Career Development for the “Net Generation”

1. Career Development for the “Net Generation” Heather Law Massachusetts Institute of Technology Career Development Specialist Cambridge, MA, USA http:/gecd.mit.edu

2. Agenda • Overview of Gen-Y students • Career Development Resources for Gen-Y students: • On-line Workshops: Adobe Captivate • Webinars • Twitter • Facebook • LinkedIn • Videos

3. Overview: Gen-Y Students(AKA Millenials) • Around 235 million people globally • Born late-1970s to the early 2000s • Shaped by events, especially instant communication technologies • email, texting, IM, YouTube, Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter • Reputation for being peer-oriented • Economic prospects worsened due to late-2000s recession • Employers concerned Gen-Y’s have too high of expectations from workplace. • Studies predict students will switch jobs frequently

4. General Information: Gen-Y Students • Dislikes: • Doesn't typically read books • Hates waiting Likes: • Technology • Online, quick access to information • To receive news from online sources • Purchase ebooks Preferred Working Environment Team work Technology http://www2.honolulu.hawaii.edu/facdev/guidebk/teachtip/GenY.htm

5. Gen-Y Internet Use

6. Tips for Reaching Gen-Y Experiential Learning is a MUST • Meet their needs for • Variety • Stimulation • Immediate Access to Information Use Technology! Be Visual- Visual Learners Dominate Make It Fun! They want to enjoy.

7. How To Get Their Attention Using Social Media and Web Is Essential • It has to be in short bursts, easy to follow “In short, how you communicate with Gen Y defines if you will win them or not.”- AlcatelLucent, Employer

8. How Can We HelpGen-Y’s Find Jobs • Provide career development information through the mediums they prefer • On-line workshops • Videos • Twitter • LinkedIn • Teach them appropriate social media ettiquette

9. Reaching Students:On-line Workshops

10. On-Line Workshops Cover the basic topics: Resume Writing Cover Letter Writing Networking Presentation Skills Cover Letter Writing Negotiating Choosing a Major Interviewing- 101 Career Fair Tips

11. Benefits of On-line Workshops • Available 24 hrs a day • Basics can be covered and reviewed prior to in person visit- more productive use of time • Accessible in medium Gen-Y’s prefer • Available in Closed Caption for those with disabilities • Script available- students can go and review as many times as needed

12. Programs To Consider • Adobe Captivate 5 or Adobe Presenter: Interactivity, audio narrations Has Closed Captioning Multimedia, quizes, videos, animations Import Slides from PP http://www.adobe.com/products/captivate.html

13. Has Closed Captioning

14. Corporate Sponsor Videos Variety of videos • Reach Gen-Y’ers through SHORT videos • Provide Variety • Option to obtain corporate sponsors 3 min. run time

15. Career Development Information- Through Twitter • Twitter is a free micro-blogging service • Enables users to send and read messages known as tweets • Most users allow open access to tweets • You can follow individuals without them having to follow you or vice versa, as they would on most other online networking platforms • Allows for real time communication

16. Tweets! • The act of communicating via Twitter • It is a short message sent through Twitter • 140 characters

17. This is what 140 characters looks like. It's actually longer than you might expect. If you add URLs, sometimes you have to get cr8tiv.

18. Tweet Career Information to Followers http://ow.ly/4mYgx

19. Tweet Career Information to Followers on your website

21. How Students Can Use Twitter • Reading/Learning • Industry Trends • Researching Companies for an Interview • Job Openings • Learning about Job Search Best Practices • Sharing • Establish yourself as an expert in your industry • Use your status updates to tweet about industry topics, tips, advice • You don’t have to create all the content. • You just need to be viewed as someone “in the know”. • Connecting • Retweet others and they may follow you back

22. Advise Students On Who To Follow • Who to Follow • Professionals in your field of interest • Faculty • Journalists • Bloggers • Thought leaders • Gain access to endless stream of links to interesting stories, facts, and research • http://www.twellow.com/ • http://listorious.com/

23. Why Use Linkedin? • A business-oriented social networking website primarily used for professional networking • Many Students don’t want to be reached via Facebook • Create a Group • Foster career development discussions • Post Job and Internships • Allow for students to talk

24. Start A Group Post Articles Post Jobs

25. Reach Them Where They Are! * Number of Users reported by Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter as of May 2010

26. Encourage Students To Join LinkedIn 83% of employers use the internet to find out information about potential employees • Createprofessional profile • Making clear what student has to offer • Making clear what they are looking for • Building theirnetwork • Reconnecting • Joining groups • Asking and answering questions

27. How to Measure Results Sample Tools Ways to Track • Free analytics like Google Analytics • Buzz monitoring tools like Google alerts • Facebook insights • Hootsuite analytics • URL shortener insights • Polls or surveys • Website traffic • # of likes or followers • # of comments • # of RSVPs to event invitations • # mentions & re-tweets

28. Questions Heather Law Massachusetts Institute of Technology Career Development Specialist Cambridge, MA, USA http:/gecd.mit.edu