The document discusses using social media for professional development. It outlines various social media platforms like LinkedIn, Twitter, blogs, and Google Docs and how they can be used to network, learn, discuss issues, and collaborate. The document encourages the audience to create an online presence with visibility, specificity, credibility, and engagement. It also provides tips on developing a social media strategy and overcoming challenges like privacy and time management.

1. ‘Net’-working for Your Own Professional Development Helen Pownall University of Manchester 15 July 2010

2. Outline Plenty of sessions on how we use social media with students, but what about us? What do you want to achieve? Show and tell Different approaches Different profiles What are the issues/challenges/concerns? Create your online profile strategy ‘Open mic’ showcase

3. Professional development: “The advancement of skills, knowledge or expertise for professional growth through continued learning.” Social media: “[…]a blending of technology and social interaction for the co-creation of value.” Key = developing o.s. by communicating, engaging, sharing, collaborating (i.e. community)

4. What can you do? Networking – building and maintaining relationships (for a purpose…?) Learning – gaining knowledge, understanding Discussing – engaging in debate, chewing over issues, sharing ideas and experiences Collaborating – working with others on projects Profile raising and influence… But what do you want to get out of it…?

5. LinkedIn – if you only do one thing… Your online CV Add contacts and connections Join groups and participate in discussions(UK HE Careers Professionals Group, graduate recruiters’ groups, sector groups) Ask and answer questions Share stuff – link to Slideshare, blog, Amazon reading list, Twitter Build your influence www.linkedin.com/in/helenpownall

6. Twitter – the virtual grapevine What is it good for? Finding out about stuff Making new connections Sharing ideas/info of interest to your followers Joining in a big, open conversation Getting quick solutions to problems Straw polling… www.twitter.com/helenpownall

7. Hootsuite – organising your communication streams Send messages to different platforms in one go (multiple Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook accounts) Organise and manage your Twitter streams Easily shorten URLs Get stats of click-throughs View your ‘klout’

8. Twitter – gathering, sifting and ‘re-tweeting’ information and communicating www.twitter.com/helenpownall Hootsuite, an application for managing Twitter messages

9. Blogs – sharing your thoughts and knowledge What are they good for? Sharing your thoughts, ideas, experiences and good practice on a particular subject Demonstrates your knowledge, expertise and interest (builds professional credibility) Great for networking and profile raising, especially if you cross link with others writing on similar topics http://careersintheory.wordpress.com

10. Delicious – sharing links What is it good for? Accessing your bookmarked web links from anywhere Categorising bookmarks loosely by tagging Sharing your resources with others Seeing what sites are popular for particular tags www.delicious.com/ehlne

11. Slideshare – sharing presentations What is it good for? Sharing your presentations online Tapping into others’ presentations http://www.slideshare.net/helenpownall

12. GoogleDocs and Dropbox - collaborating Sharing documents (documents, spreadsheets, presentations, forms etc) Collaborating with others anywhere Different permissions levels – open access/invitation only GoogleDocs: work directly online (Google’s proprietary file format) Dropbox: work offline - synchronises with your computer

13. Feeds – managing information Have the latest updates from your favourite news sites, blogs etc come through to one place, and categorise them the way you want (e.g. ‘general careers’, ‘media’, ‘health’) Use feed readers like Google Reader, Pageflakes or Netvibes www.netvibes.com/postgradcareers

14. CiteULike – sharing books and articles Find and share interesting articles online using a tagging system http://www.citeulike.org/user/davidwinter

15. What you’re doing now Write down 2 or 3 things you’re doing in terms of social media and professional development Share with the person next to you…

16. Issues and challenges Privacy vs openness - trust and credibility Who is a friend/contact/follower? More work – less time! What do managers think…? “I’m not a techie. How do I keep up with technology?”

17. Things to ponder How far do you want to reach out? How much do you want people to know about you? How much time are you able to spend? Dip your toe in when you need to or Fully engaged Something in between

18. Creating a strong online presence The 4 golden rules: Visibility – maintain a dynamic, multidimensional profile Specificity – make it clear who you are and what you do (what are your specialisms etc) Credibility – professional, relevant style and content Engagement – contribute to professional discussions and ‘give back’

19. Your social media strategy Sketch out your social media strategy – mind map or draw… What do you want to achieve? What practical steps will you take? Are there any challenges? (Reality check!) Share in pairs or small groups

20. Over to you – open mic…?

21. Contact Helen Pownall Careers Consultant, with special responsibility for web and interactive technologies) MLP, Careers & Employability Division University of Manchester, UK Email: helen.pownall@manchester.ac.uk Phone: +44 161 275 2828 LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/helenpownall Twitter: www.twitter.com/helenpownall Slides available at: www.slideshare.com/helenpownall