A Different Kind of Resume

The past few weeks I have been conducting research for my personal learning project for my COM 509 class. I have been gathering information about LinkedIn, and how to use it within your job search. Within the last four years, I have spent numerous hours perfecting my resume, trying to make it as up-to-date as possible. I have had over three professors look over my resume, and even have the career center tell me what they think.

Within my research, I have learned that using LinkedIn as a digital resume is a smart move.  Recruiters and those working within HR are using LinkedIn to find qualified candidates for open positions, and also to do a little research about who you are. Employers are using social networking sites as a new kind of background check, and are finding more about you then you think.

Think about it. Facebook comes around, you get slightly addicted, and next thing you know, you have 1,000 pictures tagged of you. Three months later, you join the group “Let’s get drunk” for your friends birthday party, and of course, pictures will be posted from that night. Now, Facebook is a great way to keep up with friends and all, but how much needs to be visible about one’s life?

Next thing you know, graduation is approaching and you are applying for jobs. A recruiter from the number one company you want to work for receives your resume and starts to consider you for the job. She logs onto Faceboook, does a search for your name, and poof! There you are, all 900 pictures of you doing things that you are not so proud of. Recruiters and HR are using social media to find out everything about you they can.

The worst part about it… We are the ones who are in control of our profiles, and we chose to show ourselves off as the person who can do a 40 second keg stand. So just a helpful hint. As soon as your resume is out there for recruiters to consider you for a job, either give your Facebook a little makeover, or simply freeze your account for a bit.

Wheaties FUEL-Nutritional Excellence or Not?

Wheaties has created that iconic orange box that every athlete wishes to appear on. Now, Wheaties has updated their image to evolving athletes nutritional needs. They have acquired a team of professional athletes including, Peyton Manning, Albert Pujols, Kevin Garnett, Bryan Clay, and Hunter Kemper. They also teamed up with performance nutrition expert Dr. John Ivy to make sure they cover all the physical needs of athletes.

Wheaties Evolution Webisode 1: Meet the Panel

They have created their own YouTube page that holds all commercials and funny sessions with the professional athletes to develop the cereal. Nutrition expert Dr. John Ivy even included a Performance Nutrition Report on their website. Sound to good to be true?

According to Tanya Jolliaffe’s healthy lifestyle blog, she writes,

The Bottom Line
The Breakfast of Champions has just taken it up a notch with the introduction of the new Wheaties FUEL. The marketing intent and focus appears to be male in nature. The cereal itself seems to be a combination of Wheaties and Cinnamon Toast Crunch. This is where the cautions come in to play. FUEL contains about 10 grams more sugar per serving than regular Wheaties and 4 grams more per serving than Cinnamon Toast Crunch according to Mr Breakfast.com. While it does provide fiber, it isn’t at a level of significance from regular Wheaties when you look at it on a per serving basis. In a one cup serving of FUEL, you get 100% of five B-vitamins, however, woman of reproductive age should take note that folic acid is not one of them.

Now, I understand that all taste buds are not created equally, and sometimes for breakfast, just a bowl of cereal does not cut it. But, it is possible that the new Wheaties FUEL is just another cereal hiding behind a fabulous marking campaign?

What do you think?

John Scraggins Visit

My class and I had the pleasure of having John Scraggins, a Public Relations guru that works for Noble, speak to our class about social media and how to use measurement within a campaign. Within my 4 1/2 years at Missouri State, John is hands down my favorite speaker I have had.

John has changed his career path from being a nurse to a PR representative. I believe within his interactions with people, he holds no judgement upon them. John understands that it does not take a 4.0 to prove yourself within the workplace. I wish that when I enter the workplace, most professionals that I work with have the same mentality.

Noble seems like a great company to work for. When talking about past projects and clients, John was enthusiastic and explained how it takes multiple efforts to be successful. He discussed that there are different departments that have different specialties, and how social media is conducted by PR professionals.

I was not shocked to hear this because I feel the personalities within those in the PR field are are suited for social media tactics. We are still figuring out social media, and it takes creativity and uniqueness to handle the ever changing ways it has.

Another thing I enjoyed about John’s visit was our discussion on large companies that have used social media correctly. Companies like Starbucks, Coca Cola, Oreo, and Skittles have made a great presence within online communities. None of these companies followed a template or traditional media plan to gain attention or traffic to their sites. They simply thought outside the box and created things that are fun for their customers to engage in.

Meeting John has made me realize that when I enter the world of PR, most likely, I will be surrounded by people with many similar interests as myself. Also, that there are people out there that hold understanding within the workplace. I am really glad that John took the time out of his busy schedule to help teach our class valuable lessons.

How Social Media Influences Halloween

With Halloween festivities at an all-time high, everyone is running around trying to find the perfect costume. I have friends dressing up as Justin Beiber, zombie baby dolls, pin-up girls, greek figures, and even big bird. Now, some people would think, what made them want to dress up like that? Answer: social media had a little something do to with it.

This Halloween, I am embarrassing going out of my character, as one should on this occasion, and dressing myself up as Snooki from Jersey Shore. I am turning my skin slightly orange, putting on that horrible teased wig, and covering my feet with puffy slippers. Yes, I know this is going to embarrassing, but I know it will also be funny and entertaining to see my final transformation. But what really influenced me to choose this loud-mouth as my Halloween costume?

If you have been keeping up with my blog, you have probably read that I was stuck in bed all day with a migraine watching Jersey Shore for most of the day. I got sucked into the stupid drama, drunken fights, and funny terms they put on their actions. I am not proud that I wasted a full day watching this show that has no educational value, but I got a Halloween costume out of it.

I thought, Snooki will be so easy to recreate. I can do this! So there I was ordering her official wig off Amazon, spray tanning my skin, and glueing ringtones on sunglasses. On a deeper level, I realized we all choose things that are either interesting to us, or something that is currently popular to imitate for Halloween. But, what makes it popular?

Social Media does! Famous new faces are all over our phones, Twitter, Facebook, and smart phone applications. They are everywhere! So I have come to my conclusion, without social media, todays costumes would be dull and boring.

Kevin Grinder Vistit

Last Wednesday, my class had Kevin Grinder, President of Digital Studios, come teach us about Search Engine Optimization (SEO). In a nutshell, SEO is making ones website visible to work with search engines. By going through this process, a search engine will clearly pick-up your website, and allow web searchers find your site according to specific keywords or phrases that apply to your website.

The mose interesting thing that I took from Grinder’s visit was how search engines work. The first term he used was crawling. It is defined as when search engines send out “bots” to find new and updated pages to be indeed into the respective search engines. Bots are also called “spiders” or “crawlers.” The bot reads the pages and then brings that info back to the search engine to be indexed. He explained how your site will not be found by a search bot unless it is directly submitted or a link is made to your site from another site.

The next term described was Indexing which is the process the search engine takes to evaluate the pages that have been read. It is a massive index of all the words and their location on the pages are then processed for importance and relevance. Serving results are then what the search engine displays with the found  indexed information.

This is something I never knew. I know how to use a search engine, and could explain how it works-but never in such detail to terms or definitions. I then understood the importance of knowing how search engines work. A search engine is a business that is trying to function properly. Along with your company website etc. you are also trying to carry your business in a functional way. If SEO does not take place properly, a potential customer would not properly find your website or page when using a search engine because it would not be recognized by the correct keywords.

Why I Love Mashable

Thanks to my professor Melinda Arnold, I am now aware of a great website “Mashable,” that allows me to further explore the world of social media. Taken right of the website itself, “Mashable” is “an online guide to social media. One of the top 10 blogs worldwide, Mashable is a hub for those looking to make sense of the online realm.What will you find here? Step-by-step guides to using popular websites, reviews of mobile applications, breaking news about what’s happening on the web, the best viral videos, tips for marketing your businesses online and much much more!”

Through my exploration, this is one of the most helpful blogs that I have come across. Click here to view. It parallels what I have been learning about social media within my classes, and also answers “why” and “how”  social media is necessary to the success of your company or product.

Unlike traditional marketing and advertising, using social media is free, and because of websites like “Mashable,” advice on how to properly use it is also free. The more I started to accept and understand social media, the more I realized how important social media is to those who wish to pursue any kind of career or start a business that is on a limited budget.

Most of us have seen the next greatest musician or pop star rise to stardom because the video they posted on YouTube was seen by the right person. There are probably so many talented musicians out there that are just as good as half of the musicians on your iPod playlists. Although, not everyone is born with a silver spoon in their mouth, and the amount of money to launch a successful career is almost unmanageable.

Now, my little example of a musicians rise to stardom is only one of many that could explain why using social media can open doors for the next big company or famous actress or songwriter. Because it is free, so easy to use, and so heavily used, online networks are acting as todays marketing and advertising thus leading people towards the success that they never could have imagined.

Mobile Applications For The Bar

Just when I thought there was a mobile application for anything and everything under the sun, I came across an article in “Market Watch” magazine that proved me wrong.  TabbedOut, the newest phone application, allows people to order drinks, manage their tab, and even pay their tabs all from their smartphone. Company CEO and co-founder Rick Orr says that he got the idea from a bad dinning experience that he had when the waitress didn’t come back for 55 minutes after she dropped off his tab.

In a way, I think this is awesome and at the same time slightly unnecessary.  If I was at a bar, and it was crazy busy with no waitress to help me, I would love having this application. I would have a drink whenever I wanted, and I wouldn’t have to wait on someone else’s time to get it. Also, I wouldn’t have to worry about giving my card away to hold my tab for a server or bartender to misplace or charge the wrong tab on it.

On the other hand, I would be spending more time on my phone, ignoring my friends, and would be leaving half the tip because the waitress did half the work. Most importantly, if this app blows up like I think it will, bars and restaurants won’t need as many waitresses working so more jobs will be lost.

As a waitress myself, I understand that having a table that can simply send me a message of just what they want and I don’t have to repetitively ask if my table needs anything sounds great. But, what if my table gets too drunk. Ever hear the term “drunk texting?” Yeah, I can only imagine what drink orders will look like from an iPhone to a waitress.

TabbedOut is free to download, but only charges 99 cents for each time you pay your tab. It is already available in about 90 different bars in eight states (Apps For Buying Drinks). Not only is this application available through your iPhone, it is also available on Android and Blackberry.

The future of this application seems bright, but how secure does the future look for waitresses? How much will their work tasks be altered? Are there going to be any cutbacks because the application handles nearly 1/2 of a cocktail waitresses job? What do you think?

Jersey Shore

Ever since Jersey Shore made it’s debut, the tan, mouthy, and mainly drunk kids have been all over the media. The show has added another season, bringing the fist-pumping crew to Miami. Due to a migraine, most of my day was spent in bed. I will honestly admit, even though I am not proud of it, I watched Jersey Shore most of the day. I got sucked into the drama, and out of embarrassment, I seriously thought  about changing the channel every commercial. Maybe my migraine medication made me delusional, but something kept me from reaching for the remote.

I started thinking about all the things I have been seeing within the media involving the Jersey Shore bunch. I couldn’t believe that this group has made such an impact on our generation. Especially after I just watched a couple intensify their commitment to one another because the girlfriend was there for her boyfriend through his painful, 4-hour tattoo.

I guess if you think about it, there is an upside to this show. America gets a look within another culture, not only seeing their drunken nights, but dinners and time the cast members spend with their families. Regardless of how brief these times are shown, cast members are always themselves in any location.

Because of the popularity of Jersey Shore, another reality show surrounding outspoken Jersey residents is being created. “My Big Friggin’ Wedding” is a show following Jersey couples through their journey towards “I do.” The Los Angeles Times gave their readers a little sneak-preview of the couples that will be sharing their lives through their trip to the altar. Click to view article.

This Jersey epidemic has even crossed over to the social media world. “The Situation” and “Snooki” even have their own IPhone apps. Writer Dana Wollman writes, “For $5, The Situation, who just this week debuted in Dancing With the Stars, will direct you to the nearest gym, tanning salon, or laundromat, and teach you some exercises (to, you know, flatten your abs and improve your luck with the ladies). The app also includes a game called “Grenade Dodger.” (A “grenade,” for the uninitiated, is an ugly chick who inconveniently is hanging out with the hotties a group of men is trying to score with.)Snooki’s app, created by MTV, is clearly the CatPaint of iPhone apps, and is inferior: it’s more of a meme, involving inserting Snooki’s signature pouf hairstyle into photos.” (Sept 22, 2010, The Situation, Snooki Get Their Own Apps, Civilization Shudders).

This was hilarious to me! On a day that I was stuck in bed with noting to do but watch television, yeah, Jersey Shore was there to entertain me. But on every other day, I don’t think that I would take it that far as to spend money on a phone application that makes me feel that much closer to cast members.

Now guys and girls, I know they are addictive, just like tanning. But just like Obama putting a tax on tanning, maybe you should put a tax on how much you let Jersey Shore affect your lives.

Midterm Preparation

This past week was Midterms. Because I am about to graduate in December, I am only enrolled in two classes, doing a small internship, and working part-time. This semester was not expected to be as difficult as past others. Although, it has been in good competition because the level of responsibility I have taken on. With trying to keep upkeep with my apartment, work, family, friends, graduation, and making preparations for my real-world debut, I am defiantly busy.

I had recently experienced my first midterm of the semester for my final public relations class. This is the first time I have had my teacher, and have only heard what past students have said about her tests. In class, she had discussed what types of questions will be asked and that there will be multiple essay questions. About three days before the test, I found a quiet place in the library, and starting going through my class notes and made flashcards for important concepts and definitions.

After studying for about an hour or so, I decided to take a break for the night and continue studying the next day. I had a large workload of homework to complete for my internship and my other class, so studying for this midterm became another task on my to-do list. At the end of the day, I probably got a total of 30 minutes in of good study time for my midterm. The next day, the day of the test, I had till 6:30 get myself ready before the test began.

I spent most of the day running around completing errands and getting other homework turned in. After finishing an early dinner and resting for a bit, I went to the library 2 hours before the test and studied. Just as the test was passed out, I found myself surprisingly confident and got right to work on the essay questions. After completing the essay portion of the test, I started to complete the first portion. Because I spent so much time on the essay portion I did not save enough time to be able to think through all the remaining questions.

I finished with just seconds to spare, and had to leave all my chosen questions as my final answers. After turning in my test I no longer felt as confident as I had before, and wished that I did not spend so much time on the essay portion. Let’s just say, for the next test, I will not focus on the essay portion as much and will spread out my time evenly for the other questions.

The Beautiful, The Rich, The Underage

The media loves sharing news full of rich twenty-somethings running in and out of clubs, dancing on tables, flipping the bird to the paparazzi, and walking their dogs in the latest fashions. Now, we all get entertainment out of it, don’t get me wrong, but, I have started to notice something that I had never thought about before. Most of the girls shown in the media are not even old enough to buy cigarettes.

Is there a difference between how we should respond to a tween versus an adult doing stupid things displayed within the media?

Are their actions just as bad as ours or better then those today of their own age?

I remember watching Hannah Montana on the Disney channel with the kids I would babysit. I do admit, the show was cute and had an annoyingly catchy opening song that took forever to get out of your head. Just a few years later, the same girl is now Miley Cyrus, just a little older, hair a little bigger, just a little more makeup, and wearing heals and skirts just a little higher. Every new music video or award show performance is criticized because, should a girl of her age be doing that?

Hearing the media question every move, every outfit, every lyric of young musicians and actors started to make me think. Is the image of Miley Cyrus now so shocking because what she is doing at her age is inappropriate or because the first time we saw her she was singing “the best of both worlds” on the Disney channel?

Is there an age limit that makes things viewed within the media acceptable?

From some of the things that I see on Facebook and hear within the media about young girls actions today makes me almost proud of young Hollywood girls like Miley. Instead of spoiling themselves with their parents money they are compiling checks that their parents would never had dreamed of through their vigorous tour schedules and studio time. Instead of attending basement parties and drinking alcohol their older siblings purchased for them, they are attending benefits to fight cancer and raise relief funds for earthquake and hurricane victims across the world. Instead of being sent home from school for wearing an inappropriate shirt or skirt, they are walking the red carpet in timeless dresses made by Chanel, Calvin Klein, and Michael Kors.

My point is, maybe it is time for young Hollywood to grow up. But, we have some growing up to do ourselves before we allow that to happen. Young actors and musicians have been in the public eye before some of us learned how to ride a bike. The wisdom and life lessons they have learned from their personal mistakes were posted all over magazine covers and news channels.

How many people knew about your worst mistake? I’m sure not the whole world! The media will continue questioning their actions and clothing choices, but that is only because that is what they have found sells magazines and sparks ratings. Why are we continuing to do it?