We can all learn a lesson from Hannah Montana star Miley Cyrus and Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps—the internet can ruin your reputation. Controversial pictures from Cyrus’ Myspace account and Phelps at a party were leaked all over the web. The unflattering pictures compromised their reputations and cost them fans and endorsement deals.
You may not be the next teen sensation or world renowned athlete, but your online (and offline) reputation can significantly affect you. In 2009, 86% recruiters used social media to research potential hires and 44% of them didn’t hire applicants due to their findings.
You can protect your online reputation with these 3 steps:
1) Be narcissistic by using search engines. Constantly monitor what people can learn about you on the web.
2) Establish a positive reputation. You can do this by editing your existing social media profiles or creating one (LinkedIn is a popular professional social network) that depicts a clear, positive image.
3) Manage present & future problems. Deal with problems right away, use privacy settings, and always think before you accept/submit anything.
Final Note: Assume everything can make it to the web, the “delete” button doesn’t necessarily make it disappear forever, and everyone has a camera.
With 93% of teens (ages 12-17) and young adults (ages 18-29) along with 74% of all adults (ages 18+) going online, one may wonder what activities these generations are engaging in on the web. According to Pew Internet Project reports teens and Generation Y (18-32) use the internet mostly for entertainment and communicating with family and friends. Generation X (33-44) is the leading age group in online shopping and online banking. Ages 33-72 use the internet mostly for research on religious information and are most likely to visit government websites. Older generations utilize the web mostly for email and research especially on health related information. Interestingly enough the Boomers are just as likely as Generation Y to make travel reservations via the web.
Most people associate interns as the “gofer” of a company who perform endless trivial tasks for little to no pay. In actuality, that does happen but internships essentially provide students, recent grads and those wanting to change careers the opportunity to gain “real world” work experience within a particular field. Currently at my third internship, I know firsthand how important they can be in learning the things that can’t be taught in a classroom.
Internships have the capability to build your future by:
- Providing “real world” experiences that can’t be taught in the classroom.
- Creating valuable contacts
- Leading to career opportunities
-Provide a leg up on the competition, which can be the deciding factor between you and an equally educated person.
-Get your foot in the door in certain industries.
-Can lead to full-time job.
Finding an internship:
- Make Decisions:
-What type of industry/organization/career interests you?
-What do you hope to gain from the internship?
-Are you willing to accept a non-paid position or re-locate?
- Where to Search:
-Network through family, friends, peers, colleagues, etc.
-Career advisers, job databases, career fairs, alumni directories, professional organizations (ThinkIntern.com)
- How to decide:
-Research & evaluate the internship environment through the internship description and the company.
-Talk to former interns: internshipratings.com
-Interview: Ask questions–you are interviewing them as much as they are interviewing you.
This past Saturday, I finally reached the light at the end of what seemed to be a perpetual tunnel that was college. I have to say that I am relieved that I’ve reached this milestone; I even commemorated it with a massive deleting spree of class notes and all “death by Power Point” slides that were on my computer. It’s a bittersweet feeling knowing that I don’t have to worry about any projects, exams, or homework that once consumed my life for five years. I want to take a moment to reflect on why I chose the University of Alabama at Birmingham to be my alma mater.
I knew that I wanted to attend a college that A) wasn’t located in my hometown; B) was located in a city, which would allow more opportunities for jobs/internships during and out of college; and C) offered a major that appealed to me. UAB ultimately won me because I was more familiar with Birmingham and their “reasonable” cost of attendance. According to the “Student Poll,” 84% of college students ranked academic quality as “very important” to them in deciding where to attend college. Financial aid (71%) and cost of attendance (61%) were also considered to be extremely important to students.
There really wasn’t any question about going to college once I graduated high school—it was just understood. Like most Millennials, I felt the pressure to go to college from parents, teachers, peers, and even the media. Our generation was raised by workaholic parents in a society that reinforces highly skilled labor. We’re taught to quickly build strong resumes to keep us ahead of our competition and achieve success.
The one question that all graduates are bombarded with is now what are we going to do? Here’s my plan:
- Work: I want to obtain as much work experience as I can, but be able to learn and grow from each one. I am fortunate enough to be able to continue my internship with TechKnowledge Birmingham, where I can grow and shape my career path.
- Travel: I want to see as much of the world as I possible can.
- Graduate school (?): If I do decide to attend grad school, I will only do so if I feel a strong passion in another field of study or if I believe I can’t learn anymore about my current fields from “self-taught” methods. I feel the majority of people that have decided to attend grad school are doing so for the wrong reasons. The top reasons are that they can’t find a job or they just don’t know what to do with their life.
I am a part of the über force that is the “Millennial Generation,” (other aliases include: Generation Y, iGeneration, Net Generation, etc). This generation includes everyone born between 1982 and 2002. We account for 2 billion people worldwide and 25% of the US population, which is 72 to 81 million people.
The Millennial Generation is known for several positive and negative characteristics. We grew up online and the vast majority of us are technically literate and gadget savvy. In general, we are outspoken, always on the move, goal-oriented and enjoy collaborating with others on activites ranging from sports to projects. We also can be seen as rude, arrogant, coddled, and superficial. I want to explore these characteristics and more about my generation and welcome any feedback and/or contributions from others. I’ll provide you with views on topics from other generations, fellow Millennials and of course, moi.
Here are some topics I will be expanding upon along with a few examples of what will be covered within them:
- Technology (emphasis on social media): “90% of the Millennial Generation in the US own a PC & 82% own a cell phone.”
- Education: “We are on track to emerge as the most educated generations ever.”
-Classroom 2.0
-Experience: working while in school, internships and how involved the educational system really is.
- Workplace: “As of 2010, 4-in-10 Millennials are employed in full-time jobs.” Also Millennials would be the fastest growing segment of the workforce.
-Ethics & Values
-What we can bring to your company
-What we want from you as an employer
- Lifestyle:
-Personal: forms self-expression, recreational activities, trends and fads
-Society: the “Going Green” movement, advocacy, impact of pop culture
- Morals, values, & ethics: how our generational upbringing has shaped these & what we consider to be essential when making life-changing decisions.
- Politics: “We are the newest voting population.”
-How we are/can influence American politics
-How we are/can influence international affairs
- Religious beliefs & behaviors: “Only 45% of Millennials consider religion to very important in their lives and 1 in 4 is unaffiliated with any particular religion.”
These topics will set the foundation on many discussions and as we move forward more topics will be added or emphasized.
The majority of my data for this post comes from The Pew Research Center’s extensive study on “The Millennials.”
