Staying Connected

The summer is finally here. For most, at least for a while, that means no more homework, no more group projects, no more research, no more sitting through classes. Of course the professionals of Career Services Center are though urging you to take advantage of your summer. That could mean getting a jump start on those graduate school applications, touching up your resume, doing some career exploration, or meeting up with a few professionals in your desired career field.

"My summer isn't focused on those things, it's focused on vacationing," you utter. Of course the summer is about relaxing, having fun, recouping for next year, and regenerating energy BUT don't let it slip by without being at least somewhat productive. We don't want  you to miss out on all of your favorite summer activities, we just want to help prepare you for your future career. That's one of the main reasons the Career Services has tapped into the virtual. Allow us to help you stay up-to-date on the latest career development information through our social media outlets.

We're tweeting! Follow the Career Services Center on Twitter to stay up to date on the latest job search articles, highlights and Career Services Center happenings.
- Get short, timely messages from MU Career Services @MU_CSC
- Get job postings, interview information, and tips @MUCSCJobs

We're blogging! Be sure to visit the Career Services Center’s new blog, Career Chatter, regularly to get all the latest information and advice from our office. It's the Career Services Center... UNPLUGGED

We’re on Facebook!
Become a fan of the MU Career Services Center on Facebook.  You're on there anyway.

We’re LinkedIn!
Network with professionals in our MUCSC Group on LinkedIn. If you don’t already have an account - here is one good excuse to get one! To find us just search in groups for MUCSC and join.

Social Websites May Not be So Social Anymore

Social Media Websites such as Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter have revolutionized the way in which people keep in contact with old friends and sometimes even make new friends. The capabilities of these websites are just about end-less. The sharing of videos, pictures, poems, web links, events, ideas, and so much more is at the fingertips of all who are approved for an account. For those engaging in the enjoyments of these websites, the caution to be mindful of your personal content is rising continuously. The advice is even more so geared towards those looking to enter into the professional world. According to a very recent CareerBuilder.com study featured in the New York Times article More Employers Use Social Networks to Check out Applicants, nearly 50 percent of employers browse through an applicant’s social network pages as a screening method. While some may declare that their Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter pages were created exclusively for social purposes and have nothing to do with their professional capabilities, some employers have a different opinion. The CareerBuilder.com survey also disclosed that virtually 40 percent of employers decided not to offer an applicant a position based on what they’d viewed on that persons social media sites.

Now being aware of this, what do you do? Should you deactivate all of your social media accounts while doing a job search? Of course not! Countless employers actually like to see that your technology and social media savvy. Yet there are precautions you may want to consider:

• First, update your privacy setting so that your content is only viewable to those you desire.
• Clean up your pictures and verbiage; you can be social and professional at the same time.
• Never post degrading or disrespectful messages, statuses, or notes about your current or previous places of employment or co-workers.
• Finally, discuss your career field from time to time; it may actually impress a prospective employer.

Tweet Tweet Tweet

The birds outside your window aren’t the only ones tweeting and getting excited about May! On Friday, April 30th, we will be launching our MUCSCJobs Twitter account!

The goal of MUCSCJobs is to post multiple positions throughout each weekday! These positions will be from employers looking for both students and alumni from ALL MAJORS! Each job tweet will include a link to the job posting in MU Career Manager. If you’re looking for a new position, be sure to follow MUCSCJobs!

Don’t be fooled, Career Services isn’t new to twitter. In fact, our office account MU_CSC has been tweeting for a year now. If you aren’t already following MU_CSC, follow for great career advice, to hear about our exciting events and to discover links to career articles. We had also been utilizing the MU_CSC account to post hot jobs. However, we recently decided to launch MUCSCJobs to tweet about these positions posted in MU Career Manager. For those of you who are searching for positions, this is a great resource as we can give you more volume for tweets. For those of you who are happily employed (Congratulations!) you can pay more attention to MU_CSC than MUCSCJobs to focus on the career advice.

We're on Twitter!

Hope everyone's having a great summer so far, whether its in an internship, a "real" job, fun summer work, or travelling to places throughout the world.

Being the hip, happening people that we are, we've finally joined Twitter. We'll be updating it each workday, and if you're lucky, maybe even sometimes on the weekend with quick tips, interesting articles, and alerts about what is going on in our office. Sign up and follow us (@MUCareerChatter) for even more great insight than you get here at the blog, just more concise!