Why Career Services?
Career services works to prepare students for
life post graduation. In today’s technological
society, the use of social media is present in
every facet of the working world. In working to
prepare students, the implementation of social
media needs to be fully understood as to what
capabilities it possesses. Learning to harness
the power of social media will enable students to
have a working advantage in their career search.
University of Central Arkansas
Career Services Center Mission
“The mission of the Career Services Center is to assist
student in maximizing their educational experience by
preparing them for life after graduation. Student preparation
is encouraged through specialized, career based guidance
and resources, thereby giving student knowledge and insight
into the career development and employment process. Our
staff assists all students and alumni in discovering their
career potential and how that potential relates to their
educational plans and accomplishments. The mission of the
Career Services Center is achieved by providing students
with access to individual and group career planning and
advising, career based programs and presentations, and
comprehensive information on employment and internship
opportunities.”
Why Social Media?
What is social media?
Social media, as defined by the group for purposes of
this case study, is the use of online networking websites
in order to create a fluid exchange of multi-media
communication.
With the growing Millennial generation, the use of
technology is growing at a rapid rate. Social media
moguls such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube are
where students are spending a majority of their time
devoted to the use of social media.
Why Social Media…con’t
How will social media help accomplish the goals
of the Career Services Center?
Teaching students how to maximize their
knowledge in social media and teaching them how
to use it in a professional manner
By making more services available online, the
resources that are offered by the Career Services
Center can be utilized to their full potential
How will Career Services
use Social Media?
Facebook
www.facebook.com
Twitter
www.twitter.com
LinkedIn
www.linkedin.com
YouTube
www.youtube.com
Skype & Oovoo
www.skype.com
www.oovoo.com
Instant Messaging
www.aim.com
Blogging
Tumblr
www.tmblr.com
Social Media Plan
Facebook
The goal of using Facebook will be to create an online group for the Career
Services Center that students can go online and join. This group will serve
as the central social media hub for all of the other social media links that
will be utilized by the department. Pending availability to resources, the
Career Services Center could offer incentives for students and alumni who
join the group
Twitter
The implementation of Twitter will allow the Career Services Center to post
current announcements, daily career advice and reminders for upcoming
events. Not only will the use of social media engage students in their
developing knowledge of social media, but it will also cut down on tangible
materials used in the advertising and marketing processes of the
department
Social Media Plan…con’t
LinkedIn
LinkedIn is commonly referred to as the “professional Facebook”. This tool will
allow current students and alumni to be able to communicate about their career
experiences and possibly assist current students with internships and job
opportunities.
Tumblr
Blogging is one of the fastest growing social media moguls on the web, however
its concept, journaling, has been around for centuries. Our recommendation for
utilizing Tumblr to its full potential would be to have the Director of CSC, one or
two alumni and two or three current students blog about their experiences. The
Alumni can post about their job search experience and about their current
positions. The current students can post about their experiences either working
for an internship or beginning and completing their job search experience.
Social Media Plan…con’t
Skype
Face to face communication has a higher value in the work place rather
than email or phone calls, therefore, the introduction of social medial tools
such as Skype and Oovoo have provided the ability for employers to
conduct interviews with potential employees via video conferencing. The
services, at the basic level, are free. The difference between the two
systems is that Oovoo can have video conferencing where up to five other
computers can join in the conference. Currently in a Skype conversation,
there can only be two computers, however, this could change in the near
future
By having this kind of software available, the Career Services Center can
assist students in practicing their interviewing via video conferencing as
well as provide that access to student who may not have personal access
Social Media Plan…con’t
YouTube
The use of YouTube will allow the Career Services Center to
upload videos that students can view that will help them visually
convey professional development concepts, such as dressing for
success and how to utilize behavioral interviewing techniques.
iPhone App
Currently, The University of Central Arkansas has an iPhone app
for students, staff and faculty to easily access the University’s key
student server, Blackboard. Our group recommends that the
Career Center has a link on the app where students can receive
updated material about current events and announcements for
the Career Services Center
Social Media Plan…con’t
Instant Messaging
In a nation where instant gratification is heavily valued,
our recommendation is to have an instant message
window available for students, parents, alumni and
faculty and staff to be able to go to the Career Services
Center home page on the uca.edu website, and be able
to ask question. This instant messaging service would
be answered by anyone working the front reception
desk at the Career Services Center. There will be
posted times of when someone will be available to
answer questions
What are the goals of
implementation?
For social networking to be better utilized in the
Career Services Department
Make the Career Services Department more userfriendly and multi-dimensional
Provide a better service to online and non-traditional
students
To have students and faculty bridge a generational
differences gap
Possible challenges…
Resistance to change
Current members of the Career Services Center would be resistant to changing some of their current practices
and trusting them to persons outside the department, such as current undergraduate students and alumni
Certain members of the Career Services Center could not be as up to date on the social media sites that are
being recommended and they could become easily overwhelmed and resistant to the learning process
Limited resources
While the majority of the software recommendations are free, to fully utilize some of the software
recommendations, they require funding
The staffing that is required to fully utilize all the recommended software protocols is quite intensive. While one
person could cover one or two different areas of social media, the delegation of tasks while determining who is
responsible for the overall completion of all projects on a daily basis will have to be determined by the
department
Lack of buy-in
Lack of interest from students, alumni, faculty and staff
Final Thoughts
Social media is going to continue to expand and
become more prominent in the work place. If, as
educators and student development professionals,
our goal is to prepare students for life after higher
education, then we need to be prepared to look down
the road at what is coming and be ready to deliver
what our students are looking for. Social media is
here to stay, so looking for better ways to implement
it within the professional setting will help to prepare
students for their next move