Tag: LinkedIn

Networking Inspiration.

Networking.  Right now, I’ve been talking to students, alumni and colleagues alike about how important it is to network.  Many people loathe the idea of networking.  They don’t know what to say, or do.  You’re not alone.  Everyone, at one point or another, has been intimidated by the idea of a networking event or reaching out to someone established in their field of interest, including myself.

But, I got past this fear because I wanted to succeed. I wanted to understand – what do I need to do get ahead in my field?  What does an expert know that I don’t?  What could I do differently? I found that everyone I reached out to was receptive and helpful.  My fear was unwarranted.

So, I’d like to offer some inspiration from the mother of all networking platforms in the professional world – LinkedIn.  I came across this on Twitter from my friend John Hill, LinkedIn’s Higher Education Evangelist (@linkedinjohn). “Opportunity presents itself one connection at a time!”  Meaning,  if you do not reach out to connect, you could miss out on incredible opportunities.  I encourage you to reach out, connect and you might be surprised what comes your way.

 

 

 

 

Social Media Update

by Shannon Kelly

It’s been a busy semester here at Career Services.  As a result, we knew it was critical to get creative and look for some new tools to add to our social media presence.  We’re always looking on ways to keep our resources up-to-date and help you get the information you need in a way that meets your busy schedule.

New Tool #1: Pinterest – http://pinterest.com/penncareerserv/.  What is it? According to their website, “Pinterest lets you organize and share all the beautiful things you find on the web. People use pinboards to plan their weddings, decorate their homes, and organize their favorite recipes.” We took this in a new direction and are treating it as a visual bookmarking tool to share career resources we come across while surfing the web.  Yes, we have our website that has a TON of useful content.  But, there is so many helpful resources out there that we can’t pass up, and we know these resources are critical to your career and internship search.  We’re creating boards (or categories) organically, so as we find a new resource – we’ll create a board.  I think the most fun boards we have are What To Wear – Men, What To Wear – Women and our Words of Wisdom.  Do you have outfits/words of wisdom/resources to share? Let us know!

New Tool #2: Storify – http://storify.com/PennCareerServ. What is it?  “Storify helps its users tell stories by curating social media”, this was taken from the startup’s About section.   We realize we have lots of social media channels, and that we share a lot of information on them.  Not to mention there are even more resources out there that aren’t created by us on LinkedIn, blogs, Twitter, Facebook, online news outlets, etc.  Phew, that is overwhelming!  Well, our Storify account will help aggregate that information and put it in one place.  This means, if you missed our alum post on @PennCareerDay or didn’t realize we had a week dedicated to Careers in Design resources on our social media platforms – you can access this information after-the-fact.

Stay tuned when you get back after winter break (or over it) for even more from us.  We’re excited to have our brand new Social Media Advisory Board, comprised of undergraduate and graduate students, to help us roll out new tools and enhance our existing ones.

 

 

LinkedIn is Coming to Penn

by Shannon C. Kelly

Last week, my colleague Michael highlighted the importance of linking in here on Penn & Beyond. I’m here to support his post, but stress how critical it is to connect in the coming weeks when you’re home for Thanksgiving.  High school reunions, spending time with cousins/aunts/uncles and visiting with old friends is the PERFECT opportunity to build your network.  Utilizing LinkedIn is a very handy tool to keep track of these connections and stay in touch.  So, what’s the deal with all this LinkedIn attention lately?

Well, I’m excited to announce that LinkedIn is coming to Penn after the Thanksgiving break.  John Hill is LinkedIn’s Higher Education Evangelist (yes, that’s his real title), and he’ll be here to speak to you – undergraduate and graduate students – on Tuesday, November 29th at 12noon in the Ben Franklin Room at Houston Hall.   Why should you come?  Here are two really important reasons:

First and foremost,  college students and recent graduates in the job market are joining LinkedIn at twice the rate of its overall membership, according to a recent interview with LinkedIn CEO, Jeff Weiner on ABC (Weiner is a Penn alum).  This means a lot of your peers are on the network, and you should be too.  This will help you compete in today’s job market, but also stay in touch with them.

Secondly, what better way to understand how to maximize this tool than from someone who works at LinkedIn?  This is a rare and unique opportunity to get your questions answered straight from the source.  Hill has been traveling all over the country and world to listen to feedback and share best practices when it comes to using LinkedIn.  There is only one of him at LinkedIn and hundreds of universities out there – we are very lucky to have him!

Hill’s talk on November 29th is about helping you understand this tool because it is powerful. I hope that you join us and John Hill.  If you would like to come, just give us some notice and RSVP here.

A Day in the Life: Product Marketing at LinkedIn

To wrap up our week on Careers with Startups, as shared by alum Adam Levin and our Penn in Tech Panel: The World of California Start-Ups, we’ll be focusing on post-startup life.   We welcome Ada Chen Rekhi to @PennCareerDay on Wednesday, November 9th.  Take advantage of this opportunity to learn more about her experience in the startup world, and her new role at LinkedIn.   This is also a great follow up to her recent blog:  Should I Join A Startup? Examining the Pros and Cons.  Read more about Ada below, and check out her posts from November here on our Twitter resource page.


  Ada Chen Rekhi is co-founder and head of user growth at Connected (http://connectedhq.com), a startup based in San Francisco which provides contact management without the work. Connected was recently acquired by LinkedIn, and Ada is now on the Product Marketing team there. She is a recent Penn alumna who graduated in 2006. You can connect with Ada on her blog at http://www.adachen.com or on Twitter as @adachen.

Should I Join A Startup? Examining the Pros and Cons

by Ada Chen Rekhi

Startups are the hot new thing these days, and everyone wants to get into technology startups with high profile companies like Facebook, Twitter and Zynga making headlines and millionaires being created overnight. But should you join one?

As a recent Penn grad, I’ve seen both sides of the table. After graduating from Penn in 2006, I moved to Redmond for my first job at Microsoft. After that, I headed down to Silicon Valley to work for a small online games startup Mochi Media. I had an amazing experience at Mochi, working with some of the most fun and brilliant people that I know, and making great friends. Even better, the company was acquired for $80 million last year. Since then, I’ve recently co-founded my own startup, Connected, which provides contact management without the work.

As someone who’s in the startup community, I often speak with alumni who reach out and ask: should I join a startup?

The pros and cons of joining a startup

Choosing whether or not to join a startup is a deeply personal decision. Startups are definitely not the best fit for everyone. The reality of startups are two-fold: they can be intensely rewarding and uplifting experiences, but are also often long hours and low pay with a high variance on your results.  Here are some of the pro and cons I’ve observed in startups:

 Pros

 Wearing lots of hats – At any small and rapidly growing company, it’s all hands on deck. Startups offer fantastic opportunities to wear multiple hats and really get to know what it’s like to run an organization.

 Big career opportunities – Working at a startup can present big opportunities to step up and lead a time. As your startup grows, your scope of responsibility and experiences grow alongside it. Careers can progress much more quickly inside of startups.

 Learn by doing – In startups I love that so much learning takes place by simply rolling up your sleeves and doing, with fast feedback on how well you’re doing. Startups tend to encourage a culture of learning by experimentation, and small projects have the potential to become game-changing projects.

 Passionate people – Startups are almost invariably made up of passionate, excited people who are working there because they truly want to be working there. I love the energy and passion in small teams that believe in the idea that they’re working on.

Cons

Less Specialization – While startups offer opportunities to wear multiple hats, it’s rare to find opportunities to focus and become a deep domain expert in one area.  As a startup marketer, I was a generalist with responsibilities ranging from managing press and events to product decisions around launch, pricing and engagement. In a larger company, there are more opportunities to get deep and specialize.

 Career Development – With exceptions, startups are not run by people who have extensive people management experience and see it as their goal to shepherd personal career development. While startups can offer opportunities for career growth, the responsibility for this largely falls on you, the employee.

 Less Stable – Everything moves quickly in startups. Everything is fair game to change, including the startup’s name, the business model, and your role in the organization. Being part of a startup means being comfortable with constant large and small changes, and comfortable with the potential risks involved.

More Hours, Less Pay – Generally, you’ll work harder and get paid less while at a startup compared to your comparable role within a larger company. Very young companies often don’t offer the same type of compensation and benefits packages as larger organizations.

 Finding success in startups

Startups come in all sizes and shapes, and your experience can be very different depending on the team and business you choose. It’s like finding a shoe that fits. Every company is different, and the differences are magnified by team size.

As some final piece of advice, make sure you understand your career goals, what you hope to get out of the experience and how it all fits together.  Good luck on your startup adventures!

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Ada Chen Rekhi is co-founder and head of user growth at Connected (http://connectedhq.com), a startup based in San Francisco which provides contact management without the work. Connected was recently acquired by LinkedIn, and Ada is now on the Product Marketing team there. She is a recent Penn alumna who graduated in 2006. You can connect with Ada on her blog at http://www.adachen.com or on Twitter as @adachen.  Ada will be posting about her day on our @PennCareerDay feed on Wednesday, November 9th.  Check back here next week for details on that!