Dream Jobs/Internship thru Social Media

Is it possible to land your dream Career or Internship thru Social Media?

“LinkedIn”

By: Moussa Sidime

          

 Until a few days ago I didn’t think so. I’ve heard of LinkedIn and even have a partial profile there, but I didn’t realize the power and great exposure it could provide when looking for a new job or internship. I thought of it as the Facebook for serious minded people who have jobs and need business contacts to promote their business. That was the extent of brainpower I had given it.  Since I have a Facebook account where most of my friends and a few past co-workers are part of my social contact list, why would I want to subscribe to another website to keep in touch with the same people? That seemed redundant to me. Therefore, LinkedIn was never a priority even though I followed their stock price from time to time because of its growth and compared it to Facebook.

Little  did I know,  all my friends and business associates who claimed they never had the time to open a Facebook account because they were too busy with their careers, business ventures and higher education were sending me invitations to connect on LinkedIn.  I deleted all of those emails and wondered why I ever signed up on that website a few years back? Then a business associate of mine, who is very trendy and savvy, requested that I become one of his friends on LinkedIn. I figured if he sees a value in it, I should sign up. Well, it was one of the best actions I took for my career without even being aware of it. It was like getting a stack of Berkshire Hathaway stocks from your grandfather that had been locked in your safe deposit box for 20 years and not knowing its value until today. I have been contacted about several job opportunities during the past 3 years without realizing why I was being chosen. Today I understand that I was being considered as a passive candidate, an employed professional who is not actively looking for a job, but is open to discuss potential opportunities. Based on a research done, 10 to 20 percent of the job market is made up of passive candidates. All these job offers were due to my network, 2^nd degree connections, people who are directly connected to someone in my network,  and their endorsements of my skills they knew I had based on past experiences working with me that were detailed in my resume. Four year ago I uploaded my resume without a picture and it took on a life of its own.

Reflecting back on it, this system makes total sense. If the people I worked with can attest to my skills, putting their own reputation on the line by endorsing me, why wouldn’t a head hunter or recruiter not want to hire me or at the least reach out to see if I would be a great addition to their work force? After all, I do have a great smile and personality as I am told. Seriously, being endorsed online helps to take away any suspicion an employer may have about you and removes the need to ask for employment references.  As Schawbel explained, “What you say about yourself is important, but what others say about you carries more weight”.

Social media sites such as: LinkedIn, Google+, Twitter and Facebook have given recruiters a whole new insight into your strengths and weaknesses as a candidate. This can reinforce their decision to hire you or to shy away from you. It starts with the comments you have posted online, the tone of voice others use to speak with you, and last, but not the least, the pictures you have posted online. How do they represent you and the new position you are seeking or company you will be working for?

                                                          

Following are a few tips to help you make the most of your online job search. Consider taking a professional head shot for your LinkedIn profile. Do your homework before interviewing with a company. Learn about your career path. Make sure to like the company or organization you are interested in working for in the future. Join industry specific groups and participate in discussion threads. Be open to accepting invitations from new creditable contacts and make introductions when appropriate; it is good career karma. Make contacts before you need them. Your co-workers and classmates are a good place to start. Every one of us will be going somewhere great soon due to promotions or graduations. But the caveat is to take the conversation offline into the real world whenever you can. As great as social media is, never forget that it is made of real people behind those profiles.

http://www.coca-colacompany.com/stories/hire-power-how-social-media-is-changing-the-way-people-search-for-jobs

http://www.crunchbase.com/company/linkedin

http://wearesocialpeople.com/how-social-media-has-changed-job-searching/

http://www.businessnewsdaily.com/4113-social-media-hiring-tips.html

http://www.coca-colacompany.com/stories/five-tips-for-using-social-media-to-advance-your-career

Always Read the Fine Print

As we all know, social networking sites have changed the way we connect and interact with other people on a daily basis. Now, more than ever before, sharing your thoughts and showing moments of your life with those who you care about the most is a regular routine that, needless to say, we all do. Think for one moment about all your “friends” you have on Facebook. Over the past years, Facebook has made several improvements on the way you can customize your security and privacy settings, keeping in mind the growing number of users and the type of information you share with others on this website.

Did you think about your “friends” on your Facebook page? Well, now think about this – how many of those “friends” do you know in person? When was the last time you had a conversation face-to-face with one of them? These questions are important because they determine how safe your personal information and reputation are on such websites. One of the major problems, I think, with Facebook is that you can copy and paste pictures from other people’s profiles. Most of us now know that once you upload an image or type something on a website is going to stay there even if you later decide to delete the image or the paragraphs from the original source.  By asking you to think about your “friends” on Facebook, I’m trying to get you to think about what you post in the form of images and in words. Did you know that some employers look at your Facebook profile before extending a job offer? (CBS News)

This is just one of the many things you should think about before writing or sharing images online. For example, defamation (libel) and extortion are common practices linked to the information you share about yourself and the things you say about others on social networking sites (BBC). Therefore, you should be aware that anything you say, for example, about a product or a person that has been purposely exaggerated to harm or to create bad reputation can have severe legal consequences. By now you may be wondering how is this linked to my friends on Facebook? The answer is simple. If you, like many young people do, accept friend requests from people who you never met in person before because they are a friend of a friend of your best friend, you may be exposing yourself to an unnecessary risk.

Please check the following websites for further reference.

Works Cited

Parker, Laura, USA Today. Courts are asked to crack down on bloggers, websites. New York, 2006.

http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/tech/news/2006-10-02-bloggers-courts_x.htm

Parker, Laura, USA Today. Jury awards $11.3M over defamatory Internet posts. New York, 2006.

http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-10-10-internet-defamation-case_x.htm

Clark, Amy, CBS News. Employers Look At Facebook, Too. 11 February 2009.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18563_162-1734920.html 

BBC. Social Media Basics - Etiquette and libel on social networks. 2011.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/webwise/courses/social-media-basics/lessons/etiquette-and-libel-on-social-networks/

Traverse Legal. Defamation on Facebook and Twitter. 27 October 2012.

http://www.traverselegal.com/internet-defamation/what-is-internet-defamation/removing-defamation-from-facebook-and-twitter-defamation-lawyer-insights/

A Picture of Your Face is Like Money in the Bank

Who doesn't like to save a little cash every now and then? Can't think of anyone? That's because everyone loves a great deal. And, if you don't mind your face being scanned you can get personalized deals sent directly to your phone when you enter your favorite establishment.

Facedeals is a relatively new Facebook app that marries your "likes" and check-ins with face recognition software to offer personalized deals for its users. The app actually "learns" your face from photos you have uploaded to Facebook and are tagged in. In order for the app to work, the business must have a Facedeals camera installed right outside the door. As you enter the software quickly scans your face, checks you into Facebook and determines what type of discount to offer based on your "likes".  Sounds simple enough.

If you own a business this may be a way to draw more traffic into your company. You may possibly increase your sales and the customer saves a little money. Everyone wins. But as the customer, you may have concerns about your privacy and how your information is being used.

Personally, I think this is both creepy and kind of awesome at the same time. Think about it...let's say you go to your favorite after work hangout and they have a Facedeals camera right outside the door. You walk in and moments later you get a text offering you two for one appetizers. Awesome! But, what about privacy? The thought of my personal habits being recorded, analyzed and regurgitated creeps me out.

So what do you think? Would you be willing to have your face scanned if it could possibly save you a little cash?

Sources:
Brading, Anna. "New Facebook app Facedeals scans your face to offer you deals." Naked Security from Sophos. Sophos Ltd. 14 Aug. 2012. Web. 7 Sept. 2013. <http://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/2012/08/14/new-facebook-app-facedeals-scans-your-face-to-offer-you-deals/>

"Facedeals - Check-In with Your Face." Redpepper. YouTube. 2012. Web. 7 Sept. 2013. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLOxUVvcjwE>

How Smart Phones are Changing Traditional Web Based Social Networking

The idea that mobile marketers can know where you are and target messages to you based on this data is now a thing of the present day. We live and breathe through our mobile devices. It goes so far to this point that most students I have talked to cannot even walk out their door each day without their phones in their hands. The cell phone today has become even more of a status symbol for younger teenagers. If you do not have a smart phone, most likely people will make a joke at your expense. The advantage to having our smart phones on us at all times is this ability to access our social media at any point. Social media examples can be anywhere from advertisers sending consumers coupons via a social media outlet such as Facebook or emails from companies are sending about upcoming sales. The advertisers assume that smart phone users always have their phones on them for this exact reason. When we all have down time, admit it, you check Facebook or Twitter or whatever social media outlet you frequent. They also assume you are semi-engaged in your nightly TV shows; therefore most advertisers will use this time to send you items you would want to look at or post sales for the next day so every consumer can see them. This new trend has changed how smartphones affect our social media networking. I believe that the beginning to the demise of social media networking in advertising is on the approach. As people grow more and more into the social media realm, there will be many other options for you to connect online. As of 2003, when Facebook was started, there has been more than 100 internet social networking websites added to the World Wide Web. Smart phones help us engage in this social media network we have created but it is not all beneficial. Think about the addiction to the activity. The state of being enslaved to a habit or practice or to something that is psychologically or physically habit-forming is the definition of and addiction. Do you side with us on the fact that smart phones have changed the way social media networking is today?

 

Bibliography:

 http://techcrunch.com/2013/05/18/the-future-of-mobile-social-could-spell-the-end-for-social-networks/
http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/aug/01/when-mobile-and-social-meet

www.dictionary.com

 http://www.mippu.com/unique-facebook-addiction-bed-concept-furniture-design.html/smart-concept-facebook-addiction-bed-furniture-ideas

http://myphonemd.net/blog/2012/08/23/are-smartphones-as-addictive-as-cigarettes/