Mayer (left) and Hinson (right) talking to the students about job search.
Photo Credit: Chanila German
Finding a job has been known to be tough, especially for those that have recently graduated from college. For college students, this means that branching out and networking in the work field is extremely crucial, according to a panel hosted by career services.
On Dec. 5, Adam Mayer, director of career development, and Gennae Hinson, director of career services, offered Montclair State students a workshop on social media and LinkedIn in the Center for Environmental and Life Sciences.
At the workshop, Hinson expressed to the students the importance of developing connects in the work field,and networking prior to graduating. Networking oneself revolves around volunteering, participating in community activities, working with temporary employment agencies, having conversation with professionals in the field and asking those around you who may be able to assist you in gaining work experience in your desired field.
“Those around you are most essential. Whom do your parents and your extended family know? From one student, I asked how he found an internship, which he had told me that his father had worked at the company and this was his way of creating a connection. I thought, ‘That’s awesome.’ Here’s a student that is using his resources,” said Hinson with great enthusiasm to the students.
While some students might not be as fortunate to have a family member or friend that helps them get connected, Hinson suggested, “Go on and think about all the people from [Montclair State], alumni, professors and neighbors [that can be helpful]. As well, using LinkedIn to network.”
Mayer explained the importance of keeping your LinkedIn updated by adding something that you recently did that is considered professional content, or even posting a motivational quote. To nutrition majors, Mayer advised, “Maybe there is an article or something with a professional association that relates to that field. Post it. It’s an easy way of staying on people’s radar without having to go through some of the other hoops.”
Both Mayer and Hinson expressed that using jobscan.com is an important step when networking and sending out a resume. It allows anyone to post their resume and check to see if it hit the “target” words that employers’ scanners look for. This will help your resume to be one of the few selected from the scanners that look through hundreds of other resumes by checking for specific words on their radar.
They also discussed keeping your personal social media accounts separate from your professional ones and having privacy controls on all of them.
Mayer and Hinson suggested “googling yourself” and seeing what appears. If something pops up that doesn’t benefit you, contact the platform and ask them to remove it. Though both said some things that appear on the internet are impossible to be fully erased, so remain aware of what is being posted about you by either yourself or others. Mayer mentioned that employers always look at the first five results that appear on a person when googling them.
