College and Work News
By Jill Randolph
June 28, 2010
The following is a transcript of an interview with Daniel Klamm, Outreach and Marketing Coordinator for Syracuse University's Career Services. Mr. Klamm, who has been with Syracuse University Career Services for the past two years, has a bachelor's degree from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University.
Syracuse University, or SU, is a private university in Syracuse, New York that was founded in 1870. The 2008 Academic Ranking of World Universities placed Syracuse University in the top 100 world universities in social sciences. SU offers a wide variety of degrees and programs and enrolls over 19,000 students from all 50 states and over 115 countries. 99 percent of students at SU attend full-time.
Jill Randolph: How or when should students start creating an online personal brand for themselves?
Daniel Klamm: Many high school and even some middle school students have Facebook accounts and need to be aware of the impact of their online image. Being mindful about the impact of Facebook is important from the onset as well. Students need to make sure their privacy settings are configured correctly so that strangers won't be able to view their photos or their profile information.
Therefore, ideally, students should learn about personal branding in high school. College admissions offices have started to use students' online image as a way to screen candidates for college. The first year of college is also an important time to start thinking about the type of professional brand each student wants to create for him or herself. Students need to be aware of the information others will find if they search for them online.
Additionally, I don't think it's too early for students to become involved in LinkedIn during their first year of college, if only to say that they are first year students exploring a few different career fields. Students can list the fields they are interested in and say that they are looking to connect with people to learn more about different careers. As a student, I wouldn't worry about collecting references during the first year of college. This becomes more important as students and recent graduates are looking for professional employment.
Jill Randolph: Which is the most popular social media site for screening applicants?
Daniel Klamm: At the campus-level, I've heard employers say that they Google a candidate's name and review the results, and I've heard unofficially from employers that they visit Facebook and learn as much information about a candidate as possible. I've also heard from plenty of employers that don't research candidates, so I don't want to give the impression that every employer does.
However, it makes sense from an employer's perspective to research a candidate, because a typical interview process may last only an hour or two hours and that's not very much time to learn about a possible co-worker. An employer wants to know as much as possible about a person before they bring him or her into a company, so that the employer knows they are making the right choice. That's the rationale behind why they perform "unofficial" research. Recent figures I have read have shown that 70 percent of employers actively search for candidates online.
Jill Randolph: How can employers be sure that they are searching the right person online, especially when there may be ten people named John Smith on Facebook who live in the New York area, for example? Do employers use any tactics to ensure they are investigating the correct John Smith?
Daniel Klamm: That's a legitimate concern, and I don't know that they have a definite answer in terms of how they can be absolutely sure. I encourage students to think about Search Engine Optimization and ensuring their name shows at the top of a Google search. Creating a blog, LinkedIn profile, and a Twitter account and linking them all together will help optimize the student's online presence. That tends to ensure further credibility, but there isn't a definite way to fix this problem, especially if there are 70 different people with the same name.
If students are comfortable using their middle name, I have known people who stand out in that way. In order for this to be successful, these people need to include their middle names on their resumes and on every form they submit to potential employers. Not everyone wants their middle name on their resume.
Jill Randolph: If a student has a blog, a professional Facebook profile, and a LinkedIn profile, do you recommend that he or she put links to all those different attributes on his or her resume?
Daniel Klamm: If it is a professional blog, absolutely. I am starting to see more and more LinkedIn profile links on resumes too.
Jill Randolph: How do you recommend that students use social networking effectively, specifically via professional sites such as LinkedIn?
Daniel Klamm: Here at Syracuse, we educate students about the use of social media, particularly for internships or the job search process. We start at a very basic level, instructing students about the possible drawbacks of social media and how it can possibly affect their career negatively. This usually includes things like inappropriate photos or status updates the students or their friends post on Facebook or Twitter. Then we go a step further and talk more in terms of how social media can benefit their careers.
LinkedIn can help students in three major ways. First, it can help students create a very positive image online, because they have full control over everything on their page. This way, when a potential employer Googles their name, their LinkedIn profile pops up right away. It's a great way for students to show off their academic experience, professional aspirations and work experience.
Secondly, I encourage students to use LinkedIn for its networking benefits. Whenever I walk students through LinkedIn, they are always really surprised and excited by how easy it is to get in touch with people. I encourage them to start off by creating a profile and then joining relevant groups. Their university's alumni group on LinkedIn can be very powerful. Here at Syracuse, we have about 13,000 members of our LinkedIn alumni group, which means that when a student joins, he or she can immediately search through all of the members and message anyone of interest.
For example, if a student is interested in a summer internship in architecture in Kansas, he or she can search to find if there are any Syracuse alumni who work in architecture in Kansas and immediately get in touch with that person. This is not to ask for a job, but possibly to set up an informational interview and learn about what that person does, and to see if there is any way he or she may possibly be able to help the student.
Joining alumni groups is a great place for students to start on LinkedIn, and joining relevant professional groups can also be beneficial. In the case of the architecture student, he may want to join any architecture associations or professional associations on LinkedIn.
Looking at company research is a great way to use the site as well. A lot of companies are on LinkedIn, meaning people can see who currently works there and who has worked there in the past. Prospective employees can learn about a company's hiring preferences, and they will be able to see how often positions turn over as well. It can be really beneficial if someone is thinking about working for a company, and then they see the company fires and hires a new assistant every nine months. That person may reconsider applying. The company research element tends to be neglected on LinkedIn because people don't realize the company pages are there, and how informative they can be.
I was recently showing a student the Syracuse alumni group on LinkedIn. We were searching through the site because she was looking for an event planning position in Philadelphia. Then someone came up who worked at a particular company. The student immediately told me that she wished she knew about this group three weeks ago because she applied for a job there and never got a call back.
That's a perfect instance where a student can reach out to that person on LinkedIn and setup a conversation to learn more about the company. If that alum is interested and enjoys talking to the prospective employee, they may be able to bridge the connection and help that applicant stand out in the stack of resumes. They may pass the resume along, or they may be able to help in some other way. I recommend that students take advantage of that feature.
The third reason I encourage students to use LinkedIn is that it's a great way to collect references and display them publicly. For instance, if a student completed an internship last summer, he or she can ask a supervisor or colleague for an endorsement for his or her LinkedIn profile. That way, that recommendation will be visible in the future, and if a potential employer is searching for that person, they can see exactly what their past supervisor had to say about him or her. That's a powerful way to make a positive impression on a potential employer. It's not only the student saying that he or she did a great job at the internship, it's the person's supervisor saying that the student was a great asset, which is much more powerful and useful to a potential employer.
Jill Randolph: Do employers put any weight on personal references, or do they prefer professional references?
Daniel Klamm: Employers consider personal references, but usually not as strongly as a professional reference. If someone has five references on his or her page with four professional and one from a friend, an employer can certainly learn from the personal reference -- and maybe develop a more balanced picture of who the candidate is, based on reading both types of references.
A lot of times, students work together on group projects in class. Therefore, in a sense, a personal reference may also be a professional reference, because those people have worked together on a project.
Jill Randolph: Is it ever necessary for people to hide references, maybe those that aren't as useful, or if they have already have a large amount in their profile?
Daniel Klamm: I don't know that it's ever necessary to hide a reference. By listing references over the course of many years, employers can learn more about a candidate than if they only have references from the past year or from their most recent job.
Jill Randolph: I think that many employers believe that past success equals future success. Do you think that employers put more weight on a candidate's most recent experience and references?
Daniel Klamm: I believe employers consider the most recent activity to be most indicative of the benefits that student or candidate can bring to the position. However, if a candidate has relevant experience in the past, that will certainly be considered too.
Jill Randolph: On LinkedIn, is there ever a point where it's okay to delete an old contact because they are no longer relevant to that person's job search?
Daniel Klamm: I wouldn't necessarily delete any contacts for that reason. I know there is a way to do so, but the only reason I would delete someone from LinkedIn is if they were abusing my network. If someone is simply in a different field, one never knows - down the road, that person may be able to help. They may have a contact with a company I want to work for in the future. One never knows, so I never intentionally decrease the size of my network.
Jill Randolph: How do you teach non-traditional students about personal branding and how to be competetive with others who are savvy on LinkedIn and are well networked?
Daniel Klamm: I usually start all my workshops by asking my students if they have ever Googled their name before. It's becoming imperative for employers to be able to find something positive about candidates before they hire them. This concept is usually understood by traditional and non-traditional students (who may be less familiar with social networking sites).
Technical skills can be learned. The most important thing is to understand the basics of networking, including appropriate etiquette. LinkedIn is just a tool for networking.
Jill Randolph: What if students or recent graduates don't have much experience, but they are interested in building a network? If they recognize the value but are apprehensive about promoting themselves because of their inexperience, how can they overcome that shyness?
Daniel Klamm: If they are shy about networking publicly, I recommend that they reach out to individuals, because I've found that one-on-one interactions on social media may be easier to make and also more powerful in the end. If a student reaches out and lets one person know that he or she is interested in what that person is doing, instead of posting to a group of 13,000 people, it can be helpful if someone is feeling unsure of himself or herself.
Jill Randolph: In some LinkedIn profiles, people write the summary of their qualifications in the third person, while others use first person, making it sound more like a resume. What do you recommend?
Daniel Klamm: In LinkedIn, I've seen profiles written many different ways. The key is consistency. If someone uses first person in the summary section, then he or she should use first person throughout the entire profile. The only problem I've had with profiles is when people are inconsistent. For instance, some people use bullet points under some of their job descriptions, and then use long paragraphs in others. As long as the profile is consistent, there is a lot of freedom with how the page can be setup.
Jill Randolph: Do you think that LinkedIn is the best social or professional networking site to use in order to have the best odds of getting into a company, or do you think that employers are still looking at more traditional methods of recruiting?
Daniel Klamm: I think employers are definitely still pursuing traditional methods of recruiting. Social media is just one aspect of their recruiting plan.
Jill Randolph: Do you have any insight on using Facebook for professional networking?
Daniel Klamm: Whenever I hear about Facebook in that sense, it's usually a negative comment that is being made. I know that people are able to network and make connections through Facebook to find employment, but for the most part I am hearing of employers finding inappropriate content posted there, such as photos of a candidate doing a keg stand.
Students also need to be aware of the other things that employers might not appreciate on Facebook, such as posts with racist, sexist or homophobic remarks. If an employer sees a potential employee calling a friend an inappropriate name, the employer may not make the connection that it is meant to be harmless chatter between friends. They may think that the candidate will be comfortable walking into a workplace and using that word, so that's a definite negative.
Also, people don't want to post inappropriate pictures or anything that may show that they don't have a strong work ethic on Facebook, either. I've seen people post that they are out until three in the morning when they have to be at their internship the next day at 8:00 a.m. Posting that publicly, whether it's on Facebook or Twitter, isn't creating the best personal brand for oneself. If an employer sees that a candidate is updating their status at 3:45 in the morning to say how drunk they are, it's not someone they will want to hire, in most cases.
Many of the negative stories I hear about social networking and job prospects relate to Facebook. A lot of the positive stories I hear relate LinkedIn and also to Twitter, which can be a great way to follow industry news and industry experts so that people can learn about the latest job postings and make connections. Twitter is like happy hour - it's a laid-back environment, people are very sociable, they want to connect, and if students or prospective employees find an area where they can ask a question or offer something meaningful to a conversation, they should join in, because people are very approachable on Twitter.
Jill Randolph: I think some people are still not as familiar with Twitter. Is it good for people to have a lot of followers on Twitter to raise their status, or is it more important for a company to have followers?
Daniel Klamm: From a student's perspective, it all depends on what they are posting about. If they are using Twitter entirely as a personal account to talk about their daily lives, then it doesn't really matter whether they're followed by a ton of people. If they're using Twitter to post professional content and make professional connections, then a healthy following would be a plus.
Jill Randolph: Some students engage in internships, in hopes to leverage them into full-time permanent opportunities following graduation. How can these students communicate that they are looking for a job, while not losing the current position?
Daniel Klamm: I recommend that students let their employer know that they are interested in working full-time for that company. At the same time, the employer has to understand, especially in today's market, that if they are not going to extend a job offer to that intern, he or she can't wait around and will be actively searching in the meantime. The employer has to understand that the student can't wait around, that he or she has to develop his or her personal brand online, has to connect with potential employers, and should seek out other opportunities in case the internship is not converted into a full-time job.
Jill Randolph: In the last 10 to 20 years, it's interesting to see how the market seems to shifted, and it's now such a buyers' market from an employer's point of view. Employees have to be delicate when they are searching, especially if they are underemployed, because they don't want to lose the position they already have but it doesn't mean that they shouldn't be ambitious either.
Daniel Klamm: It's important that employees communicate their ambitions to their supervisors. That way the supervisor is not surprised if he or she reads that their current employee is searching for work elsewhere. If the employer already knows about the employee's intentions, that creates an understanding of the employee's ambition.
It also depends on an employee's relationship with his or her supervisor. I know people who may be fired if they were to tell a particular supervisor that they were thinking about leaving. While it is good to be transparent, people have to take into consideration their relationship with their supervisor and the boss's disposition, because the situation may vary in different professional settings.
Jill Randolph: How can blogging help students in their job search process?
Daniel Klamm: Blogging is another tool for students to use in their job search. Having a professional blog is a great way to demonstrate one's knowledge of a subject area and also to demonstrate a candidate's writing ability. Employers consistently tell me that writing and communication are the most important skills they seek in candidates, so showing that ability online can be very powerful and make candidates stand out in their job search.
Jill Randolph: As far as blogging goes, is it better to have more depth or is it better to cover a wider range of topics with one or two paragraphs?
Daniel Klamm: It's up to the individual. I know some people who write a blog post every single day, but only write a paragraph or two. I know some people that post once every other week, but two full pages.
Employers are interested in seeing capabilities related to the job posting and in seeing how candidates communicate. I don't think employers have a specific preference as to whether blog posts are completed on a daily basis or every other week.
Successful blogs are usually focused on one topic.
Like all facets of one's online presence, tweets on Twitter and posts on blogs, Facebook and LinkedIn should be as professional as possible, especially when someone is job searching, will be in the near future, or has the potential of being laid off. It's best to keep one's personal brand as clean and professional as possible.
