I’m on LinkedIn – Now what? Part 2

This blog was written by Brittany Moore, CU-Boulder senior pursuing a double-degree in business marketing and broadcast news.

With over 150 million members, LinkedIn is the leading professional social media site on the web.  Resumes are no longer enough, LinkedIn is the best way to network with professionals and search for jobs. With 80% of companies using LinkedIn to recruit it is crucial to have a professional online presence.

Building a Professional Network

Now that your profile is complete the next step is growing your network.  There are several ways you can build a professional network through LinkedIn.  The first and most basic way to do this is by using the contact tab to upload contacts through on your email account.  Additionally, you can search professionals by name using the search bar. Another effective way to network online is by joining groups.  You can do so by using the directory under the groups tab.

You can search groups for alumni, college, high school, fraternity, sorority, clubs, etc.  Some of the best resources for CU student’s are the LinkedIn alumni networks, including CU Herd, Forever Buffs, CU Alums, etc.  As a part of the Association for Women in Communication networking group I have worked a lot with the CU Alumni groups, which gave me a lot of great networking experience.

The group directory on LinkedIn is useful because it also distinguishes members by location, so you can search for professionals in your area. This tool is particularly useful for students looking for jobs away from Boulder. Say you’re going home for the summer, you can plug in your home state and seek out professionals nearby, which will help you build a network at home as well as in Boulder.

When you are asking new connections to be a part of your network it is important to send a personal message with your invitation. This can be as simple as adding on a sentence or two about how and where you met the contact as shown below:

Once you have made connections it is important to build and maintain your network. One way to do this is reaching out to professionals in your network to set up information interviews. You can send a private message that says something like this:

"I am doing career research and interested in learning more about your occupation. Could I talk with you for 20-30 minutes to ask you questions about your background?"

Some questions you could ask during an informational interview or even through a private message on LinkedIn are:

• How did you get into this field?
• What do you like best about your job?
• What recommendations do you have for breaking into the business?

You can also use Twitter and Facebook to search for jobs and network with professionals as explained here.


How to Market Yourself Through Social Networking

In lieu of our ever-changing technological society, Career Services’ Peer Career Advisors (PCAs) facilitate innovative workshops to share resources and opportunities to market yourself through social media. Our “Linkin’ It Up” workshops focus on how to use primary social media sites in a professional way.

The first half of the workshop reviews the best practices for attracting employers on Facebook, Twitter, blogs, and personal/professional websites. The second half focuses on LinkedIn with a demonstration and thorough review of the website and its many benefits for students. LinkedIn is extremely useful and easy to use and our Linkin’ It Up workshop is a great way to keep up with new digital media and learn how to adequately market yourself in a professional manner! Participants are encouraged to bring their laptops to follow along for a hands-on learning experience.

Googling Yourself: Why Should You Do It and How to Clean up Your Image

Have you ever Googled yourself?  Try it – you might be surprised by what comes up.  When I Google myself, I get 3,650,000 results of which approximately 20 are directly related to me.  The results I immediately noticed were my professional pictures, my LinkedIn account, my personal website, and a Spokeo search on me.  Seeing my professional pictures, LinkedIn account, and my personal website be among the first 10 searches was exactly what I wanted to see.  These are positive online sites about me that will enhance my professional image for recruiters and employers searching for me online.  On the other hand the Spokeo account can be a little disturbing and is something everyone should be aware of. 

Nowadays, there are sites such as Spokeo, whose purpose is to seek out intimate information about individuals including: personal addresses, phone numbers, email accounts, etc.  It is important to be aware of what personal information is on these sites and always try to minimize this information by privatizing personal social networks and acting with caution with your online presence.   

Nonetheless, Googling yourself is the first step to identifying what is online about you.  Once you know what is out there, you can minimize the negative things; and more importantly, enhance the positive things.   

MINIMIZING A NEGATIVE ONLINE PRESENCE

1. Scrutinize anything personal online, including your posts on Facebook and Twitter.
2.  Don’t post ANYTHING you could potentially be embarrassed about – once it’s online it’s hard to really remove it forever. 
3. Screen your friends’ postings about you (this can be customized in your account and privacy settings).
4. Separate your personal and professional online presence by not linking the two together and privatizing your personal account. 

ENHANCING A POSITIVE ONLINE PRESENCE

1. Create at least one professional online profile (Twitter, Facebook, Blog, Personal Website, Info-graphic Resume, LinkedIn, etc.).
2. Quality over quantity:  Just because there are many social networking sites to choose from, doesn't mean you have to be on all of them.  It’s better to master one and then move on to more social media sites rather than be on all sites and not put that much effort into them.
3. Sign up  for a LinkedInProfile.  
4.  Although you don’t want to completely privatize your professional profiles (since you want people to see it), make sure you don’t put personal addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses online unless you don’t mind the whole world having access to that information.
5.  Consistently update your statuses.  Social media won’t be useful if you don’t make an effort to update your profiles and engage with other people on the social networks.

For more information about creating a professional online presence visit the following web pages:

1. Create an Online Presence 
2. Leverage Social Media 
3. Linkin’It Up  Presentation

How to Market Yourself Through Social Networking

In light of our ever-changing technological society, the Peer Career Advisers facilitate an innovative workshop to share resources and opportunities to market yourself using social media. The workshop will focus on the primary social media tools and how to incorporate a professional edge when using these sites. The first half of the workshop will review best practices for Facebook, Twitter, blogs, and personal/professional websites to further your knowledge on the sites and how to use them to attract employers. The second half of the program will focus on LinkedIn with a demonstration and thorough review of the website and its benefits for students. LinkedIn is the primary professional networking site and is extremely useful and easy to use. Linkin’It Up is a great way to keep up with new digital media and learn how to adequately market yourself in a professional manner! Participants are encouraged to bring their laptops to follow along for a hands-on learning experience.

Written by Brittany Moore

A Day in the Life of a Facebook Employee

Meet Travis Eagles-Soukup, a CU graduate from the class of 2011, who now works at Facebook's Austin, Texas, office. Travis stated he always had an interest in the different aspects of business, but at first he thought he wanted to study and get a job in finance. Upon positive experiences at Boulder start-up companies, including a technology company, he knew he wanted to end up in the fast-paced high tech/internet/start-up scene.

"From there, Facebook was a perfect fit," Travis said. "Even though it's technically no longer a start-up, it definitely feels that way. The amount of impact each employee can have and the variety of interesting challenges we face each day really makes the work a reward in itself."

After graduating with a business degree and an emphasis in operations information management and systems, Travis moved to Austin to start his job as a User Operations Analyst at Facebook, which he heard about through the Career Services' Careers in the Buff newsletter and the Career Fair. He applied for the job using Career Services Online. As an analyst, Travis is "responsible for maintaining user safety, engagement, and site understanding by responding to email inquiries and abuse reports." He also collects information about Facebook users' behavior, analyzes it, and then explains it to his department and the company.

Facebook's Austin, Texas, office

Travis says the most fun aspect of his job is working with his "incredibly intelligent, focused, energetic, resourceful, and fun" coworkers, who are always willing to answer any questions he has or point him in the right direction if they aren't sure of the answer. Because Facebook's office is completely open and doesn't have rooms or cubicles, Travis says it's easy to walk up and ask anyone a question.

"It's one of the most collaborative and supportive environments I've ever been in," he explains. "[...] Just look both ways first. You never know when a gang of Facebookers will come whizzing by on a few of the many scooters/skateboards/bikes/rip sticks ... conveniently placed around the office!"

While Facebook employees receive many benefits and perks, it's for a reason; Travis said he thinks employees who feel good are more likely to work harder, and that this rings true at Facebook.

"We work fast, prioritize ruthlessly, and do everything we can to make the largest possible impact every single day," he said.

In his spare time, Travis, who is an identical twin, enjoys skiing, watching movies, learning, singing in the shower, and almost any outdoor activity.

What does a day in Travis's life look like? 

> During the workweek, Facebook provides employees with three meals per day. From 9 to 10 a.m., Travis has breakfast in the cafeteria at Facebook, where he says the food is amazing. After breakfast, he collects his thoughts for the day, prepares for meetings, and finishes any work that didn’t quite get done the night before.

> From 10 a.m. to noon, Travis focuses on his individual work and attends various meetings, among other daily tasks.

> From noon to 1 p.m., he has lunch in the cafeteria with his coworkers.

> From 1 to 6:30 p.m., he completes more individual work and group projects, among other tasks.

> At 6:30, Travis has dinner before heading home for the day.

What's ahead for Travis?

"We’ll see where the journey takes me! I would like to say, however, that I hope to continue on the same path. This industry, the people I get to work with, and the impact I can make every day always leaves me wanting more."

Facebook will be holding a drop-in coffee hour on CU's campus on Wednesday, October 19, from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. in room N215 in the C4C. Come learn more about Facebook and available opportunities at the company. The User Operations Analyst, Risk Operations Analyst, and Security Engineer positions at Facebook are currently posted on Career Services Online. Be sure to submit your resume and answer the required questions before the application closes this Thursday, October 6! Facebook will be holding interviews on October 20 based on those students they meet at the drop-in coffee hour.

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Career Services will be holding their annual Fall Career Fair this Wednesday, October 5, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the UMC Ballroom, Room 235 and The Gallery. Over 100 employers will be there, so be sure to come dressed professionally, bring copies of your resume, and have specific questions for employers about jobs posted on Career Services Online. For more tips about how to prepare for the Career Fair, read our Career Fair Quick Tips and watch the video above.

Keep your online image professional with these social networking tips

In an age focused on flourishing new media, your job or internship search may look a little different. Often, once the employer has received a resume and cover letter, their next step is to Google the candidate's name. If an employer finds something distasteful that might reflect poorly on a job candidate's profile on any of the various social networking websites--Facebook, Myspace, and Twitter, among others--the candidate may be removed from consideration for the job. (more...)