Week 5 Assignment 1

I need this assignment 2/12/2020 by 8am EST.

Week 5: Your Online Presence

Most of you have had the experience of nervously entering a new work environment for the first time. Today, your online presence might enter the work environment before you do. When you Google your name, what comes up? The information that is readily available online about you might surprise you. If you have been mentioned in a news article, interviewed by a reporter, posted a profile on Facebook or LinkedIn, or published a blog, your online persona is visible to other people by simply entering your name in a search engine. Just as hiring managers are likely to review your social media presence, other members of your community are able to as well.

Photo Credit: Microsoft Corporation. (Producer). MP900387933 [Photo of internet search button]. Retrieved February 6, 2014 from http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/images/results.aspx?qu=search+button&ex=1#ai:MP900387933
This week you will learn how to put your best virtual foot forward.
Learning Objectives
Students will:
· Evaluate social media impact on personal and professional presence
· Evaluate possible career paths
· Assess reading, typing, and English skills
· Evaluate professional profiles

Week 5: Your Online Presence
Most of you have had the experience of nervously entering a new work environment for the first time. Today, your online presence might enter the work environment before you do. When you Google your name, what comes up? The information that is readily available online about you might surprise you. If you have been mentioned in a news article, interviewed by a reporter, posted a profile on Facebook or LinkedIn, or published a blog, your online persona is visible to other people by simply entering your name in a search engine. Just as hiring managers are likely to review your social media presence, other members of your community are able to as well.
Photo Credit: Microsoft Corporation. (Producer). MP900387933 [Photo of internet search button]. Retrieved February 6, 2014 from http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/images/results.aspx?qu=search+button&ex=1#ai:MP900387933
This week you will learn how to put your best virtual foot forward.
Learning Objectives
Students will:
· Evaluate social media impact on personal and professional presence
· Evaluate possible career paths
· Assess reading, typing, and English skills
· Evaluate professional profiles
Week 5 Notes and Readings
One of the best things about the virtual worlds of social networking sites is that people can learn all about each other. Through these sites, we can find out about other people’s tastes in art, music, literature, and fashion. In their posts, we can learn about their social opinions, political views, and religious beliefs. We can even get a pretty good idea of what they like to do for fun, what they find funny and how (and how much) they like to party.
One of the worst things about the virtual worlds of social networking sites is that people can learn all about each other. Do you really want everyone to know everything about you, from your political views to your party habits? Your grandmother? Your neighbor? Your boss? A potential employer? In our face to face lives, most of us are usually careful about which parts of our selves we share with different people, yet somehow, on line, people often share personal information and images online that could be risky. It may be true that some information is not anyone else’s business, but the Internet is a public place. And, it is hard for people to forget their impressions of others once they have them.
In addition to revealing the wrong thing to the wrong person, it is also important to be aware that once information and images get into cyberspace, they can get shared and passed around to point where it is nearly impossible to get rid of them. A young person might think it is funny to share a nude “selfie” when drunk, but what happens if the image goes “viral” as he or she is also applying for a job working with children? There have been cases of people being turned down for jobs, getting divorced, and even being arrested as a result of material shared on the Internet.
Even when a reality is virtual, it is still a reality, and has all of the same freedoms, responsibilities, choices and consequences as any other reality. As you plan your success in life, it is important to pay attention to all of the realities through which we pass.
Read:

Will Your Facebook Profile Sabotage Your Job Search?
By Martha C. White Nov. 14, 2013
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@TIMEBusiness

Facebook, Twitter and their ilk are digital catnip for hiring managers, but this addiction isn’t a harmless buzz: New research shows that what’s in our profiles has little bearing on how well we do our jobs, even though a large number of recruiters operate under the assumption that it does.
Social media? Everybody’s doing it — everybody in HR, that is. According to one survey by recruiting software company Jobvite, 93% of recruiters surveyed are likely to look at a candidate’s profile in the course of filling a job. More than 40% have reconsidered a job candidate based on what was in a social media profile, and 60% say improper grammar or punctuation, along with four-letter words, make them think poorly of the applicant.
When it comes to profiles and performance, “For some reason, there’s this impetus to think it’s related,” says Philip Roth, professor of management at Clemson University. “Companies are inspecting social profiles to weed out candidates and to get a sense of whether a particular applicant is likely to fit into the culture or not. What you post or Tweet can have positive or negative impact on what recruiters think of you,” Dan Schawbel wrote in TIME last year.
“To me the complications that go with that logic are pretty substantial,” Roth says.
The temptation of using sites like Facebook to take a peek at what job-seekers say and do when they’re off the clock is its accessibility and the sense that it offers a real-life window into someone’s unguarded thoughts.
“It’s easy,” Roth says. “The information is just too alluring.”
The trend and the assumption of a correlation between what people display online and what kind of behaviors they display in the workplace also can be ascribed to a misplaced faith in the power of technology to provide better insights than the low-tech methods that preceded it, Roth says.
“People also look at this through a technological lens — technology is good, we’ll try it — but if you look at it as an employment test it ought to have a proven record of predicting job performance,” he says. “If it works you ought to have a track record that it works. The track record for social media isn’t there.”
(MORE: The Real Reason New College Grads Can’t Get Hired)
In a new
Journal of Management
article, Roth found that although there’s plenty of information that shows how much social media is used in hiring, there’s a dearth of research on how well it’s being used. Employers are forging ahead and relying on the assumption that a job candidate whose Facebook profile is full of hard-partying photos and devoid of capital letters and commas, for instance, won’t be a good worker.
This assumption is actually dead wrong. In another Journal of Management paper, Roth and lead author Chad Van Iddekinge of Florida State University couldn’t find any link between subjects’ current job performance and what kind of employees recruiters thought these people would be based on evaluations of their Facebook pages. “We had recruiters make predictions and the empirical correlation was essentially zero,” Roth says.
Part of the problem is that there’s really no standard for how to evaluate a Facebook page this way, so HR folks wind up guessing or going with their gut — not a reliable way to assess jobworthiness. Taking what users post on Facebook at face value is a gamble, too — anyone with a Facebook friend who’s prone to embellishing the truth (which is probably most of us) knows that.
There are other reasons why relying on social media as a kind of ad hoc screening tool isn’t a good hiring strategy. “There was evidence of subgroup difference in Facebook ratings that tended to favor female and White applicants,” Van Iddekinge and Roth write.
The authors theorize that the overwhelming amount of personal detail in Facebook profiles “may cause decision makers to rely on biases” as they try to sort out what’s relevant and what isn’t. Roth says using profile content to predict job performance is similar to some employers’ use of credit checks, a practice that’s been banned in some states.
Roth points out that photos and “likes” can give clues to applicants’ race, religion and other classes protected from workplace discrimination. He also says it potentially could skew the playing field either for or against older candidates, who are less likely to be active on social media sites.
Sites like Facebook are a great way for people to put their personality on display, but hiring managers are making a big mistake when they evaluate the profile rather than the person.

To the Editor: When my ex-husband and I were first married in 1984, we had one TV – with rabbit ears – and one VCR, in a cozy, but adequate two bedroom apartment. By the time we divorced 20 years later, we had three TVs, all hooked up to an antenna AND
To the Editor:

When my ex-husband and I were first married in 1984, we had one TV – with rabbit ears – and one VCR, in a cozy, but adequate two bedroom apartment. By the time we divorced 20 years later, we had three TVs, all hooked up to an antenna AND cable, five working VCRs, and hundreds of VHS tapes of programs that had been recorded but never watched, purportedly stockpiled for “retirement,” which I sold for $150 on my way out of the three bedroom condo.

The last five years also brought a computer that could access the Internet, in addition to an older one which was basically a word processor. I silently saw with each increase in media, more and more distance in the relationship, and secretly blamed this veritable Circuit City, a chain that spanned the marriage and met its demise about the same time, as responsible for the ultimate breakup of the union.

The more technology that came into our lives, the less we communicated. A TV went on as soon as my ex-husband got up, entered the house, entered a room. Similar to Princess Diana’s comments with respect to Camilla, it became “a bit crowded,” both literally and figuratively, and I was displaced as a wife.

The final straw came over a Penn State game in September of 2001, the start of which interfered with his paying for storage on his overflow stuff that could not fit into our home. For some reason, the location had closed before noon for a brief period and was not open when my ex-husband drove by to remit his monthly fee. He came home yelling as if this situation were my fault.

Within a few weeks, he was gone for good, along with his precious Joe Paterno – and a tall totem pole that it had become painfully clear I was at the bottom of… if on at all. Happy Birthday to me! For all intents and purposes, I hadn’t had a partner in a long while, just someone who went from the couch or the computer to work and back again. A man unemotionally available, but capable of getting worked up over “the darndest things.”

Fast forward 10 years, and the world is full of “communication” devices and entertainment choices, whatever we want to keep us from being bored with ourselves and having to talk to a real person face to face. More and more people seem to relate to each other through these technological wonders, even when in close proximity. It sounds lonely and much worse than my days of “competing” against a stationary TV and dial up Internet for attention and affection. With such an emphasis on “the me” over “the we” – “I” this, “I” that – it’s no surprise that the Oxford University Press declared “selfie” the 2013 New Word of the Year. It’s also scary…

I write this as a barrage of ads for the holidays have replaced the political ones – “buy me,” different subject – and Black Friday has moved to Thanksgiving evening, Grey Thursday followed by earlier starts for Small Business Saturday, Cyber Monday, logistically making it easier for us to mindlessly load up our lives.

I have one TV, one VCR/DVD combo, a digital antenna, one desktop computer, no smart phone – and no bills to support more than I could ever use unless I devoted my days, 24/7, to attending to media. Just enough. Humans are analog, still, and need downtime to optimally function. Staying “wired” all the time, well, makes us “wired.” Once anything crosses from being a tool to a tether – and a launch pad, no pun intended, into the land of addiction – a reevaluation is in order.
Besides making a few entrepreneurs rich as we sheepishly adopt their vision for our world, and propping up the national economy for now, the consumer culture – must have “the new,” must have it now – is making US impoverished, on both a macro and micro level, and not just financially. Instead of continuing to be enslaved by artificially created wants that are not real homo sapien needs, perhaps take the time to THINK, and avoid relationship suicide by remembering less is more.

Divorce filings typically spike in January, my own included in 2003. A cautionary tale for all seasons. Because in the words of the Bacharach/David song, ”…a chair is not a house, and a house is not a home…” …and that goes for everything from big screen TVs to small screen “smart” phones as well.
Karen Ann DeLuca

Alexandria, Va.
In movies like Coach Carter and Remember the Titans, when the team is out of their depth and in need of direction, the coach comes in to pick up the team and set them right. Career mentors do the same thing. When you feel lost in your career, a mentor will be there to remind you what you’re fighting for and suggest how to get it. The greatest mentors will open doors to help you succeed.
Having great mentors is the best way for you to get your career moving and reach your goals as fast as possible. But, for many, finding a mentor seems like an awkward endeavor.
If you think finding a career mentor feels awkward, there’s a good chance you aren’t doing it right. Developing mentor/mentee relationships should feel as easy and fun as developing a friendship. Approaching possible mentors with this mentality makes all the difference.
Seek Out Friends, Not Mentors
Stop seeking out a mentor altogether. The entire idea of molding another person’s career, of being a mentor, sounds exhausting. Go ahead and imagine taking time from your busy day to develop someone else’s career.
People are too busy developing their own career to respond to your plea that they take time help develop yours.
Rather than seeking out a mentor, it’s better to focus on simply touching base with others in the career you want to pursue. Then, after touching base, focus on creating friendships. Offer praise and seek advice, but never say “Will you mentor me?” Instead, become people’s friend and let those friendships grow into relationships that will grant you insight and education. These friends will mentor you without the title that makes the interaction feel like work.
Focus on Giving, Not Getting
Most people won’t want to stop what they’re doing to help you get a career underway. Doing so is difficult and takes a lot of time. On top of this, a lot of people asking for mentors aren’t worth the time. They’ll turn out to be lazy or incompetent, and only serve to add frustration to their mentor’s life. Harsh, but true.
This is why, rather than asking for something, it’s better to give something instead. What you have to offer will be unique to you. You may give insight, praise, or you may be able to offer an expertise you already have.
When I started reaching out for my career as a writer, I gave the only thing I felt I could offer. A lot of praise. It was all genuine, but offering honest praise meant that I had to contact writers I truly admired. The risk of that rejection was scary, and I was lucky that all the writers I contacted for advice were responsive and eager to help a loyal reader get started.
Instead of contacting someone with the request for help, offer them something. Make your request secondary and they’ll appreciate that you’re putting them first.
Build Slowly, Don’t Rush It
Mentorship. It just sounds formal, doesn’t it? Like something you pay $20 an hour for. But by now, you know that effective mentoring shouldn’t be like that! You know that mentorships should be friendships, and friendships don’t develop from a single email or a 10 minute introduction. Instead, they develop slowly through continued interaction. Building a strong relationship is about offering praise, asking for advice, and discussing your ideas over time.
It’s slow, it requires restraint (especially when you’re approaching your role models), and it requires tact. But slowly-built relationships, made from occasional monthly emails or phone calls, are more versatile and reliable than relationships made from a collection of questions asked via cold call. So go slow: you have your whole life to succeed; don’t sabotage that success by rushing an important relationship.
Remember There Are Other Ways
Taking it slow can drive you insane. I know because I’ve been there. You want a mentor so you can get coffee and spend hours picking their brains. But rushing a friendship with a mentor, and relying too heavily on them in the beginning, is a surefire way to push a mentor away. Instead of relying solely on someone to mentor you, it helps to use other resources to learn as you let your relationship incubate.
Books – Books are amazing tools when it comes to learning, and I already touched on the importance of reading in How to Remember More of What You Read. But it can’t be overstated.
Forums – These give you the opportunity to learn from others. You gain a sort of proto-mentorship, and you can see what problems others in your desired field are having. It’s always easier to learn from the mistakes of others, and this is a great mentor substitute.
Courses – Courses are a double whammy because you develop important knowledge while bolstering your resume and/or portfolio by gaining a new credential in the form of that course. Also, there are courses for everything! A quick Google search may blow your mind in terms of the number of possible courses there are out there.
Return the Favor
Finally, after you’ve gotten a mentor and your relationship is solidified, make sure to remember these times when you’re down the road. Someday someone will be asking for your help. Remember when you felt lost and don’t let your success and busy schedule keep you from offering the helping hand you needed at one point in your life.
Mentoring not only grows the mentee, but it grows the mentor as well.
Do you have a mentor? How did the two of you develop your relationship? What tips do you have for other people looking for a mentor in their desired field?
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