Have You Ever Googled Yourself?

Well if you are applying for jobs, you better! It is no secret that recruiters and hiring managers regularly perform Google searches on potential hires to ensure that there are no apparent surprises. Despite what you may think, you do not have to be famous to come up in someone’s results when your name is searched. While the solution to this may seem relatively simple, I can assure you it is not. Of course there are obvious things you can do such as not putting (or allowing your friends to put) anything inappropriate or even suspicious online. my final year of law school, I even went as far as deactivating my Facebook account in hopes of insuring that I would have no surprises.  I thought to myself, “I’ve never been arrested, posted naked pictures, or put anything inappropriate online”, therefore I’m fine. Problem solved, right? WRONG! 

The real questions are: What will come up when your name is Googled, is there someone else on the world wide web with your name and is it possible for their inappropriate content to be mistaken for yours? The unfortunate answer to all of these questions is yes.  This was exactly what happened to me; and to make it worse, it happened in the middle of a job interview. I felt like a deer in headlights and I froze with no response.

The worst part about it was that I Googled myself before and saw all that could have been mistaken for me or belonging to me. Yet, I disregarded it because I knew it wasn’t me and wasn’t posted by me; however, this is typically not the case for interviews, especially when you’re applying blindly to jobs.

You may be asking yourself, “How can I be held accountable for something that is beyond my control?” First, this situation is by no means beyond your control. The value of this experience reinforced the importance of CONTROLLING my virtual presence. You may be asking, “How can I do that?” There are two ways you can prevent yourself from feeling like a deer in headlights:

Career Eportfolio - A great website for tips and suggestions on how to create is Eportfolio California. The site states that, “At its most basic level, a career ePortfolio is similar to an academic ePortfolio. However, a career ePortfolio is unique in that it focuses on accomplishments, skills, and qualifications acquired in preparation for the workplace and beyond.” Eportfolio California directs someone interested in building a career ePortfolio to free and commercial tools that they may wish to use in building their career ePortfolio.

Professional Website - Another route is to register a domain name and create a personal website. This is the route I chose because I could use my name as the domain name, ensuring a potential employer would likely click a site named after me and know it was me. This also shows potential employers that I care about my reputation and understand how to use Internet software. Even if you don’t have website building experience, there are numerous sites that will provide simple templates and walk you through the process to create a website to use as your online portfolio. I chose GoDaddy because it has the GoDaddy Website Builder, which is quick, easy to follow, and you can have a site up in a few hours all on your own.

If you would like to see an example of what your online presence should look like, feel free to visit my site at www.DeAndreMorrow.com. Good luck in your job search!

Written by: DeAndre Morrow
Twitter: @MrDMorrow

Resume Building Tips

Ever since I graduated from college, creating and editing my resume has been one of the most mundane tasks. Despite its boring and time-consuming nature, resume building is an essential component of your professional life. Whether you’re a recent college grad or a seasoned professional enjoying your current job, your resume should remain up-to-date at all times. A good habit to develop is to update your resume as you complete significant tasks and accomplish career goals on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis. Additional tips to consider when building or updating your resume are:

·      Keep your resume at one page. Many professionals have a habit of listing every task they have ever completed and every job they have ever worked, typically making their resume more than one page. Multiple pages aren’t needed to show your potential employer you are right for the job. Instead, use your cover letter to go into detail about your past positions, how you completed tasks, and skills you acquired throughout your career.

·      Maintain a running list of accomplishments. As you achieve a goal or complete an assignment, add it to your running list of accomplishments. This will make it easier to update your resume when needed and will save you time digging through emails and thinking intensely about what projects you completed. Developing this habit will also help you tailor your resume to the job you’re applying to (see tip #5).

·      Make your resume results-driven. When employers look at your resume, they want to know how you impacted a company or met a particular goal; therefore, your resume should be results-driven. If you managed a client’s social media account for an initiative, highlight the final social media metrics. If you pitched journalists for a new report, mention the media attention your pitching generated.

·      Be short, sweet at to the [salient] point. It’s not necessary to include every detail of every job you were ever hired to do. Keep your resume short, sweet and to the point. Focus on the most salient points such as the amount of money you managed in a budget or the number of committee members you supervised to prepare for an event.

·      Tailor your resume to the job. When preparing your resume for a job, pay attention to the job description and the skills they are seeking then tailor your resume accordingly. Use your cover letter and resume to show the potential employer you have the right qualifications then speak in further detail about your skills during the interview. Good luck! 


Written by: Jenna Boyer
Twitter @_JennaDanielle_
Email Jenna.Boyer89@gmail.com

Marketing Your Event Through Social Media

The holidays are finally here and many companies, organizations and networking groups are planning holiday parties to commemorate this special time of year. If you're like me, you're seeking creative ways to promote your event and receive a phenomenal turnout despite the abundance of galas, parties and happy hours happening around the city. How can you spread the word while simultaneously engaging with your potential attendees? Social media.

“Like” us on Facebook and “Follow Us” on Twitter are two phrases we hear and see regularly when interacting with small or large companies, which makes it safe to say social media plays a major role in marketing. Whether you’re pitching a story, idea, product or event, Twitter and Facebook are large social media outlets used to reach consumers. With social media’s new position in the marketing world, it’s important to understand how to use it in a way that will benefit your company and your consumers; in this case, your event.
When planning an event, it’s important to think of whom your target audience is and what the best ways are to reach them through social media. Some  factors to consider include which platforms your audience use the most, what time of day your target audience is most likely to see your tweet or post and what content will gain users attention and make them “retweet” or “share” the event information with friends. One strategy I have noticed recently is to offer a free giveaway to guests leading up to the event. A way to apply this strategy is to pose a trivia question about your company and the first person to tweet or post the correct answer gets two free tickets to the event. This is a great method to engage potential attendees and encourage users to read about your company in order to answer the trivia question correctly.
According to marketing expert Eric D. Schulz, author of The Marketing Game, “there is a simple rule for effectively using social media and it’s this — your messages must be TIMELY, RELEVANT, and ACTIONABLE.” This approach is effective and should be considered when creating a social media marketing strategy for your function. Below are a few tips for using Twitter and Facebook to promote an upcoming event.


Twitter

• Keep your tweets at a maximum of 120 characters to make it easy for Twitter users to retweet.
• HootSuite is a great program to use to schedule tweets & Facebook posts and to generate a social media analytics report.
• Encourage event partners, sponsors, friends and family to retweet and repost event information – word of mouth is still the number one form of marketing.

Facebook

• Use images to get the attention of your followers. Facebook users respond best to images and graphics and are more likely to share them on their own Facebook accounts.
• Review your Facebook analytics to see what time majority of your followers are on Facebook and post information around that hour.
• Offer valuable giveaways to potential attendees, such as free tickets, at a certain time on a certain day of the week.

No matter what you post online, always remember to stay true to your company's brand and have a little fun. Everyone appreciates a good sense of humor but don't try too hard to be funny, that's when posts become cheesy. 

Are there any tips you'd like to share? Leave a comment below.

Happy holidays!



Written by: Jenna Boyer
Twitter @_JennaDanielle_
Email Jenna.Boyer89@gmail.com