Category: Social Media

Buyer Beware: Social Media Platforms for Job Hunting

As the Social Media Manager here at Career Services, I wanted to share a task on my to-do list: investigating the latest social media platforms for one’s job search.  I encourage you to add this to your own to-do list, especially if you’re a heavy social media user like myself.  One of the most distinguishing characteristics about social media is its dynamic nature; there is never a dull moment and its always changing.  There are new tools coming out all the time to help your job search.  As a job seeker, this means you have a variety of tools at your discretion BUT you need to do your homework before you sign up for something new.

Adopt a buyer-beware mentality. Sites like In the Door, StartWire or BranchOut are well-intentioned – they want to help you tap into your social network to find a job.  But what else is involved? You need to consider the pros and cons to their service.  Here are some questions to ask:

What is their privacy policy?
What information of mine and my friends can they see?
Who can access this information?  Just me, just my friends, employers, etc.
Is there a cost?
Where do the jobs on the site come from? Are they from an aggregator like indeed.com? Do employers post directly?
Once I have a job, what does my affiliation with the site entail? Can my employer see my account?

Here at Career Services, we don’t endorse or partner with any of these sites.  They are resources out there for you to utilize. So if you decide to use them,  make sure you take the necessary pre-cautions before signing up.

If you’re new to social media and want to explore how you can use these platforms in your search, check out our resource pages for Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.

Technology Careers 101: A Whole World Beyond Google, Facebook, and Apple Awaits You

by Brandi Durkac

Social media, cloud computing, and mobile devices… oh my!  Just by reading this blog, you have already demonstrated expertise and interest in using social media (what a blog is), the cloud (where the blog sits in cyberspace), and mobile devices (most likely how you accessed the blog).  If you are an avid user of technology and are interested in exploring careers in the technology sector, you may have a great predisposition to thrive in the fast-paced, ever-changing, and potentially lucrative world of technology.

Although there are a myriad of opportunities for programmers and coders, you don’t need to be a computer science major to work at a technology company.  Nor do you need to limit your search to only brand-named giants like Google, Microsoft, Facebook, and Apple.  Some of the fastest-growing tech companies are not household names but are shaping emerging technologies in the cloud computing, biotechnology, solar energy, nanotechnology, software security, and social media.  Check out Forbes latest annual report on the 25 fastest-growing tech companies.

Helpful Tips:

1) Where to Start:  There are pros and cons to working in medium-to-large companies versus in smaller, start-up environments.  Industry-leading Silicon Valley companies like Google, Apple, Oracle, Cisco, Genentech, and Salesforce.com, as well as established goliaths like IBM, Dell, Microsoft, and Amazon.com, have formal college recruiting targeted towards undergraduates.  In addition to product development, some of these companies also offer internships in sales & business development, marketing, and customer support as a great way to get in the door.  These larger companies often provide excellent training programs and opportunities for lateral and upward mobility in the organization.  However, if an enormous corporate setting isn’t for you, there are also start-ups and smaller, fast-growing companies that are eager to find talented, motivated young people to help them build their company.  Emerging enterprise social software companies like Lithium Technologies, Jive Software, LivePerson, Mzinga, and Drupal offer exciting opportunities in a fun, more intimate work environments that may be better suited for you.

2) Getting in the Door:  There is no better way to get into technology companies than to use technology!  A great place to start is with the Penn alumni network on LinkedIn and QuakerNet.  See if you can find an alumnus/alumna working at these companies who would be willing to schedule an informational interview with you.  If they think you would be a good fit and can help you, the good news is that you may also help them.  Many companies offer referral bonuses to current employees that help recruit talented individuals to join the organization.  Do your homework ahead of time to learn about what the company does and what jobs might be available on these companies’ websites.

3) Finding Your Niche:  Remember that where you start is not likely where you will end up.  The goal is to get in the door at a company that is financially stable and can offer you room to grow.  The technology world is constantly changing – remember how quickly MySpace went from hot to not? – which will always present new and exciting opportunities for you.  The more exposure you can get to different departments and functions within the company, the better off you will be.  You will need to decide which side of the company you are better suited for:  internal-facing operations and product development or external-facing sales, marketing, and support.  I found sales to be a great first career for me to gain exposure to many departments in a company, to learn how companies make decisions, and to build a strong foundation of transferrable business skills that will be useful in any career, including working in higher education.

4) How To Learn More:    You may be wondering about the best way to start learning technology jargon and industry lingo.  I would recommend a combination of YouTube videos, industry publications, and helpful websites, such as Inc., Wired, Fast Company, and InfoWorld to bring you up to speed.  Salesforce.com has published several excellent YouTube videos on cloud computing, which provide an easy-to-understand definition of “the stack” – the hardware infrastructure, database servers, application servers, web servers, user interfaces, and application interfaces upon which any software application runs — and explain why most companies are moving towards cloud computing platforms.  100 Best Companies to Work For is another great resource to help focus your search.

The sky is the limit!  Reach for the clouds and you just may end up working in one.

About the author:  Brandi received a B.S. in Economics and Spanish from the University of Virginia.  She spent ten years working in Silicon Valley at Kana Software, Inc. and Salesforce.com, Inc. and is now completing her M.S.Ed. in Higher Education Management from the University of Pennsylvania.

A Day in the Life: Commercial Real Estate

Real Estate is more than buying and selling houses, it’s about living and working environments.  There are a wide range of opportunities available to those interested in pursuing a career in real estate, one of those is in commercial real estate.  Morgan Hill (WH ’09) will contribute to @PennCareerDay on Twitter on Wednesday, April 6th and discuss her life in this area.  To learn more about Morgan, read below and don’t forget to follow her next week!

Morgan Hill, Associate, joined Retail Sites in January 2010 to focus on leasing and tenant representation services. Ms. Hill is a 2009 graduate of the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania with a concentration in Real Estate.  Prior to graduating, Morgan held internships at Interstate Commercial assisting in site selection activities and Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust where she supported the leasing department. While at Wharton, Ms. Hill served as Research Assistant in the Wharton Real Estate Department.

A Day in the Life: College Instructor

Read Ceceilia Berkowitz’s archived tweet feed here: http://www.vpul.upenn.edu/careerservices/CeceiliaBerkowitz_Feed.pdf

Teaching isn’t just for the K-12 level, many colleges and universities offer teaching positions for individuals with graduate degrees – and you don’t need to have a Ph.D. necessarily either.  Next week on Wednesday, March 30th @PennCareerDay on Twitter welcomes Ceceilia Berkowitz who teaches higher education courses in New Jersey.  Follow her to learn about this great career path and how she’s managed to transition from a private sector career into one in education.  To learn more about Ceceilia, read below and don’t forget to follow her on the 30th!

Ceceilia Berkowitz (C ’00, W  ’00) is a College Mathematics, Statistics, and Business Mathematics Instructor at several Northern NJ Colleges.  She currently is teaching 18 developmental math credits this Spring semester at William Paterson University and Union County College.  In recent years, she has also been tutoring high potential minority and international low-income undergraduate students in math and business subjects for the Educational Opportunity Fund Program at Seton Hall University.  She has also taught Business Calculus and Developmental Math at other schools including Seton Hall University and Felician College.

As a Class of 2000 graduate of the Huntsman Program in International Studies and Business at Penn, Ceceilia is also considering teaching College Business courses or even French courses as her schedule permits at the nearby colleges.  She has been working for Medows CPA, PLLC, a boutique New York City accounting firm as a Training Manager, with Senior Accountant and Marketing Assistant responsibilities.

In addition to her Penn undergraduate degrees, Ceceilia has an MBA in Professional Accounting from Rutgers Business School, where she was a Dean’s Scholarship Recipient.  She has over four years of work experience in telephone and E-commerce sales and customer service at Tiffany & Co, Weichert Realtors, and MetLife, mostly before she entered the 2007-2008 MBA program.  She also has worked in jobs and internships, mainly in accounting and finance at the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission, Merrill Lynch, Prudential’s 1999 IPO Team in the Controller’s Office, a medium-sized NJ CPA firm, and HotJobs.com (now part of Yahoo!).

At Penn, Ceceilia was involved as Treasurer of the Women’s Club Tennis Team, participated in Wharton Women, visited nursing homes with Penn students in Bridges Community Service group, played French Horn her Freshman year in the Penn Wind Ensemble and also in the Penn Law School production of Guys & Dolls, lived in the Maison Francaise French House on-campus residence her Senior year, and studied abroad in Aix-en-Provence, France, during the second semester of her Junior year.  She also enjoyed Penn’s campus social life at the local restaurants and coffee shops, and parties of all kinds at frat houses, friends’ apartments, and at the Huntsman Program office, as well as occasionally attending Penn Football and Basketball games.  She mainly studied in the main Penn library on various floors, though also occasionally at Center City Xando Cosi locations and Bucks County Coffee, both Wharton buildings at the time, as well as some solitary studying in the upstairs very heated mathematics library in DRL. She frequently explored Center City restaurants and shops including her favorite restaurant Monks Cafe, and the Liberty Place JCrew.

Follow Ceceilia on Twitter for more information – @ceceilia

 

Career Lessons from Rebecca Black

By Lin Yuan (C’2013)

By now, I’m sure you are all familiar with the musical sensation that is Rebecca Black and her enthusiasm for Fridays. (If you haven’t seen it, here is the infamous video )

Whether you love her or hate her though, you do have to admit one thing: at least she’s trying, right? If the 13-year-old wants to be a famous singer, she’s well on her way to becoming famous, at least. Black’s original YouTube video has over 43 million views and her song is also now a top-downloaded song on iTunes! Furthermore, her 15 minutes of fame could already be generating enviable profits for her.

But, all this from a song stating the day after Friday is Saturday and Sunday comes afterwards? It doesn’t seem like Rebecca Black has much innate talent for songwriting… Sure, we should give her credit for putting herself out there, but maybe she would be better off channeling her efforts elsewhere. A singing career may not be in the cards for Rebecca Black and that’s okay. Everyone has something they’re good at – Rebecca Black just needs to figure out what that might be for her and work towards her strengths.

So, here are the career lessons we can learn from Rebecca Black:

1)      Don’t be afraid to put yourself out there – Taking a risk every once in a while could pay off! Even if you feel it could be a long shot, it never hurts to try. If you’re really enthusiastic about a job or internship, but aren’t sure how competitive you are for the position, consider sending in an application anyway. An employer just might like what he sees. Also, take advantage of online networking platforms to further get your name out there. They can be a great way to share your ideas and gain more notoriety for yourself. (Check out our tips for networking using social media )

2)      …But make sure you do it right – You don’t want to generate buzz for yourself for all the wrong reasons. Be honest with yourself about what you’re really good at and not so good at. Inventory your skills and know what your unique skill set is.

Bottom line: Know what you want, know what you’re good at, then don’t be afraid to go for it! (Who knows? It could be fun, fun, fun, fun, fun.)