Discuss online social and professional presence (30 min)

Recently you created professional career-building sites on LinkedIn, Handshake, and BadgerBridge.  You also performed an audit of your social media presence.  Your TA will ask you to reflect on and discuss how best to use these online tools.  Some questions that might come up:

• What did you find in your social media audit?  What kinds of assumptions -- positive or negative -- might a potential employer make about you based on this very limited online information?
• Did you include a photo on your LinkedIn site?  If so, how did you choose that photo?  If not, why not?  What do you think a photo needs to communicate on LinkedIn?  (You might be interested to know that SuccessWorks offers a free profile photo service.)
• How are LinkedIn, Handshake, and BadgerBridge different from other social media tools like Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter?  (You might consider this handout from SuccessWorks, "How to Use Twitter in Your Job Search Download How to Use Twitter in Your Job Search
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• Which tool did you find more useful or welcoming -- LinkedIn, Handshake, or BadgerBridge?  Which one seemed most tailored or relevant to the career community (field, major, industry) that you're interested in pursuing?  Which one do you think you will spend the most time using, and why?
• How would you like people to perceive your online persona in the job-oriented spaces like LinkedIn, Handshake, and BadgerBridge?  What can you add to your site in order to achieve this?
• What can you learn from visiting and reading the LinkedIn or BadgerBridge pages of others? What kinds of targeted searches might you do on these services?
• What kinds of conversations might you engage in through our LinkedIn group for the career course?
• What is the biggest shortcoming or silence on your LinkedIn page right now?  How might you address that?
• How do you think the Handshake and BadgerBridge services will complement your LinkedIn site?

Your TA and professor have also built LinkedIn pages, and may choose to offer their own reflections on what they get out of this service.