Building a Digital Presence

We had our annual Grady College Career Day earlier this week and I wanted to sit in on a lot of the things Cecil Bentley had organized, but this pesky job got in the way. Thankfully, my colleague Prof. Karen Russell put together a post about what she heard at the panel she moderated on using social media to find jobs.

I spent a good chunk Wednesday’s classes talking about building a digital presence with my first semester students. And, at the end, I realized I need to do a lot more with that idea. I have no idea where it can be inserted into the curriculum, but it needs to be there.

My highlights:

• Get a web site/blog, preferably on your own domain. WordPress installs are very simple and, if you get stuck, there’s a huge number of people who will help you out
• Get on Twitter
• Get on LinkedIn (I have to do that …)

But before you do those, decide who you are and who you want to be. These need to be linked and honest. What’s your goal? You should think carefully and critically about what you want to be, where you want to be and what you want to do and then lay out a plan that will get you there.

Make sure you stay professional on these sites, but be personable. Don’t talk about your St. Patrick’s Day adventure, but do talk about how you used online restaurant reviews to decide where to go. (Set up a private, protected account on these sites to keep your close friends in the loop if you want.)

There is no wizard in a robe at the end of your college days anymore, no one will anoint you with a job. You need to make your job happen. You, in many ways, will make your own job by how you craft your digital presence.

More to come on this …