twitter makes it hassle free to follow pretty much any celebrity or company.  It finds them near instantly just by typing in their name.  It is however sometimes tricky to find friends or family.  I think companies, old and new, should do a mass following of regular people/users to really get their name out there and hopefully those that they follow, end up following them back which would continue their ability to market to these users. #Twitter #E-Marketing