NASA
Cosimo Galluzzi
izzy's playlists!
No title available
Mike Driver
đŞź
$LAYYYTER
#extradirty
Kiana Khansmith
official daine visual archive
Aqua Utopiaď˝ćľˇăŽĺşă§č¨ćśăç´Ąă
â
ojovivo
Discoholic đŞŠ
Keni
JVL
"I'm Dorothy Gale from Kansas"
tannertan36
almost home
let's talk about Bridgerton tea, my ask is open
seen from Brazil
seen from India
seen from Japan
seen from France
seen from Thailand
seen from India
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from TĂźrkiye
seen from Uzbekistan
seen from Germany
seen from Armenia
seen from Germany
seen from United States
seen from Ghana
seen from Pakistan
seen from TĂźrkiye
seen from Philippines
seen from Tunisia
seen from France
@seventhingscareers
Social Media for Learning in Higher Education Conference
We are looking forward to sharing our experience of working on this project at the Social Media for Learning in Higher Education Conference at Sheffield Hallam University on December 18th.
Seven Things - End of Programme
So youâve completed Seven Things for Careers, congratulations! We hope youâve enjoyed learning about new tools that you can use both with students and for your own professional development. This blog will be here permanently for you to refer back to and complete the Things if youâve missed any of them or just need a reminder. If youâve completed the whole programme and would like a fancy certificate to show off to your colleagues, please let Michelle or Kelly know. It may be the end of the programme, but itâs not the end of your exploration of new technologies! Please continue to contribute to the LinkedIn group, keep thinking about how we can use social media and new technologies to connect with students, and sharing links, new websites and ways of thinking. To start you off weâve compiled a bunch of links related to the programme on our SHU Careers Diigo group. If youâd like to try your hand at social bookmarking, join Diigo and the group, and start adding to the links. Finally, please complete the survey we have sent out so we can assess the effectiveness of the programme. Thanks, Michelle and Kelly
Thing 7 - Networking
This Thing brings together the strands of the programme, thinking about online networking and how that is linked with âreal lifeâ networking. The Seven Things programme has talked a lot about social networks - Twitter, LinkedIn, SlideShare, etc. But how do these online networks translate into real life interactions and vice versa? The two are complementary - for example you can follow up a face-to-face meeting by connecting with someone on LinkedIn, which helps to keep you in touch with that person and see what they are up to. Michelle did this after attending some conferences this summer. Itâs sometimes also easier to approach someone at a networking event or conference if you already âknowâ them online. Interacting with people on Twitter will give you a way to break the ice - either by mentioning something the person has tweeted about or saying you follow them on Twitter. Networking is a relationship activity - itâs about making connections, learning new things and sharing ideas and information. An example of this in the library and information sector is Library Camp. Library Camp is an unconference, where LIS workers come together and talk about library issues. Many of the participants already know each other from Twitter and other online and real life networks, but itâs also an opportunity to connect with new people. Professional organisations are also networks. AGCAS is the main one for careers services. If thereâs not a network near you or one you feel comfortable in, why not set up your own? Why is it useful for a careers professional? Networking forms a key part of our roles. Whether it is meeting employers at briefing session, chatting with fellow careers staff from other institutions at an AGCAS conference or sharing information with colleagues from other teams within SHU, networking helps us to share best practice and keep our knowledge up to date, enabling us to provide the best possible service to students. Online networking activities can complement real life networking activities, too. As we discussed in Thing 4, LinkedIn is a great place to keep in contact with graduate recruiters. If you meet a recruiter at a real life event, you could follow this up by connecting with them on LinkedIn. Similarly, if you would like the support of careers professionals across the UK, why not join one of the AGCAS LinkedIn groups? Itâs a great way of sharing information, ideas and useful links. You may already subscribe to AGCAS emails but if youâve not joined their LinkedIn groups yet, you may be surprised at what additional information youâve been missing out on. If youâre interested in sharing ideas and information with your colleagues within SHU, then you could join SHUâs Yammer network. This is a private network for SHU staff. There are currently several interest groups on SHUâs Yammer, these include: Student and Learning Services, Digital Literacy, ACES and SBS. Yammer has great potential for being a space where we can share useful links and information. To find out more about Yammer, speak to Dave, Michelle or Kelly and we can send you an invite. Employability benefits for students Bringing together online and in-person networking can have huge benefits for students. One is informational interviewing - students can find and connect with someone online, before asking them to talk further with them about their job and company. Itâs a different approach from the traditional method. This might be particularly effective using LinkedIn - connecting with people using groups before moving into a real life situation. Students can also gain industry knowledge through developing their contacts. Developing a wide range of people who know your skills and experience means itâs more likely that someone will recommend you for work, work experience, speaking opportunities and collaborative projects. Joining professional bodies is a good way of getting networking experience. They will run conferences and events and likely have an online presence too. You can also give back to the profession by sitting on committees and volunteering to help out - whilst at the same time meeting new people and expanding your network! This can help show skills as well - being a committee treasurer can show budgeting experience, for example. Another place to look is alumni networks. SHU has a LinkedIn group for alumni. Joining a group like this means you automatically have something in common - you studied at the same place and can share experiences. Alumni networks can be a safe place to try out networking skills. Finally, if you canât find a local network that you want to join, why not set up your own? This will enable you to meet new, like-minded people as well as learning new skills like event management. Michelle set up LIKE North with some other librarians as they felt there werenât enough professional development opportunities in the north for LIS professionals. Task 1: Identify networks your students might be able to get involved in. These could be virtual, real life or a mix of both. Task 2: A student comes to you for advice on how to follow up with someone they have met at a real life networking event. How would you advise them? Further reading Social networking in Plain English - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6a_KF7TYKVc Networking for introverts - http://www.joeyanne.co.uk/2011/05/20/networking-for-introverts 24 networking tips that actually work - http://passivepanda.com/networking-tips Networking in the creative industries: http://www.creativeskillset.org/careers/networking/index_1.asp Networking: A 10 Minute Guide - podcast from the The Careers Group, University of London http://www.careers.lon.ac.uk/podcasts/networkingin10.mp3 (available under Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-No Derivative Works 2.0 UK: England & Wales License.) Networking skills video from Career Player - http://www.careerplayer.com/tips-and-advice/general-advice/its-not-what-you-know
Guardian Careers Q&A: Managing your online reputation
Guardian Careers is doing a live Q&A this afternoon on managing your online reputation. It's from 1pm-3pm, but you can read comments after it's finished also. Here's their description: if you're concerned and would like some further information on how your digital footprint can boost not detriment your professional life, join our live Q&A on Thursday 20 September from 1pm to 3pm. We'll have a panel of experts ready to take your questions and discuss how you can make social media work in your favour. And the link to the Q&A.
Thing 6 - Screencasts
In this âthingâ weâll be looking at screencasts and thinking about ways that we can use screencasts to engage with students. You may already be familiar with something called screen capture, or screenshot or seen examples of it. A screen capture is basically when you take an image of what is on your monitor screen. For example, you might have seen screen capture on handouts or emails that youâve received showing you how to access particular databases here at SHU. Screencasts are a similar idea but instead of static images, think of it as the video version of screen capture. Itâs not the easiest of concept to explain in words, so it is probably easier to look at some examples. Hereâs a link to an example you are probably all familiar with - our own screencast about CVs featuring Alison (youâll need to log in to SHU player) How do I make a screencast? There are a number of screencasting tools available. These include: Jing, Camtasia and Screencast-o-matic. Weâll look at Screencast-o-matic, since it is free and you donât need to download anything to use it, you simply go to their website. Here are a couple of tutorials showing you how to use Screencast-o-matic: (short video) (longer video) Why is this useful to a Careers Professional? We already have our own CV screencast, as shown above and many other careers services are using screencasts as a way of communicating information to their students. You could use a screencast to visually demonstrate to a student how to access something online. For example, here is a screencast that Leeds Met have created to show a student how to use their vacancy database Hereâs another example, this time a screencast created by the University of Manchester: Building Your LinkedIn Profile (click on the links of the right of their page) Employability Benefits for Students For this particular âthingâ, the benefit to students, from an employability perspective, is not so much about how they can create screencasts to enhance their employability and more about how we as a service can use screencasts as an additional way of communicating information to students. Task 1 Now youâve got an idea about what screencasts are all about, have a think about how we could use them in the future. Remember, we already have a screencast created by Dave and Alison about CVs, so.... . â˘Are there any further topics we could deliver via screencast? â˘Screencasts are also a really good way of demonstrating processes e.g. how to access databases, run a search etc. Are there any processes we could demonstrate to students using a screencast? If you think of anything, do let us know or, better still, add a suggestion on our LinkedIn Group! Task 2 Why not have a go at creating your own mini-screencast? Screencast-o-matic doesnât need to be downloaded, you can simply go straight to their website and get started from there. Useful links: http://wordpress.tv/2009/01/15/writing-and-publishing-a-post/ Good example of a screencast - topic is writing and publishing a post on wordpress. Iâve selected this as it is an interesting example for style, tone and production values. http://www.1stwebdesigner.com/inspiration/tips-tricks-inspiration-create-screencasts/ a variety of examples for further inspiration
Can't find what you're looking for?
Simply click on the word Archive to the right of this page and you'll find quick links to all of our previous posts.
Thing 5 - Prezi and Slideshare
In this Thing, weâll be focussing on presentations, looking at Prezi and Slideshare Prezi Youâve probably been familiar with using Powerpoint to create presentations for some time now. Youâre also likely to have experienced âdeath by Powerpointâ, that horrible sinking feeling you get when youâre halfway through watching someone deliver a Powerpoint presentation that shows slide, after slide, after slide of endless bullet points. Take a look at this to see how Prezi differs from Powerpoint. How might it benefit a careers professional? Prezi is a fresh way of delivering presentations. You could think about using Prezi as an alternative to PowerPoint, particularly if you have artistic flair or can think visually. Take a look at this Prezi about CV layout. It is worth familiarising yourself with Prezi, even if you chose not to use it yourself, as it may be the perfect way for a student that youâre working with to deliver that crucial presentation at an assessment centre or interview. Employability benefits for students Some students are already using Prezi to create coursework presentations. If a student is asked to prepare a presentation in advance to deliver at an assessment centre or as part of an interview, then Prezi is another option available to them. Or what about a Prezime/Prezume - a Prezi Resume/CV in Prezi form? This might be an option for students looking for work in the creative industries to consider. Hereâs an example of a Prezime created by a designer which also shows elements from their book (and yes, it is in French but Iâve included it to show the design) Slideshare Slideshare is an online repository for presentations, enabling users to share presentations with a wider audience. To get started, letâs take a look at a presentation about creating effective presentations. Hereâs a short introduction to slideshare. How might it benefit a careers professional? Slideshare can be really useful to research topics. It can also give you inspiration on new ways to deliver a topic. Some university careers services, for example, the University of Sussex have chosen to put a range of their presentations (including employer presentations) on slideshare. This open access approach has some advantages, particularly in the way that students are familiar with accessing information. For example, after a student has attended a workshop you could email a student a copy of the presentation. But they might lose the email or accidentally delete it. Or they might have a sudden urge to access that information at 2am from their mobile. The advantage with the open access approach is that the student could just pick up their phone, google (for example) University of Sussex Careers Presentation (try it now!) and within two clicks they have the information that theyâre looking for. Open access to documents and presentations raises some important questions, including that of copyright and of relevance. As with other forms of information, a system would need to be in place to ensure that old information was removed or updated accordingly in order to meet Matrix standards. Itâs worth noting that almost half of all internet searches made in 2011 were made via a mobile. Morgan Stanley have predicted that by 2014 more people will be accessing the internet from their mobile than from a laptop/PC. Therefore, it is important to consider how the infomation we offer to students would look on a mobile rather than on a PC monitor. Employability benefits for students Students can use slideshare to search for presentations from professional bodies that link to their fields of interest e.g. CIM, ACCA. Where appropriate, slideshare could be a useful platform for students to showcase their design or technical skills to employers. Take a look at this presentation demonstrating how slideshare can be used for this purpose: http://www.slideshare.net/EmilandDC/how-i-landed-a-job-with-slideshare Hereâs a further example of an online resume on slideshare. Task 1 - Prezi Why not create a short Prezi that you can use to introduce yourself to students at the start of the year? While youâre still getting used to how Prezi works just keep your message simple: who you are, where you are and how you can help. See some of the examples in the useful links section for inspiration. Look at ten top tips for using Prezi. Task 2 - Slideshare Take a look around Slideshare and do a search for any presentations that might be relevant to the students that you work with. Why not use the SHU Careers - Social Media LinkedIn group to let us know what you discover? Useful Links Prezi examples: http://prezi.com/qjz05l1wxgnx/how-to-get-there-from-here/ http://prezi.com/cgriwwefzxtg/careers-service-induction/ http://prezi.com/i7iueh5j9_bk/dublin-business-school-careers-service/ http://www.vouchedfor.co.uk/blogs/need-advice-on-financial-and-banking-careers-see-our-interactive-guide/ Slideshare accounts to take a look at: Matthew Mobbs, Learning Technologist at the University of Leicester: http://www.slideshare.net/mmobbs Sue Beckingham, Educational Developer at SHU: http://www.slideshare.net/suebeckingham Helen Buzdugan, Careers Consultant at the University of Manchester: http://www.slideshare.net/helenpownall University of Sussex Careers Service: http://www.slideshare.net/sussexcdec
More about job searching with social media
If our posts on using Twitter and LinkedIn for job search have piqued your interest and you'd like to read more, we have the book "Job Searching with Social Media for Dummies" in the Careers Centre. You're welcome to borrow it - just ask one of the Information Team if you'd like to take it home for some light weekend reading!
Video: Using social media for self-marketing and job search
Interesting video from Oxford Careers Service.
Thing 4 - LinkedIn
In this Thing, you will create (or update) your LinkedIn profile and discover more about how LinkedIn can be beneficial to careers professionals and students. LinkedIn is seen as the âprofessionalâ side of social networking. Whilst Facebook can be great for keeping up-to-date with family and friends, sharing your latest holiday photos or helping people to create virtual farms, LinkedIn retains much more of a business-like approach, the focus being very much on networking. Take a look at this infographic to get a quick overview of LinkedIn. Why is it useful to a careers professional? There are several major benefits to be gained from joining LinkedIn: Firstly, it is a really useful forum for exchanging ideas. There are a number of groups you can join, including some AGCAS groups, where you can share ideas and best practice with other HE career professionals. Think of it as being a more dynamic version of the AGCAS e-mail discussion lists. Secondly, you can also use LinkedIn to make contact with graduate recruiters or for following up existing contacts that you have made after attending employer events or meetings. Thereâs also the potential to connect with SHU students or graduates. Youâll need to think about the potential benefits of this. Some members of staff are happy to connect with students they have worked with on a specific project, whereas others may choose to only connect with students they have worked with once they become graduates.These graduates may prove to be useful contacts in the future as potential mentors and speakers at events. Students are becoming increasingly aware of the benefits of using LinkedIn. Some have already asked careers staff for advice and information on how to create a professional profile, so it is useful to have some knowledge of how LinkedIn works. Employability Benefits to Students Having a well-written profile and building up connections on LinkedIn can be invaluable to students. Ultimately, it could even lead to an invitation to apply for a role or to attend an interview. As graduate recruiters invest more resources into social media, students should consider using LinkedIn as part of their overall jobsearch strategy. LinkedIn have produced a Grad Guide Video series, which illustrates how students and graduates can make the most out of LinkedIn. LinkedIn has a jobs database where students can search for vacancies. Each vacancy has a link to vacancy information on the companyâs website and also gives the student an opportunity to follow the company on LinkedIn by selecting âfollowâ. Although the database is useful, itâs important to understand that LinkedIn is a much more dynamic platform than a job vacancy website. For example, if you take a look at Graduate Jobs and Internships from Milkround (search for it under Groups), youâll see a number of examples of students posting about the kind of internship theyâre looking for and employers responding with potential internships that may be of interest. Students can consider joining groups focused around: â˘General graduate jobsearch: e.g Graduate Jobs and Internships from Milkround. â˘Sector-specific/Professional Development: e.g. Chartered Institute of Marketing Students. â˘Location: e.g. Graduates Yorkshire â˘Alumni: e.g. Sheffield Hallam University Built Environment Alumni Network. Some points to consider when creating a LinkedIn Profile: â˘Headline Many people use their current role as their headline but you donât have to. A student or recent graduate could use a career goal or their current course, whatever option makes it easiest for a potential recruiter to find them. â˘Summary Similar to a personal profile section on a CV. Similar rules apply: be concise and donât waffle! Highlight relevant experience. Use keywords - make yourself searchable! See this video â˘Skills Use this section of your profile to highlight your key skills. Again, think about who you are trying to attract to your profile and what skills they may be searching for. Take a look at the Skills and Expertise section available under the âMoreâ drop down menu towards the top of the screen and have a look at how you can search for people on LinkedIn by the skills they mention in their profile. â˘Recommendations Having recommendations from people youâve worked with can add real impact to your profile. Remember in order to give you a recommendation the person must be a LinkedIn user! â˘URL Click on the URL link on your profile page to create a custom URL - you can change it to something more consistent with your personal brand (think back to Thing 1!) If students/graduates are regularly engaging with LinkedIn, they could think about adding their LinkedIn URL to their CV. Task 1 Create your own profile on LinkedIn. Take a look at: http://www.linkedin.com/in/michellebond for inspiration Task 2 Make some connections! If youâre unsure who to connect with, start with your own colleagues in SHU Careers. Then think about your wider connections, perhaps within the SHU faculty youâre connected to, careers staff from other institutions, employers that youâve worked with etc. The âPeople You May Knowâ section on your home page would be a good place to start. Also, take a look at who your colleagues are connected to. Task 3 Identify some relevant groups to your role and consider joining them. AGCAS have a number of groups, so thatâs a good starting point if youâre not sure. Why not join the âSHUCareers - Social Media groupâ set up by Dave Cotton and post a comment or question? Let us know how youâve been getting on with Seven Things!Have you found it useful? Is there anything you would like further help with? Task 3â˘Take a look at some profiles of SHU graduates and students. If you donât know any students or recent graduates with a Linkedin presence, take a look at: http://www.linkedin.com/in/christophersampson1989 â˘Having looked at some student profiles, consider what works and what doesnât and how this might inform your work with students. Do we need to produce some guidelines for students? Do you know of students who have successfully used LinkedIn to connect with recruiters who have gone on to obtain a job offer as a result? Use the SHUCareers - Social Media Group on LinkedIn to share your thoughts! Further Reading/Viewing LinkedIn and How to Use it: a graduate jobseekers guide http://careers.guardian.co.uk/linkedin-how-use-graduate-guide LinkedIn Grad Guide Video Series http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ocp1MNpSkWs Has LinkedIn Replaced the CV? http://jobs.guardian.co.uk/article/4430480/has-linkedin-taken-over-from-the-cv-/
Thing 3: Twitter
In this Thing you will explore Twitter and think about how it can be used for job search, networking and promoting your activities. What is Twitter? Twitter is known as a âmicrobloggingâ and social networking site. Traditional blogs allow you to post as many words as you like; microblogs generally limit your word count. In the case of Twitter, the character count is limited, to 140. Many people think Twitter is about people broadcasting what they had for lunch - but it has evolved far past this stage. Itâs really all about interaction - asking questions, sharing breaking news and information, events, industry awareness, interacting with others and having conversations, and much more. Twitter can be used for personal reasons such as interacting with friends, or for professional reasons. The majority of Michelleâs tweets are about library and information issues. As mentioned in Thing 1 though, she maintains a âprofersonalâ approach, so tweets occasionally about other subjects. How it works Users sign up for a Twitter account, and can immediately start tweeting. Your account can either be private (only people youâve allowed to access your tweets can see them) or public (anyone can see your tweets). Your tweets can only be 140 characters long - sometimes itâs a challenge to fit what you want to say into something so short, but thatâs part of the fun! Before you start tweeting, itâs worth thinking about your personal brand. What profile picture are you going to use? And what do you want your bio to say about you? People are more likely to respond to you on Twitter if you have a picture rather than the default âegg headâ. When you log in to Twitter, you will see your timeline - this shows tweets from all the people you follow, in real time. People can also follow you, meaning your tweets will show up in their timeline. You will be notified when someone follows you, and you can decide whether to follow them back. This is where profile info comes in handy - is the person someone you want to interact with, based on what theyâve said about themselves in their profile? To find people to follow on Twitter, you can start off with colleagues or people you know are already on Twitter. Look at who they follow and whoâs following them, and follow people you think might be interesting. You can then see who they follow and whoâs following them, and so on. Another good way is to check peopleâs lists. Lists can be themed, and are put together by individual users to help manage who they follow. A list themed âcomputingâ for example, would show Twitter users who tweet about computing and related subjects. When youâve followed some other Twitter users, you can start to interact with them. You can do this by retweeting (RT) what theyâve said, replying to them, and mentioning them in your own tweets. To mention someone you need to use the @ symbol, followed by the personâs Twitter username. So to mention Michelle, you would put @libmichelle somewhere in your tweet. You can also interact using hashtags. The # symbol denotes a hashtag. They are used to mark keywords or topics in a tweet. So if you click on a hashtag, you can see all other tweets that have used that hashtag. For example, a popular hashtag is #ff - this is âFollow Fridayâ, where people recommend others who they think are worth following. If a hashtag becomes really popular, it will show as a Trending Topic (known as âtrendingâ). During the Olympics, the hashtags #olympics and #london2012 trended. Even if youâre not on Twitter you can follow whatâs going on if tweets arenât protected. If you google @libmichelle, you can see all of Michelleâs recent tweets. This means you need to be aware that what you tweet is available for everyone to see. A good rule is to not say something on Twitter that you wouldnât be happy saying in real life! Take the full Twitter tour (with screenshots to help explain more clearly!) here. Why is Twitter useful for a careers professional? - Networking with other careers professionals and people in different sectors - Sharing ideas with each other, and other professionals - Finding jobs - for yourself and students! - Assisting students with current information and guidance on how to tweet professionally. - Learning about relevant events - for self and students. - Perhaps engaging with potential speakers for events. - Engaging with academics from courses - showing that C&E are in the space they are. - Responding to enquiries - raises profile of self, department and university (if tweeting in professional capacity) - Can create lists of useful people for students to follow - see Daveâs list for Computing Employability benefits for students - Finding jobs - you can often find out about new jobs and opportunities through Twitter first. - Networking - you can get to know people in an informal way on Twitter, by responding to their questions and tweets. - Responding to enquiries - from people in sector they want to work in. Shows knowledge and interest. - Sharing ideas - with other students, people in industry. - Follow companies they want to work for so can get an idea of their current issues and social media presence. - Keeping up professional awareness - by following companies in chosen sector, and specific tweeters. - Live-tweeting a conference can raise your visibility - Adding value - retweeting but adding your own take - Finding out about relevant events - Having a professional Twitter account can enhance studentâs brand. Students need to be aware that what they broadcast via an open Twitter account is available for everyone to see. - In some sectors (particularly marketing, journalism and PR), students are expected to have social media knowledge. A professional online presence is a must as it shows you have this knowledge and are aware of how to conduct yourself online. - For PR students, being on Twitter is a good way to get your name out there. Last year, Beyond the Spin listed their top âsocial studentsâ - no student from SHU was on the list. - Having an active Twitter account will mean your name ranks higher in search engine listings. A few tweeters to follow/take a look at Michelle Dave University of Bristol Careers Stephen Fry - one of the most popular tweeters Task 1: Think about whether Twitter is right for you. Would you like to start a Twitter account to connect with people about your favourite hobby perhaps? Or maybe youâd like to collaborate with colleagues to tweet about things relevant your faculty (see quick reminder below). Task 2: Find some tweeters who you could recommend to your students. Are academics in your faculty already tweeting? Who are they following, and who follows them? Quick reminder: Please donât set up a Twitter account and tweet on behalf of SHU or Careers & Employment. As mentioned in the Introduction, Dave is working on a social media policy and this needs to be set out before more channels are set up to communicate with students. Itâs hard to gain followers on Twitter - but itâs even harder to get them to transfer from following one person to following another! Further reading: Creating a Twitter avatar How to change your profile pic and information Things you must do when you join Twitter! How to live tweet an event 50 Twitter tips - these are particularly useful for helping avoid phishing attacks, blocking users, posting photos, and other things not covered in this post.
SHU Social Media Policy
We mentioned in the introduction to this programme that Dave is working on a social media policy for Careers & Employment. It's not available yet, but in the meantime it's worthwhile looking at the university's social media policy and guidelines. As mentioned in Thing 1, everything you do online reflects on you, but it can also reflect upon your employer - so it's good to know what they think!
Thing 2: Blogs and RSS
In this Thing you will set up your own blog to document your progress through the Things, and explore other careers blogs related to your area. What are blogs? What is RSS? A blog is a website for people to publish their writing on an ongoing basis. They have grown in popularity since the late 1990âs, and there are now a number of different free software apps that can get you blogging quickly and easily. A blog can focus on a particular subject (Mashable is all things tech-related, for example). Or they can be online diaries, a place for reflection, or used for teaching (edublogs). Blogs can be interactive - people can leave comments on blogs and the writer, or others, can react. RSS (commonly known as Really Simple Syndication) allows you to view information from websites and blogs all in one place, so you donât have to visit individual websites. It can save you a massive amount of time and is great if you are forgetful as you donât have to remember which blogs you want to keep an eye on! You can subscribe to blogs or web feeds when you see the orange symbol in the photo above. Why are they useful for a careers professional? Can help you keep up to date with current information in industries, particularly info that hasnât filtered back to unis and professional journals yet. Can get insight into specific jobs and employers from people writing about their experiences. Other careers blogs can give you tips and ideas for what to do with your students, help share best practice with other professionals. Employability benefits for students Increased professional awareness from reading relevant blogs. Can assist/complement assignments if read research blogs. Can enhance learning through blogging about whatâs being learned on the course, professional issues. Potential increased visibility to potential employers if students are blogging themselves, and commenting on other blogs. Skills - good blog can show design and writing skills, time management, professional awareness, etc. Can start participating in sector they want to go into by commenting on other blogs and writing about their own ideas. Live-blogging a conference could increase visibility (although live-blogging is hard!). Blogging about what youâve done can help you remember for the future - gives you some evidence to point to. How to blog There are various blogging platforms available online. Some of the most commonly used are Blogger, Wordpress, Tumblr, and Posterous. You're welcome to use any blogging platform that you like - theyâre all fairly easy to set up and start blogging. You can keep your blog very simple and private, or if you like can do a full design and go public! Your blog is just a tool to help you reflect on what youâre learning throughout the programme. The programme blog uses Tumblr, and the instructions below are for setting up a Tumblr blog. Itâs pretty quick and simple, but you canât keep Tumblr blogs private. If youâd like to keep your blog private, try using one of the other blogging sites, or ask Kelly and Michelle. 1. Go to Tumblr 2. Click on the âsign upâ button in the top right hand corner 3. Add your email, password, and a username (for example Michelleâs is libmichelle, so you can find her blog at www.libmichelle.tumblr.com) 4. Click âstartâ 5. Youâre done and ready to post! 6. To post an entry, go to the dashboard and click on âtextâ (in the top left hand corner) 7. Add a title for your post and some text. Then click on âcreate postâ 8. This will immediately publish your post on your blog If you need any help with your Tumblr, try visiting the Tumblr Help pages. How to follow blogs using RSS feeds You can use RSS feeds to follow blogs. To do this, you need an RSS reader, such as Google Reader or Bloglines. If you already have a Google account then you can sign in to Google Reader using the email and password you use for that account. If not, you can sign up using you @shu.ac.uk email address. Once you are signed in to Google Reader, you will see a red button on the left hand side that says âsubscribeâ. Click on it and it will open a box - in this box paste the URL (web address) of the blog you want to subscribe to, and then click âaddâ. For example, to subscribe to the Seven Things blog, you will need to put http://seventhingscareers.tumblr.com/ in the box., then click âaddâ. You will then be able to view blog posts, in reverse choronological order. To add more blogs, keep following the process above. Take a look at Googleâs âGetting started with Google Readerâ article for further information. A few blogs to follow or take a look at: Careers related Warwick's Careers Service blog Guardian Careers Blog Salford Uni's careers blog Manchester Uni's Careers Reading Uni's careers and labour market info blog Sector specific http://diaryofapublishingintern.blogspot.co.uk/ (lists media intern opportunities) http://www.disneyrollergirl.net/ (fashion student blog) http://www.mikewhite.co.uk/ (PR student blog) http://mashable.com/ (Tech blog) http://blogs.bmj.com/medical-ethics/ (Journal of Medical Ethics blog) http://doc2doc.bmj.com/blogs/studentsblog/ (Blogs by medical students) http://www.freakonomics.com/blog/ (Alternative economics blog) http://www.guardian.co.uk/teacher-network (Teachers blog) Task 1: Create your own blog to keep a record of your development - either use the instructions for Tumblr above or choose another blogging site such as WordPress. Task 2: Take a look at some blogs related to your area and identify some that could be helpful to students. If you wish, set up an RSS Reader and subscribe to useful blogs.
Glossary
The glossary aims to introduce you to commonly used words and phrases, particularly ones used throughout this programme. Weâve tried to make the definitions as simple as possible, but if you donât understand, please contact Kelly or Michelle for further explanation! Keep checking back to the glossary post as we will update it as and when we think of new words. If you have a word of phrase to add, please let us know. @mention âThe @ sign is used to call out usernames in Tweets, like this: Hello @Twitter! When a username is preceded by the @ sign, it becomes a link to a Twitter profile.â (Twitter) App Short for âapplicationâ. An app is a piece of software, that can run on the Internet, a computer or phone (or any other device, iPads, for example). Avatar The personal image you upload to accounts, represents you. Bio A short description of yourself. Blog Short for âweb logâ. Think of it as an online journal. Wordpress and Blogger are the two most well known blog sites. (See also: Blogger, Microblogging) Blogger Someone who blogs. Itâs also the name of Googleâs blogging software. (See also: Blog, Microblogging) Branding Some users like to keep their web presence consistent over a range of social media sites in order to build a brand. A âpersonal brandâ can be developed using a range of techniques. Some users like to use the same avatar (see: Avatar) or username across a range of sites. Services like http://namechk.com/ can help you to discover if your username is available across a range of social networks. Cloud computing "Cloud computing refers to applications and services offered over the Internet. These services are offered from data centers all over the world, which collectively are referred to as the "cloud." This metaphor represents the intangible, yet universal nature of the Internet." (Tech Terms) Social networking sites are an example of cloud based services. (See also: App) Connections People you are linked to on LinkedIn. (See also: LinkedIn) Diigo/Delicious Social bookmarking sites. (Example of SHUCareers) DM Direct message. Private messages between the tweeter and recipient. (See also: Twitter, RT, MT, Tweeps, Tweetdeck) Facebook One of the worldâs biggest social networking sites. Allows you to become âfriendsâ with people and see their content. Flickr A photo sharing website. You can add tags to your photos to allow others to search for them easily. (See also: Tags, Folksonomy) Folksonomy âA folksonomy is a system of classification derived from the practice and method of collaboratively creating and managing tags to annotate and categorize content; this practice is also known as collaborative tagging, social classification, social indexing, and social tagging. Folksonomy, a term coined by Thomas Vander Wal, is a portmanteau of folk and taxonomy.â (Wikipedia) Gmail Email system by Google. Google Docs The Microsoft Office suite provided by Google in the cloud. (See also: Cloud computing) Handle The username(s) you use online. Hashtag âThe # symbol, called a hashtag, is used to mark keywords or topics in a Tweet. It was created organically by Twitter users as a way to categorize messages.â (Twitter). In 2011, the most used hashtag on Twitter was #Egypt. Hashtags can also be used for comedic purposes or as an exclamation e.g. #happy (See also: Twitter, Tweets, MT, RT, @mention) Link (or hyperlink) "A hyperlink is a word, phrase, or image that you can click on to jump to a new document or a new section within the current document. Hyperlinks are found in nearly all Web pages, allowing users to click their way from page to page." (Tech Terms) LinkedIn A social networking site for professional networking. (See also: Connections) Microblog Like blogging but the blogposts are smaller. Most notable example is Twitter. (See also: Blogging, Blogger). MT Modified tweet. When you retweet but modify the original tweet. Allows you to add value to the original tweet. Platforms âA social media platform is a type of software or technology that enables users to build, integrate or facilitate community, interaction and user-generated content. Blogs and wikis are both social media tools, whereas, Wordpress and Wikispaces are social media platforms for people and companies to utilize to engage in blogging and creating wikis.â (Answers) Post As in âblog postâ. A post is something you put online - so you post something to a Facebook wall, or post on a blog. Prezi Online presentation software that allows users to create more dynamic presentations that arenât PowerPoint slides! Other people can see and comment on your presentations. (See also: SlideShare) Profersonal Portmanteau of professional and personal - this refers to how people might like to present themselves online. A blended approach of personal and professional is profersonal. (See also: Branding) RSS feed Really Simple Syndication. RSS allows you to subscribe to blogs, news headlines, and other web content. To read what youâve subscribed to, you need an RSS reader. You can subscribe to web content when you see the RSS symbol (an orange square). (See also: RSS Reader) RSS Reader Allows you to read content that you have subscribed to. An example of an RSS Reader is Google Reader. (See also: RSS feed) RT Retweet. When you tweet someone elseâs tweet, itâs called a retweet. (See also: Twitter) Screencast A digital recording of a computer screen. Slideshare Slideshare allows users to upload and share publicly or privately PowerPoint presentations, Word documents and Adobe PDF Portfolios. (See also: Prezi) Social bookmarking A method for Internet users to organize, store, manage and search for bookmarks of resources online. (Wikipedia) Social media âSocial media essentially is a category of online media where people are talking, participating, sharing, networking, and bookmarking online. Most social media services encourage discussion, feedback, voting, comments, and sharing of information from all interested parties. It's more of a two-way conversation, rather than a one-way broadcast like traditional media. Another unique aspect of social media is the idea of staying connected or linked to other sites, resources, and people.â (Ron Jones, about.com) Examples of social media include Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Social networking âThe use of a dedicated Website to communicate informally with other members of the site, by posting messages, photographs, etc.â (Google) Tagging/tags Tagging allows users to add their own vocabulary Timeline List of output - so all the tweets you see are in a timeline. Trending/Trending topic âA subject algorithmically determined to be one of the most popular on Twitter at the moment.â (Twitter) Tweeps/Followers People who use Twitter/people who follow other people on Twitter. (See also: Twitter, MT, RT, DM, Tweeps, Tweets, Timeline) Tweetdeck/Hootsuite A third-party app that allows you to manage one or more Twitter accounts. (See also: Twitter, MT, RT, DM, Tweeps, Tweets, Timeline) Tweets Tweets are messages sent on Twitter. They can be up to 140 characters long. (See also: Twitter, MT, RT, DM, Tweeps, Tweetdeck, Timeline, Trending) Twitter Online social networking and microblogging site. Users can send and read text-based messages of up to 140 characters. (See also: Tweets, MT, RT, DM, Tweeps, Tweetdeck, Timeline, Trending) URL âA Uniform Resource Locator (URL) is a web address that points to a unique page on the internet.â (Twitter) For example www.twitter.com is a URL. Username The name you give to create an account. Some users like to use the same username across a range of social media applications, to strengthen their personal brand (see also: Branding) Vlog Video blog. Web 2.0 âWeb 2.0 is the term given to describe a second generation of the World Wide Web that is focused on the ability for people to collaborate and share information online. Web 2.0 basically refers to the transition from static HTML Web pages to a more dynamic Web that is more organized and is based on serving Web applications to users. Other improved functionality of Web 2.0 includes open communication with an emphasis on Web-based communities of users, and more open sharing of information. Over time Web 2.0 has been used more as a marketing term than a computer-science-based term. Blogs, wikis, and Web services are all seen as components of Web 2.0.â (Webopedia)
Thing 1 - Personal Branding
In this Thing you will consider your personal brand. âBrandingâ is often thought as a negative thing - why would you want to be a brand rather than a person? Really, branding is about how you present yourself online, and can be about promoting yourself to achieve career goals. It is also known as âonline identity managementâ or âpersonal reputation managementâ. Have you ever Googled yourself? This is a good way to see whatâs out there about you. You might be surprised by the results! Your online presence is reflected in everything you do online, as well as what others say about you. This can include news about you, participation in blogs and forums, personal websites, social media presence, pictures, video, etc. All of these things can create either a positive or negative impression. Your online presence should be an accurate reflection of who you are, but of course if youâre trying to get a new job, you want your employer to get a favourable impression of you! So there are ways to influence your online presence, and make sure a positive impression is presented high up in search rankings. One way is to be consistent across platforms - for example using the same name and photo for your email address, Skype, Twitter, blog, etc. You can check if a username is available at a service like http://namechk.com/ Finally, there is often a difference between how people want to be seen, and how they present themselves online. Itâs rare that people are totally professional online - most go for a âprofersonalâ approach (professional/personal). This allows people to express their personality along with/to complement their professional image. At the other end of the scale, students often use social media for purely personal purposes - posting drunk photos on Facebook and interacting with friends on Twitter. Your approach will depend on what you want to show people about yourself. Why is it useful for a careers professional? Careers and Employment staff need to be aware of issues around social media and able to advise and lead students. Good institutional and personal social media presence can be of benefit to both the institution and the individual. Social media knowledge could benefit your personal and professional development. It can show that the university is forward thinking and willing to engage with new technologies. For Careers & Employment it will show that we can lead and become experts - increasing our profile within faculties and with students. Employability benefits for students Students tend to use social media for personal reasons - posting photos of nights out on Facebook and interacting with friends on Twitter. They often donât consider the impact of what theyâre putting online as doing so has become seamlessly integrated into their lives. Itâs important to impress upon students that what is online is there forever. Employers are increasingly googling applicants at the application stage, and a negative impression will have an impact. This practice is not illegal; although it could breach discrimination laws it has not yet been tested in court. Students need therefore to be aware of how they are presenting themselves online. What do they want an employer to know about them? Particularly if a student is trying to get into a profession such as law, pictures of them drunk with a traffic cone on their head may not go down so well. If the student is particularly interested, itâs worth emphasising the benefits of having a good online profile. Itâs not just about preventing people seeing embarrassing photos - students can actively promote themselves to help with finding employment. In particular, students who want a career in the media should be using Twitter and blogging, as this is what employers expect. A good online presence can show skills in social media much more effectively than a line on a CV. Task 1: Google yourself Make sure youâre on a âcleanâ PC - search engines optimise results based on your previous searches. So if you search for yourself using your regular browser, youâre more likely to find results about yourself. To get a neutral results, try using a PC or browser you havenât used before (if you normally use Internet Explorer, try Firefox). If you have a common name, try using an extra keyword such as âUKâ or âcareersâ. Do any of the search results on the first page refer to you personally? Are they the things you would want someone to find if they were looking to find out information about you? Which of your profiles come first? Is there anything about you on the results page that you wouldn't want a potential colleague/employer finding out about you? Task 2: Think about your brand How do you want to be seen by others? Do you want your online presence to be purely professional, or profersonal? Do your search results reflect how you want to be seen? Think about what you could do to influence your presence. Task 3: Google Michelle (optional) Google Michelle Bond and see what you find - then tell us what you think of her brand! Further reading The Wikiman (Ned Potter) is big in the library world - heâs written about how to influence your brand, as well as answering the question âDo you really need to market yourself?â http://thewikiman.org/blog/?p=1926 http://thewikiman.org/blog/?p=1858 A good guide from tech website Mashable on the basics of personal branding: http://mashable.com/2009/02/05/personal-branding-101/
Introduction
7 Things for Careers Welcome to 7 Things for Careers! This programme has been created to get Careers & Employment staff up to speed with new tools which will be helpful for you and your students. Current students are known as the "web generation" and are likely to be savvy computer users. However, they often need guidance with how to make a positive impression with their social media use. Each Thing is intended to give you an overview of a new tool, and will end with a practical task or tasks for you to get to grips with it. For each Thing we will explain the benefits for careers professionals and students. We have included a glossary, which can be found here. The 7 Things are:
Personal branding
Blogs and RSS feeds
Slideshare and Prezi
Screen capture and Jing
Networking
The programme is voluntary, and you can do as many or as few Things as you like. For example, you feel youâve got the hang of Twitter, skip over it and wait for the next Thing. If you only want to learn about LinkedIn, just wait for that Thing - and so on. 7 Things for Careers is based on 23 Things for CPD, a longer programme run for library and information professionals. If you'd like to follow CPD23 instead, it can be found here. This programme allows you to experiment with tools, but please donât create lots of âofficialâ accounts. Dave Cotton is currently working on our social media policy; we need to consider in what ways we want to engage students and what methods are sustainable. If you have any questions about the programme or would like help, please contact the co-ordinators, Michelle Bond or Kelly Snape (Weds-Friday).