Tuesday 21 November 2017

Social media and the havoc it can wreck on your professional life


Many people underestimate the power of the social media. When it was first design the recruiters who were hiring you probably hadn’t even heard of facebook. But the online community has climbed the priority scale in the last ten years. Now you can forget about recruiters not considering your social media. It’s the most unique snapshot of your life – and it can either set you up for success or failure.

 You’d think that your own private facebook account or twitter would only bother you and your friends. But many times of the years employees have lost jobs for inappropriate comments or behavior online. It is often the first port of call for any employer, especially before they hire someone that they haven’t considered. It used to be that only the references – those three mobile numbers you stick at the end of your resume – would represent you and your personality. However, modern employers have a far better opportunity to gain insight into the next person that they are bringing into their company.

According to the recruitment agency ‘Jobvite’ 93% of companies who hired in 2014 used some kind of social media to assess their hiring decisions. If there was 93% in 2014 – it’s hard to imagine why that number would have increased. To take it further, 61% of the reactions to the profiles were negative, and meant that many of those job seekers were turned away.

There are several characteristics that you should be wary of when posting on your online accounts
1.      References to drugs, profanity or sexual posts
According to the survey around 70% of recruiters reflect negatively on these types of posts.
2.      Alcohol or guns
44% of recruiters find these topics to be concerning. While some may find that this is cumbersome to remove all references to these topics – try instead for a measured response. Most adults drink, the reference wasn’t so much to moderate drinking, but extensive references to it.

3.      Your attitude

Much like being in public you want to present your best self. We can all be a little irritable and grumpy when we’ve had a bad day but try not to react online. It’s best to grumble to yourself most of the time. One Yale dean lost her job after leaving rude yelp reviews online.  Jane Chu posted a review of a restaurant in America where she called the owners ‘white trash.’ Obviously this behavior is offensive and wouldn’t be acceptable in normal conversation – so it’s best to apply the same rules in online behavior.

If you wouldn’t say it to your mother, best not to post it.
4.      Watch your spelling and grammar

66% of those surveyed said that they would definitely be turned off a future employee if they saw posts with bad spelling and grammar. If you’re like me and you’re applying for a literacy centric position – it’s especially important that you’re displaying these skills publicly. Many job applicants don’t get to submit a job portfolio, so in many ways your facebook, twitter and linkedin tell your employer what you would be like to work with.

But don’t back away from your social media just yet, according to a study initiated by Careerbuilder, 29% of recruiters found something that drove them to offer the job to a candidate. From the high level of online recruiters, it’s clear that making sure you put a good foot forward can boost your chances. Forbes magazine explains that candidates have a second opportunity to explain that they’re a wellrounded person with the right qualities and personality to fit the company. 

To boost your chances of showing your advantages as an employee work towards creating meaningful connections online and sharing content that positively promotes your work value.

Good ways to do this include;

Connecting with online interest groups like ‘Women in Business,’ ‘Climate Change Action’ or ‘Young Lawyers for Change’. These groups all display that you are a proactive person with a strong interest in a relevant area of the field your aiming to work with.

Additionally, posting some of your work online (Where there are no copyright or privacy issues) can allow employers to have a better understanding of your skills and abilities. Often a candidate can come across stronger this way then they did in the interview when everything was rushed.

But it’s not just job seekers that have to mind their manners online – current hires are 41% more likely to be investigated than candidates. While this information isn’t necessarily used against the candidate, 26% of employers said that they had found information that forced them to either reprimand or fire an employee.

Terry Frei, who was a columnist for several years tweeted out that he was ‘very uncomfortable’ with a Japanese driver winning the Indianapolis 500. The ultimate consequence was that he lost his position in the Denver Post and the company sent out a post publicly condemning his statement and apologizing for his actions.


To manage your social media the best plan of action is to assess what qualities your employer is likely to be looking for. From there do your best to make sure that you show those qualities that you genuinely possess and are interested in. Never try to force a fake interest in something, you can end up in some really tight spots if you do! Don’t be afraid to actively participate in the online community, but like I said before – the online world is no different to the real world. 

Tuesday 7 November 2017

Exam 101 Preparing for the exam

Exam 101 Preparing for the exam
Exams really aren’t that hard – once you’ve got a fairly good idea for how to anticipate the exam question you can essentially hone your preparations to ensure that you’re set for studying (to learn how to anticipate the exam question refer to the archive blogs for August 2017).
There are several routes that this can take. I personally recommend that you begin studying 6 weeks out from the exam. I will label what to do for each week and you can step in wherever you fit in. (For example, if you only have four weeks left begin from week four not week six.)
You will reap the most benefit if you do the program from start to finish, but it is the final weeks of consolidated learning that you must focus on if you have limited time.
Week Six
Daily Activities
·        Check for the examinable areas of the course
·        Summarize the biggest topics into four pages each
·        Summarize critical topic components into cue cards
·        Scan forward for the next six weeks and devise a study plan to get through the material a little faster. Use study notes from old students (Available online) or watch old lectures (often found on youtube or itunesU) to gain a better understanding. – Aim to finish three weeks before the end of term.
Weekly Activity
·        Arrange for a consultation with tutor/lecturer/teacher to ask questions about areas you’re unsure about
Tip
·        Find some quotes you like from key readings and put them into your summaries
Week Five
Goals
Ø  Begin final review of learning material; begin with weeks 1-4
Ø  Attempt two exam questions (long) and three exam questions (short)
Daily
·        Continue summary of biggest topics into four pages each
·        Continue summarizing critical components onto cue cards
·        40 minutes per day on study plan to finish course
Weekly Activity
Assemble your old assessment items in a logical order and write out the critical comments from each of them. Apply them to a simple checklist for use next week.
Tip
·        Don’t highlight anything yet. Save that for your final review.
Week Four
Goals
Ø  Begin final review of learning material; begin with weeks 3-6
Ø  Attempt two exam questions (long) and three exam questions (short)
Ø  Have your cue card summaries finished
Daily
·        60 minutes per day on study plan to finish course
·        Begin summarizing the small/less important topics into two pages each

Weekly Activity
Use the critical feedback list you compiled last week to check your results on your exam questions. Where you haven’t applied the feedback properly rewrite the question in a different colored pen and properly apply the feedback. Take the rewritten answer to your instructor and ask for their opinion on the piece. Take your feedback with you so that you can show them how you interpreted the feedback.
Tip
You should show them your interpretation because sometimes you might receive a comment like ‘be more precise’ so your response is to use less words – but the instructor intended for you to use more technical language, not fewer words.

Week Three
Goals
Ø  Begin final review of learning material; begin with weeks 5-8
Ø  Attempt two exam questions (long) and three exam questions (short)
Ø  Finish summarizing smaller topics into two pages and combine all topics into one study guide
Daily
·        60 minutes per day on study plan to finish course [YOU SHOULD FINISH THIS WEEK – IF NOT, either increase the amount to finish this week or move on.]
·        Review notes 20 minutes per day
Weekly
Spend time with at least one other student in your course and go through one full exam with them. If you don’t have much time don’t write out full answers, just answer the question in dot points and discuss what you think is most important.
Tip
Respect what the other students says, while you can’t rely on others for 100% accuracy a different perspective will focus on other critical components of the course and will help to keep your mind on track for where it should be.  Don’t be put off if they haven’t studied as much as you already, some people work well with less preparation – but you’re always better off to have prepared more than less.
Week Two
Goals
Ø  Begin final review of learning material; begin with weeks 7-11
Ø  Attempt two exam questions (long) and three exam questions (short)
Ø  Finish summarizing smaller topics into two pages and combine all topics into one study guide
Daily
·        Review notes 30 minutes per day
·        Extra focus on finishing your final review. Don’t write in full sentences now if you’re running short on time. Instead just summarize in dot points and draw diagrams. It’s about learning the information, not making it look good
Weekly
Do a timed practice exam, practicing calming techniques and using any of the notes you’ll be allowed. If you’re not allowed notes in your exam – then it won’t be to your advantage to use them.
Tip
Check your exam afterwards and give it a grade estimate by looking over the feedback and analysis you’ve already being given and see how it matches up.
Week One
Goals
Ø  Finish final review of learning material
Ø  Attempt three exam questions (long) and four exam questions (short)
Daily
·        Review notes 30 minutes per day
·        Extra focus on finishing your final review. Don’t write in full sentences now if you’re running short on time. Instead just summarize in dot points and draw diagrams. It’s about learning the information, not making it look good
Weekly
Do three timed practice exams, practicing calming techniques and using any of the notes you’ll be allowed. If you’re not allowed notes in your exam – then it won’t be to your advantage to use them.
Tip
Use this week to give yourself some rest and eat healthy foods. You’ve worked hard for the last six weeks – you can afford to take a little bit of extra time to relax than the other students – plus this will help you to reduce your anxiety before the exam.

Best of luck preparing for your exam – I know you can do it!