Per Scholas - Women In Tech - Notch up Your Online Presence

•  Defini&on of Social Media • Why Use it? •  Create Your Plan •  Expand Your Network •  Build Your Presence •  Keep It Current

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Topics

Defini&on � Social media -‐ primarily web and mobile-‐based tools for sharing and discussing informa&on among human beings.

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It’s Huge �  Facebook: 1,000,000,000 ac&ve users �  TwiSer: 175,000,000 ac&ve users �  LinkedIn: 150,000,000 registered users �  Pinterest: 8,000,000 ac&ve users �  Blogs: 346,000,000 people read blogs every day �  YouTube: 800,000,000 unique visitors last month

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Why use it? It’s Essen&al! � One in five hiring managers conduct background searches using social networks, primarily Facebook (Mashable)

�  65% of all openings are filled through internal movement or referrals (CareerXroads 2012 Report)

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Gebng Started �  Create Your Plan � Do Your Research �  Build Your Presence �  Keep it Current

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Create Your Plan �  Listen to what’s being said in your industry

�  Technora& and Google Blogsearch �  YouTube to see who’s talking about your area of interest �  TwiSer for relevant conversa&ons �  LinkedIn and Facebook for groups and company pages

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Create a Plan, cont. � Define your brand -‐ be consistent

�  Values – What’s important to you? �  Posi&oning – What differen&ates you? �  Visual iden&ty – Colors, style, avatar �  Key messages and voice – What do you want to communicate? Simplicity is key

�  Your story – How you connect in a compelling and authen&c way, making you memorable

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Do Your Research �  Iden&fy the companies you’re interested in �  Search to find people working for these companies

�  LinkedIn Profiles and Company Page – connect with people and join relevant groups

�  Google, Bing, Yahoo search �  Facebook company pages �  TwiSer

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Do Your Research and Connect �  Connect with them!

�  Social media has broken down barriers, messaging someone you’re not friends with is OK

�  Do your homework on the company and the person your contac&ng, crah a message that states your interest, without asking for a job (at first)

�  Eventually ask if there are open posi&ons

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Build a Powerful Presence �  Create a content calendar which defines what you’ll post about and when (e.g., Monday, Wednesday, Friday) �  Interviews, how-‐to, new informa&on, Lists, etc. �  Post videos occasionally

�  Create new content regularly � Write brief pieces with lots of visual breaks for people to absorb

�  Images draw people’s aSen&on – at least 1 graphic per post

� Write passionately! 11

Build a Powerful Presence, cont. �  Create a Facebook Page and TwiSer Accounts

�  Complete the profile �  Leverage your branding (colors, avatar) �  FB: Connect with as many friends as possible – you can use your email list to invite people to “Like” you

�  TwiSer: Follow relevant people �  Clean up your exis&ng personal Facebook profile and TwiSer Accounts – Hiring managers WILL look at these

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Build a Powerful Presence �  Blog -‐ Set-‐up a blog that centers around you exper&se and your passion

� Use Wordpress.org or Wordpress.com (beginners) �  Select a theme (template) that reflects your brand �  Buy an appropriate domain name �  Your “About” page should be about you and your professional background

� Make it easy to comment on your site, easy to subscribe � Use easy to read fonts

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Build a Powerful Presence, cont. �  Post updates on FB and Tweet �  Tweet your blog posts – leverage exis&ng content �  Connect with recruiters on TwiSer �  Comment and ask ques&ons on other blogs to build awareness and establish your credibility

�  Subscribe to blogs that post jobs, i.e., Mashable.com

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Build a Powerful Presence, cont. �  Create a video resume -‐ they serve as a differen&ator in the recrui&ng process

�  Keep it short – 1 to 2 minutes � Describe the value you can contribute to a given posi&on, explain why you’re the best person for the job and talk about your background in a story-‐like format

�  hSp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0oHhD3Bk9Uc

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Pinterest -‐ What is it? � Pinterest is a “virtual pinboard” that lets people share anything and any topic on the web that they find interes&ng and beau&ful – e.g., pictures, quotes, recipes, etc.

� Conceptually similar to social bookmarking sites. � Content is organized in “Boards” and organized in categories.

� Each piece of content is called a “Pin”

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Examples of Pins

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Pinterest is one of the largest social media networks on the web. The network saw +4377% growth between May 2011 and May 2012.

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How to use it �  Pin your resume �  Create a resume pin board �  Follow career experts �  Link to your Pinterest resume (Facebook, LinkedIn) � One more tool for your arsenal

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LinkedIn �  LinkedIn – 80% of employers use for pre-‐screening �  The world’s largest professional network with over 175 million registered members and growing rapidly.

�  Connects you to your trusted contacts and helps you exchange knowledge, ideas, and opportuni&es with a broader network of professionals.

�  hSp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVlUwwgOfKw

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Profiles �  First step in controlling your professional iden&fy online. � Authorita&ve source on your career.

�  Represents your career accomplishments and opens the door to new opportuni&es.

�  Communicates your professional brand. �  Enables people to connect and reconnect with you. �  100% complete profile contains an execu&ve summary, your skill set, educa&on, 3 recent posi&ons and 3 recommenda&ons.

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Profile -‐ Basic Informa&on � Gives snapshot of you and your professional brand. � Name and “other name” �  Professional “Headline” – defaults to your current job &tle, but you can customize it to reveal something about your exper&se and personality.

�  Include loca&on and industry to help people reconnect or reach out to you with new opportuni&es.

Edit Basic Informa&on

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Profile -‐ Job History � Add at least 3 recent posi&ons. �  If you company isn’t listed, add it. �  Provide details on your responsibili&es. This drama&cally helps improve search results.

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Add Prior Posi&ons

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Profile -‐ Educa&on �  Include detail about your formal educa&on. Let’s people you’ve known in the past connect with you.

� Where and what you’ve studied provides insights into your professional exper&se.

� Opens up valuable connec&ons to Alumni, Professors or others with similar backgrounds.

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Profile – Execu&ve Summary �  Your chance to summarize your professional brand. � Use this to describe your specific exper&se, your career accomplishments, and professional goals.

�  Let some personality come out by wri&ng in the first person or describing the aspects of your job that you’re most passionate about.

�  Include keywords that describe your exper&se. These help recruiters, employers and poten&al collaborators find you when searching LinkedIn.

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Profile – Recommenda&ons � Quick way for people to get a sense of your strengths as a professional and for you to help out your connec&ons in a few simple steps.

�  Click on “Asked to be Endorsed” on any posi&on on your profile and select which connec&on can speak to your work at that posi&on.

�  They’ll submit a brief recommenda&on for your approval. �  You can control which recommenda&ons to display by clicking “Manage”

�  3 recommenda&ons required to have a 100% complete profile. 47

Profile – Recommenda&ons � Quick way for people to get a sense of your strengths as a professional and for you to help out your connec&ons in a few simple steps.

�  Click on “Asked to be Endorsed” on any posi&on on your profile and select which connec&on can speak to your work at that posi&on.

�  They’ll submit a brief recommenda&on for your approval. �  You can control which recommenda&ons to display by clicking “Manage”

�  3 recommenda&ons required to have a 100% complete profile. 48

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Profile – Recommenda&ons �  To recommend the strong work of a colleague or business partner, visit their profile and click “Recommend this person” be sure to include specific details in your recommenda&on.

� An authen&c recommenda&on helps people to get a sense of what it’s like to work with this person.

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Profile – Addi&onal Informa&on �  Include addi&onal informa&on to round out your profile � Add links to your company website or porvolio to let people see more of your professional work.

� Add interests beyond your career and any groups you are associated with.

�  Touch on awards or honors that may dis&nguish your educa&on.

� Gives clearer picture of your professional iden&ty and helps you appear in search results when people are searching by keyword.

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Company Pages �  Central hub where millions of LinkedIn members can go to keep in the loop on company news, products and services, business opportuni&es, and job openings.

�  Also perfect place to start conversa&on with your customers, prospec&ve clients, job seekers, post company updates.

�  Post industry ar&cles and fun facts. �  These updates appear on your company page and also the pages of your followers.

�  Have followers Like your post so it goes viral. �  Analy&cs pages to see ac&vity on the page.

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In Summary �  Cover the basics – 100% complete profile � Get meaningful recommenda&ons �  Post updates �  Join groups � Use value-‐added applica&ons �  Become an expert with LinkedIn Answers �  Set up a page for you company and start connec&ng

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Keep It Current �  Post new content and status updates regularly �  Con&nue to comment on other blogs �  Con&nue to listen to what’s being said out there � Make it easy for people to reach you �  Be confident and consistent

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You’re ready! �  Integrate social media and the tradi&onal approach – add all your social media links to your resume!

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Thank you!

Bridget Gibbons [email protected]

@gibbonsdigital Fb.com/gibbbonsdigital www.GibbonsDigital.com

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