More Than a Test Score

Looking for job or internship opportunities online? Chelsy McInnis, our Student Ambassador at Lindenwood University, shares some insight on how to effectively use social media to land that dream gig.

Technology is amazing; in every way, shape, and form it is just awesome. I was watching Mad Men the other day (it’s placed in the 60’s) and noticed the stark difference in technology. There were no cell phones, computers, iPods—nothing. For the people that grew up during this time, some of them are now the stockholders and CEO’s of Fortune 500 companies. For others they are the owners of your favorite local business. And to us, these are the people asking us about that “Facespace” website we’re always surfing.

The wonderful thing about today is that as a generation we have grown up with the latest technologies; the PlayStations, the cell phones, the portable computers. We were born with an advantage over any of our predecessors because we learned how to adapt to new technologies quickly and fluently. Now with the boom of social media, people are looking for the young folks who “get it” to help them market their business. Agencies have sprouted up solely for digital marketing, and they need help – That help is you. That help is me.

Social media is a god-send for college and high school students. Twitter and LinkedIn are premium outlets for networking and job recruiting. Social media is not only creating jobs, but it is allowing us—students—to create our own jobs.

So here is how you do it:

• Get a Twitter account: If you don’t have one, get one, and then start networking your butt off. Follow the accounts of companies you respect, companies you dream of working at, and start interacting with them. Follow people in your area and in your field, interact with them. On Twitter you have the opportunity to build your own community.

• Follow the #internship Hashtag: You’ll find many people tweeting out tips or job opportunities and it allows you the chance to find other interns to follow on Twitter.

• Wondering if your dream job is available? Tweet your dream company and ask: I got my first internship by hassling my soon-to-be-employer with all kinds of DM’s asking about open positions and constantly interacting with their blogs and tweets. Eventually they called me for an interview for an internship opportunity they cooked up for me (they didn’t even take interns at the time).

• Expert in something? Share the wealth: If you’re knowledgeable or passionate about something, start a blog. Tweet out tips, do something. If a potential employer Google searches your name and finds a blog filled with posts related to your field – you’re golden. Many people at local networking events tell me they’ve at least come across my blog once. Having a blog can prove you know more about social media than Facebook and Twitter. Knowing the tools of the trade is one step to getting paid for it. (WordPress is a good blog start-up)

• Use social media because you want to, not because you have to: Social media has an unlimited potential if you use it. But you shouldn’t feel obligated to. If you don’t actively use it, people will see you as a casual user than a social media powerhouse. If you’re active on Twitter and participating with people in your field, people will notice.

I once had someone from a nationwide company send me a message on Twitter asking if I’d be interested in interning for them. Their web content manager was pitching the idea of a social media branch and was pitching the idea of me specifically to the CEO’s. There are hundreds of job recruiters on Twitter and LinkedIn just looking to come in and sweep you up, so stay active on these sites if you are passionate about it – because yes, there can be a job in feeding your internet-addiction.

Wanting a Q&A session over anything I missed here? Find me on Twitter @chelsysayshi or at my blog chelsycupcake.com.

As many students find themselves transitioning out of high school, whether on a pathway towards higher education or to the workforce, email will become a more and more prominent tool of communication. Unlike Facebook, Twitter, or text messaging, email is usually reserved for more professional matters. Whether it’s coordinating projects with classmates, reaching out to professors, or even sending your resume to potential employers, email will be your primary means of contact, and by extension, will often be the first impression people have of you. In order to keep from being passed by for a job or having others question your writing proficiency, here are some best practice
tips for keeping your emails organized, concise, and professional:

-Have an Appropriate Address: You could get away with “pizzamonkey25″ when you were a kid, but as you get older having a silly email address will make others wonder how serious you take yourself and your work. Instead, keep it simple by using your first initial and last name as your email address, such as “jsmith@gmail.com.”

-Title Your Emails: Nobody wants to click on an email titled “No Subject;” similarly, typing “Hey” as an email’s subject line is far from appropriate. Make sure when you title your emails you choose something that is brief and to the point. If need be, include phrases such as “Please Review” or “Urgent” to emphasize the needed action from the recipient.

-Greet Those You Meet: In the same way you wouldn’t just go up to a stranger and start talking to them, you should never jump directly into an email message without some sort of greeting or introduction of yourself. It shouldn’t be drawn out, but simply saying “Hello” and “My name is…” is a much better way to begin communicating with somebody than thrusting them into the thick of your message.

-Keep It Clean: We’re not talking about avoiding inappropriate language or subject matter (though you should be already)—we’re talking about avoiding texting lingo and abbreviations. Email isn’t limited to 140 characters and should be fully utilized; there’s no need to use LOL or OMG in an email, and typing sentences like, “wut r u up 2″ will only reflect poorly upon your writing abilities.

-Create a Signature: Instead of simply ending all your emails with your name, create an automated signature with additional contact information. Do you have a blog? Leave a link with the URL. Active on Twitter? Include your username so people can find you. Have a Zinch profile? Add it on there too! This is a great way to share a little bit more about yourself and expand your network.

By keeping these points in mind you’ll be prepared for any online correspondence. Remember, email is a valuable tool and should be considered part of your online identity. So be sure to follow these tips and check your inbox on a regular basis…you never know who you’ll hear from next.

In the first segment of this article we looked at some of the premier digital resources at hand for students today. This second half will provide you with insight into some of the latest tools for studying in the new age.

Lingro – Have you ever come across a webpage so full of technical jargon and five-syllable words that you can barely decipher what the author is saying? You’re not alone, and that’s where Lingro steps in to help. All you have to do visit Lingro’s website, type the URL of the site you need help with, and Lingro will make every word on that site clickable for a definition. In addition, Lingro also provides free translation services, so if you want to know how to say a word in Portuguese or French, simply drag your mouse over that term and the translation will pop-up right underneath.

Evernote – Most students either jot down their notes on a piece of paper or word processing program, and if you’ve done either you know there’s often a lot left to be desired. Evernote is a relatively new software that is to note taking what the Lamborghini is to cars—a smooth, slick, and powerful upgrade. Once you create a free account, you can save your notes on Evernote’s server and access them from any device you install the program on, whether it’s your laptop, smartphone, or even iPad. Classroom scribbles aren’t the only items you can save; image clippings, web clippings, and hyperlinks are also supported by the system, so any online data you want to share is conveniently accessible from the same program.

MindMeister – Now that you’ve found software to help manage your notes, it’s time to put them to use. Say you have a ten-page essay due asking to cover multiple sections of a text, where do you start? One popular organizational method is the use of a mind map, but with the constant additions and edits made during the process the end result can look cluttered and sloppy. With MindMeister, instead of creating draft after draft of your map you can make simple edits and adjustments in seconds. It has a clean layout and intuitive interface as well, and while the customizing options are limited (on the free service at least, there’s multiple premium versions available), they provide you with everything you need to get the job done. With the ability to incorporate links and images, it’s well worth sharing with your friends online to collaborate on a map together.

The Kno Tablet – With the introduction of the iPad it became obvious to everyone from tech junkies to teachers that tablet computers were the wave of the future, with a number of schools already beginning to incorporate them into the classroom. But for all its specs and fancy apps, the iPad still has a ways to go before being utilized as a fully-fledged learning tool; the Kno on the other hand was designed specifically with a student user in mind. The eReader capabilities on the Kno aren’t limited to just downloading and viewing their vast catalog of eTextbooks; rather you can actually interact them, highlighting key sections of the text, creating sticky notes for helpful reminders, and writing directly on pages any thoughts that spring to mind. The Kno is also wi-fi capable and has a web browser for surfing the net, in addition to a built-in microphone for recording lectures or media. Picking up one of these guys will set you back a pretty penny though, with their single-screen model starting at $599 and a dual-screen at $899, so just like your college education, advances in learning come with a hefty price tag.

Chegg – If you’re unable drop that much cash on a Kno, iPad, or any other eReader, then it looks like you’ll have to do things the old fashioned way—by reading the actual book. Fortunately just because you’re reading the book doesn’t mean you have to fully pay for it. While there’s a few other text rental services online, Chegg is definitely our favorite. Once you set up a free account all you need to do is type the author, title, or ISBN into the search engine and the site will retrieve that book for you along with all its details and descriptions. On Chegg you can also choose how long you’ll need to check out the book for (ranging from a month to a whole semester!), and they regularly post coupons for additional savings! Plus with free return shipping you never have to worry about swinging by the Post Office before class…now doesn’t that sound convenient?

With that final tidbit of digital data this two-part series comes to an end. There is of course one last tech tool every student out there should be using—Zinch itself! On our site you can contact college admission officers, apply for thousands of scholarships, and meet over two million fellow students worldwide. What are you waiting for? Head over there today!

Image courtesy: Sura Nualpradid / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Back in the day all a student needed for class was their texts, notepad, and a pencil. The most technologically advanced piece of hardware they’d carry was a calculator (battery-powered at that), and a “facebook” was something you ordered during your last semester of college.

Suffice to say, things have changed.

Students today are in the digital age, a time when they can manage their music, games, and even social life within the palm of their hand. Multi-volume encyclopedia sets can now fit on a single disk, class registration is a paperless process, and wi-fi has become general necessity—shouldn’t the tools students’ use reflect all this? The answer is YES.

So if you’re still carrying around a backpack full of binders or rifling through the card catalog listen up, cause these are the newest set of tech resources every student needs to utilize.

Dropbox – Have you ever had a file you wanted to share with a friend but was too big to email? What about that presentation you left on your flashdrive sitting in your dorm room? Dropbox solves both those problems by allowing users to store and share files through their cloud-computing system. All you have to do is download the program, sync it up with the people you’re working with, and start sharing. It’s an easy-to-use no frills application, so those of you with “tech-impaired” friends need not worry about confusing your buddies on how to use it.

Quora – Recently launched last summer, this site is one of the big players in the current “interest graphing” market happening online. What Quora allows you to do is post a question and have other users directly reply to the query. At first glance it sounds pretty basic but there’s a lot more to it; you can also search for other questions, keywords, and interests, or even “follow” them to keep-up-to-date on each response. The topics discussed on Quora are endless and can range from the casual (Best pizza in town?) to the academic (How do I write a bibliography?) to the technical (Any easy ways to create CSS sprites?), so sign up and take a look around, your question might have already been answered.

Google Docs – Everyone under the sun has heard of Google and used their search engine, but how familiar are you with these features? In Google Docs you can create a word document, spreadsheet, or presentation completely online, and share it with other users to edit and revise all in real-time. This is definitely a cheap (i/e free) alternative for those of you unable to shell out the money for a word processing program or complete home-office software, but don’t be fooled by its simplicity, you can do some pretty amazing stuff with these basic tools.

Quizlet – This website was made for students by students—literally! Founded in 2005 by (then) 15 year-old high schooler Andrew Sutherland, Quizlet enables students to create their own sets of digital flashcards for those hard-to-remember facts you need to memorize. Even better, you can search the site for flashcard sets created by other users, or share your own with classmates. Once you’ve got all your key points memorized you can put them to work with the site’s testing features, including true/false and multiple-choice quizzes, or something a bit more entertaining like their Scatter and Space Race games.

5min – Think Youtube but without all the lolcats and annoying video blogs. What 5min is looking to offer is a “videopedia”—a comprehensive source of instructional and educational videos, all of which are offered free of charge. Looking for a quick video on global warming? Curious about how the body processes proteins? Want to cook up some black bean chili? All these videos and much much more are available on the site, and are perfect resources to supplement that in-class presentation or a do-it-yourself activity at home.

That wraps up the first half of our look at the top tools for the tech-savvy student. Be sure to check back soon for Part II where we’ll be looking at some more of the best sites, software, and systems that can help you reach the top of the class.

A recent article from klout.com listed what they consider to be the most influential colleges on Twitter. Just who made the cut? Below are the top 10 listed on the site, based on timeliness, post relevance, and interaction with fellow tweeters.

Stanford University - @Stanford

Syracuse University – @SyracuseU

Harvard University – @Harvard

The University of Wisconsin-Madison – @UWMadison

University of California Berkeley - @Cal

Butler University - @ButlerBlue2

Tufts University – @TuftsUniversity

Temple University – @TempleUniv

University of Minnesota – @UMNews

The University of Texas at Austin – @UTAustin

So did your alma mater show up, or does it look your university could use a little tweeting-tutorial? Either way, you can read the full article here and see what other readers had to say about the rankings.