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10 reasons to why students should have LinkedIn

March 15, 2011 By Leave a Comment

LinkedIn is a powerful tool in the professional world. It lets people get to know you, your network and your skills. And it gives you a place to build your professional network. Yet many student have not begun to use the network as a tool in the future job hunting yet. Thus, I wanted to gather up a list of reasons to change this. It is time to get on the network now!

Here are 10 reasons to why students should have LinkedIn:

1. Stay connected with those you meet during your study period

Business cards get swooped when you meet people briefly and emails when you have classes with people. But from experience networks like Facebook make it easier to connect as we are constantly reminded about what people are up to. Therefore you should start right a way to build that network for your professional contacts.

2. Keep a dialog with those you meet

As I said in the first point, you get constantly updated about what people are up to. Use that to stay connected. Email people who change jobs or comment on someone who share a link and thus keep the dialog going.

3. Make your resume a constant work in process

Most of us have a resume that is only updated when it is time to apply for a new job. But when you have it on LinkedIn it is easier to update it more often as you’re constantly reminded of it. And we all know that things we work a lot with is often better than things we do “last second”.

4. Let others know what you are up to

Like you can stay connected by other’s updating what they are up to. You can do the same. Let people know about you latest projects and when it is time to graduate. People might have something they can contribute with.

5. Get endorsed for the work you do in school

It is easier to get endorsement when you have a reason to ask for them and while it is current. Let teachers and mentors endorse your work in school or with a project on LinkedIn right after they finish. Then you have it ready when and on print when someone wants to know more about you.

6. Give recruiters a way to find you

Recruiters are always looking for the best students. If not based on grades then best in other reasons. Give them a way to find you by having a well worked through LinkedIn profile.

7. Connect with people in the companies you are interested in

When it comes to big companies it might be hard to get in contact with a person as their website rarely gives you names on others than press people and the CEO. With LinkedIn you can research for some interesting connections yourself.

8. Show people what you know by participating in the forums

Many people ask questions in the forums on LinkedIn. Here you have a reason to show people that you know what you are talking about, by contributing with answers.

9. Apply for jobs on LinkedIn

When you have a complete LinkedIn profile, with resume, summary and endorsements LinkedIn can be a powerful tool to apply for jobs with, because people recruiting have a lot more than a piece of paper to go on. You can send people your resume as a link or you can apply for one of the jobs advertised on the forum.

10. Begin building your professional brand online

What it all adds up to is a price of your professional brand. What do people find when they Google you? If you are not ready for or don’t want to have your own website or portfolio this might just be enough.

If you’re still not convinced, read some of these stories.

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Why you should always make career choices based on having fun

February 23, 2011 By Leave a Comment

When you come to crossroads in you career it easy to start to questioning your focus. Because there are many reasons to take a job, leave a job or switch jobs. But in the end there is only one that matters, having fun.

Thus, here are (to start with) 5 reasons to always choose fun!

  1. First, and obviously, you will have fun 40 hours/week (At least!)
  2. You never know what will happen tomorrow, so make sure you have fun today.
  3. Enjoying what you do (aka having fun) often equalizes a higher performance
  4. Your colleagues will like to work with you, as you are passionate about what you do.
  5. Taking the “normal” or “planned” route could lead you to the top,
    but it might not and then you might have spent your time not having fun while finding out.
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Stop saying that it is not part of your job – and learn something new!

February 18, 2011 By 1 Comment

For most of us parts of our job includes developing, using and taking decisions about things that does not belong to our main specialty. If could be anything from ordering IT systems to defining how to profile a product in the market or something completely different.

In these situations we have two choices. We can either try to limit the situation down to what we do know and decide from there.  People who think like this often say “I don’t know about this, and this is not part of my job.” Or we can try to understand the situation to the extent that we feel confident about what we take a decision about.

I argue that it cannot come much good from the first alternative. It might be the simple solution and if we’re lucky, it might even turn in to good things But most of the time I think that making decisions this way will only come back to haunt us. With things that need to be changed or fixed, and many times cost us more than what the time to fully understand would have.

The other way is far better in the long run I say. But it does take a lot more effort, time and energy. As it expect you to constantly wider your knowledge. However, by always trying to think everything trough and understand the whole picture you will probably end up saving time in the end.

So please people, stop saying that it is not part of you job, you might actually end up learning something from it. And that is when inspiration strikes!

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Thank you for letting me establish a digital footprint

November 14, 2010 By 1 Comment

A little more than 18 months ago I started blogging with the intention to improve my knowledge about social media. The blog soon contained post on everything from group collaboration to customer service. I did not mind leaving my main topic, because my second goal was to improve my English.

Lately I’ve had troubles making the time to blog. Working full-time with business development while trying to finish one of my thesis has done that to me. Sure I feel bad to leave my readers, I hope you are not too disappointed, I will come back. But I’ve also realized that my posts survived. I blog about 25 % of what I used to, yet my visitor count remains stable. This have truly made it easier to take the time to write when I can, because for me it’s a proof that my post are relevant to people.

I might not be the most knowledgeable in my field, but apparently I’ve learned how to write online in a way that generates traffic. And too me, that is worth so much. My blog is a proof of my ability to market in my second language. You guys give me confidence!

Thank you.

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Iphone blog: Make the summer the time to get ahead

July 2, 2010 By 1 Comment

I’m at the airport waiting for My flight to nice, France. In my suitcase i have two books, trust agents and six pixells of separation. I got them around christmas, but have not had the time to read as Ive been busy reading school litteratur. I have à rule: no reading for fun until done reading for school. As this never happened, i try to do all of My reading between the courses and om the summer holiday.

And after à few years of using the time i have off to read non-fiction litterature and work, i have learned far more which is useful for My work Than at the university. Simply because i’ve read what interests me instead of what i have to read. I think that most People underestimate reading to complement school and says that work experience is the best and often only complement. And i agree that is is, but reading Will teach you à lot.

When we work and/or study, that is our excuse to not go that extra mile. When we are on a vacation we just sant relax.

But why not bring à few books to the beach or your computer to the summerhouse for rainy days. You might just learn à few new things or get an idea which Will give you à promotion you wanted. Reading on the beach might be what reduces your stress in the fall. Give it à shot?

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Why you should be a mentor

March 23, 2010 By 4 Comments

“We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give” – Winston Churchill

In the beginning of his career, Winston Churcill had a mentor in Bourke Cockran a British Lawyer and Politician. If Churcill mentored any one particular himself I have not figured out, however with quotes like this, he inspired many.

A mentor is a professional advisor; usually two of the most important qualities of a good mentor are that they have “learning attitude,” and “effective managerial skills.” If you have this qualities  I encourage you to become a mentor, to a fellow novice as myself.

Last week, I read a blog post from an internationally recognized young entrepreneur. He wrote that he never had a mentor and he thought that the reasons where that; character did not fit with a mentor and many think of him and others like him as “young people who think they know everything.”

I was a bit surprised by this, because I have never looked for a mentor but I have always seemed to have mentors, and has he is some one I admire I just assumed that he had many mentors and supporters.

Have you heard the Buddhist proverb:

“When the student is ready the teacher will come”

When I have needed guidance and help, the help has come in one way or another. I guess I never asked the question “would you be my mentor?” instead I just asked questions and the relationship that has formed between me and the more experience people I have asked, have become a mentoring one because of this.

No matter if you get asked to become a mentor or just naturally find yourself in that position, I encourage you to do it, and here are a few reasons why.

Teaching make you analyze and draw conclusions of your work

It is one thing to know something and to do that, it is another thing to explain how it is done for someone else. Teaching and explaining what you do, make you look at things differently and learn them more thoroughly. Therefore you will become better at what you do by constantly teaching it to someone else, and depending on the level of expertise of your mentee, you might have to become better at what you do to be able to fully answer the questions you get. This can also lead to advancement in your own career as you will show the features that are wanted in people who are promoted: unselfishness, desire to develop and leadership etc.

You have a better change to stay connected with what is “new”

If you are a few years into your career, it is very likely that the things you were taught in school have changed since you graduated. In most fields, things such as strategies and techniques changes very fast, and it is harder to stay updated when you are working full time. Therefore, a mentee can assist you by teaching you about the latest development and what is taught now compared to when you where in school. Thus, you can get a competitive advantage and get a wider picture by letting the mentee teach you stuff as well.

The relationship is both give and take.

As I just said; the mentee can teach you things as well. However, this is not the only way the relationship goes both ways. Maybe the mentee have a few connections that you can benefit from. Or computer knowledge that can help you with you online resume? Or be a very good listener, who you can speak to about changing career without judgment? Sure, you are the more experienced in the relationship, but that does not mean that you cannot gain from it. I think that the relationship is even better if you benefit from it, both because you will be more inspired to teach if you get something back, and because the mentee can feel that him or her is contributing as well.

With that said, the benefits of being a mentor is plenty; You become better at way you do, by teaching and analyzing. You stay connected with what is new and gain competitive advantage. And the benefits of the relationships goes both ways.

So what is there to wait for? Go and find you novice and start mentoring today!

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Would you drop out or not, if you got your dream job?

March 12, 2010 By 5 Comments

Earlier this week I got the question; “If you got offered to start your dream job, would you drop out of school? I mean you seem to know so much already, do you really need to study anymore?” My first response was, “I think that the more I study, the more I realize how much I don’t know.” I really believe this which is why I continue to study and not only my major but other things as well.

So back to the question, would I drop out? I guess, this is one of those questions you cannot really answer until you’re in the situation and know all the details. However, I believe that I would not drop out.

The reasons for this are plenty;

  • People who stop studying to work tend to never finish their degree
  • I would worry on how I would do in future positions and when it came to promotions if I did not have a degree, (though this might not matter after a few years of working.)
  • I believe that academic studies are important though I agree that you learn more by doing.
  • Lastly, would I want to work for a company that could not wait for me until I finished school?

My ideal situation if this would happen would be to start working and finish my degree while working. As I have been working all through school, I know that this is possible though it might need some schedule management.

Anyone who would be in this situation should probably contemplate the same things.

What do you think you would do? Do you agree or disagree with my reasons for not doing it?

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Networking Tips: Modern Examples of Conversational Clothing

February 17, 2010 By 3 Comments

If you have read about networking you have probably come across the tools that are “conversational clothing.”  The idea of conversational clothing is to wear items that catch people’s attention and invite a conversation.  A very common example is a pin. A pin that you might have inherited from your aunt, found in an English second hand-store or that have some other interesting story. Thus by wearing this pin and being asked for it, you can network and start conversations easily with an “easy in.”

Now, as you might have guessed I don’t use pins, I never have and I’m pretty sure I don’t even own one. Considering that they are not that fashionable I guess that the same thing goes for you, if you are a girl. If you are a guy, then you probably never used one.

Recently though, I figured out that I do own an item that really catches people’s attention and create conversations. It’s a beanie, with the print “bad hair day.” In Sweden this beanie has been very popular during the last winters and if you Google the print on the beanie, you will find a lot of conversation around it. However, as I do not live in Sweden I manage to create a lot of conversations while wearing this, mostly because people wonder if I’m actually having a bad hair day or if I just like the hat. And everyone especially in the morning seems to wonder were to get one.

This made me start to think about the benefit of conversational clothing and how ridiculously effective it can be. In my case I manage to talk with a lot of people who I often just greet briefly, and it is just because of the hat. What other things could be useful?

A friend recently launched her own business, Nuance Journals, which creates and sells hand-made journals. Now, if you take a look at these journals they truly have personality and look very unique, which I think could create a few conversations. I mean in a time where it is difficult to impress with the latest tech-item, this might be the excellent choice.

How about you? What do you use for to start conversations? Have you tried wearing conversational clothing, or do you own any items that create conversation?

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10 Reasons To Why Students Should Blog

February 1, 2010 By 7 Comments

Yesterday, I got the question “why do you blog?” of course I had around a million answers to respond with. Then I realized that the reason the person asked was not to find out why I blogged but to see if there was any reason to why he should blog.

This got me thinking about what blogging has done to me, and why I continue to blog. Thus I wanted to create a list to why I think that students should blog to complement their studies and choice their own professional path. Because I honestly believe that when I want to apply for a job or make decisions for my career this blog will matter.

Blogs give individuals an opportunity to express their opinions and make them count in a world of millions of others. Years ago, you needed to be a journalist or a politician to get your opinion heard; today, blogs offer anyone the opportunity to express oneself.

Now this list is written on the presumptions that writing is a way of studying; When you have put something in your own words you know it a lot better than if you only read it. Also, I talk about blogging about subjects, interest etc. and not a personal blog about what I did today.

1. Gain a deeper knowledge for the subject you are studying – or show people that you know about another subject.

When it comes to University classes I many times feel that even though I’m taking classes in subjects that interests me and the classes are really good, I do not really learn what had expected to learn. By blogging you can assign yourself any subject you want to analyze and write about and then learn about it yourself.

2. Improve your creativity by finding new subject to write about.

Initially blogging might be very easy and the subject may come to you by the second, but sometimes you will lose your flow or you might not find and interesting angle. Then creativity will be essential to keep your blogging up, and of course there will be other ways to improve your creativity like with the blog design etc.

3. Develop your analytical thinking though writing insightful posts.

It is one thing to republish the news or the facts that you read about, but adding value to them and figure out new angles is what will improve your analytical thinking. After all, for most subjects people already have a source for the news, so from you they will be looking for something a bit more insightful.

4. Create pieces for discussion and debate subjects that interest you through comments on your blog.

I bet that you many times wonder about what other people think about a subject. A blog could be the ideal way to find the answers. Many bloggers write about subjects that interest them and ask questions or do other things to make people comment. Then they learn from others by reading and participating in the discussion that can come out from that.

5. Improve your language skills, writing will give you a wider vocabulary and better grammar and if you prefer your could practice your professional writing.

As I write in my second language I broaden my vocabulary by having to find words representing what I am trying to say. But if you blog in your first language this same thing will probably work with synonyms and finding more precise definitions on what you are trying to say. Thus both will give you a wider vocabulary. Along with this you will improve your grammar by writing on a regular basis. Here I also want to point out that a blog, if you want it to, could be great way to learn to write professionally so that you are always ready to present yourself well.

6. Show that you are trustworthy by keeping the promise to your readers – blog on a regular basis.

All bloggers know that the traffic to their site decrease if they do not update regularly. Now what regularly means defers between bloggers, some updates a few times daily, while I update two or three times a week. This is what my readers expect from me and that is what I give you.

7. Improve your skills to express yourself, practice to write in a way that influences people.

It is one thing to use well thought out words and proper grammar, but expressing yourself in a way that influences people takes quite some talent. Some might have I naturally, while others have to work on it, and might never reach the same level. A blog could be a great place to practice.

8. Show that the interest that you have for your future profession is a passion.

Now, when most students who come home from school might be tired of the subject they study and want to do something else. Which is why showing a real interest for the subject you study could give you a great advantage in the future. When it comes to hiring, who will an employer choice – the blogger or the student watching tv?

9. Build a name for yourself, a personal brand, share your ideas and thoughts with the world and let them get to know you.

A blog is a great way to take control of your personal brand, to show people who you are. Now, you might not be an expert in a subject, and be honest about that. But you still can contribute you can still teach people who now less than you about the subject something. Or perhaps you can give a person who knows more a few great ideas. Let people get to know you and what you think, and one day you will probably be an expert.

10. Create a written portfolio showing that you are knowledgeable in the subject that you want to work in and you are very likely to get a head when you want to apply of a job.

What all comes down to, it being prepared for your future profession. Surely a diploma and a degree will do that, but your fellow student will have that to and compete for the same jobs. A blog will give you a differentiator, a lead, something that proves that you know what you are talking about. It is a written portfolio of your thoughts and ideas, or perhaps pictures, which make you, stand out.

Now, already when writing this I can think of more ideas, but I am going to stop here for now. I have given your some of reasons and explanations and left some things unsaid. Do you blog? Why do you blog? Why do you recommend others to blog? It is your turn to contribute to the list..

Filed Under: Annelie's Musings, Career development Tagged With: , , ,

This week’s challenge: do a spell and grammar check for your LinkedIn profile.

January 27, 2010 By Leave a Comment

I’m the expert at missing a letter here or there when I type, especially when the missed or wrong letter only give me another word and thus are not caught by the automatic spell checker. However, I believe that in blog posts for example, people tend to forgive misspelled words easier than on a resume.

Lately I have read a lot of CV’s and personal letters as I’m about to completely rewrite my CV and personal introduction as it has been awhile since the last time. Though many people have managed to inspire me in with their CVs and LinkedIn pages, I’m still chocked of how people seem to forget to proofread and complete a grammar check on their LinkedIn page, something they tend to be better at on their other CV’s.

I think this is because people tend to spend less time setting up their LinkedIn profile than writing a CV. Also, I think is more likely that, people review their resumes before sending them out and do not have the habit of doing the same with their LinkedIn profile page. This is unfortunate, because almost all headhunters will Google you, and hopefully find your LinkedIn page. Thus, your LinkedIn page might be a big part of your application even though if you don’t link to it.

Therefore, I challenge all of you to do a spell and grammar check to your LinkedIn profile before the weekend!

Please share if you completed the challenge and if you indeed found any spelling or grammatical errors.

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