While it may be true that universities don't pay the best, they certainly encourage and support your professional development I am currently a member of at least five career services-related professional association and others outside of, but related to, the field
Check out this list of acronyms:
NACE - National Association of Colleges and Employers
MwACE - Midwest Association of Colleges and Employers
CDPI - Career Development Professionals of Indiana University
ICICE - Indiana Council of Internships of Cooperative Education
MCEIA - Midwest Cooperative Education and Internship Association
ChamberAction (not really an acronym, I know) - Volunteer arm of the Greater Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce
Why do I belong to so many organizations? To keep up with the newest trends and advancement in delivering career services to college students - so that the CPO can deliver the high level of careers services that you expect (and deserve).
So what the topic du-jour among career service professions? It's the impact of Google and social networking sites (MySpace, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.), on the job search.Do employers Google candidates - Yes. Do they search profiles on MySpace and Facebook - Sometimes. In a New York Times article over the summer a marketing manager at Microsoft said of researching candidates through social networking sites, "It's becoming very much a common tool. For the first time ever, you suddenly have very public information about almost any candidate."
What does this mean to you as a potential candidate? It simply means that you should be conscious of your internet presence. One step is to remove anything that may be construed as a negative by a potential employer. If you have inappropriate photos or references to questionable behavior, you should probably remove them. You also elect to set you privacy setting to the highest levels (though this is not fool-proof). Think about all of the illegal topics for an employer to bring up in an interview or when considering whether or not to interview a candidate:
- age
- arrest record
- children
- citizenship
- financial status
- disabilities
- marital status
- race/color/national origin
- religion
- sexual orientation
- and the list continues.....
If this information is out on the web, suddenly it is public info. A company cannot technically use this information in their decision-making - but who's to say they won't?
A more positive way for you to look at this trend is to view it as an opportunity to begin building a positive internet presence on the web. If you are involved with an organization, get your name on its website. Let those of us at Kelley know what you are doing and we can profile you on the Kelley website. Start a blog and write about what you are doing, your career goals, etc. Or start a website of your own, even a bare bones one. You should at least consider reserving your name through a service such as GoDaddy.com (I reserved my own name a few years ago - though the page is still 'under construction').
