Career Development for the “Net Generation” Heather Law Massachusetts Institute of Technology Career Development Specialist Cambridge, MA, USA

Agenda Overview of Gen-Y students Career Development Resources for Gen-Y students: –On-line Workshops: Adobe Captivate –Webinars –Twitter –Facebook –LinkedIn –Videos

Overview: Gen-Y Students (AKA Millenials) Around 235 million people globally Born late-1970s to the early 2000s Shaped by events, especially instant communication technologies – , texting, IM, YouTube, Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter Reputation for being peer-oriented Economic prospects worsened due to late-2000s recession Employers concerned Gen-Y’s have too high of expectations from workplace. Studies predict students will switch jobs frequently

General Information: Gen-Y Students Likes: Technology Online, quick access to information To receive news from online sources Purchase ebooks Dislikes: Doesn't typically read books Hates waiting Team work Preferred Working Environment Technology

Gen-Y Internet Use

Tips for Reaching Gen-Y Meet their needs for –Variety –Stimulation –Immediate Access to Information Experiential Learning is a MUST Use Technology! Be Visual- Visual Learners Dominate Make It Fun! They want to enjoy.

How To Get Their Attention Using Social Media and Web Is Essential It has to be in short bursts, easy to follow “In short, how you communicate with Gen Y defines if you will win them or not.”- AlcatelLucent, Employer

How Can We Help Gen-Y’s Find Jobs Provide career development information through the mediums they prefer –On-line workshops –Videos –Twitter –LinkedIn Teach them appropriate social media ettiquette

Reaching Students:On-line Workshops

On-Line Workshops Cover the basic topics: Resume Writing Cover Letter Writing Interviewing- 101 Negotiating Cover Letter Writing Career Fair Tips Networking Presentation Skills Choosing a Major

Benefits of On-line Workshops Available 24 hrs a day Basics can be covered and reviewed prior to in person visit- more productive use of time Accessible in medium Gen-Y’s prefer Available in Closed Caption for those with disabilities Script available- students can go and review as many times as needed

Programs To Consider Adobe Captivate 5 or Adobe Presenter: Has Closed Captioning Import Slides from PP Multimedia, quizes, videos, animations Interactivity, audio narrations

Has Closed Captioning

Videos Reach Gen-Y’ers through SHORT videos Provide Variety Option to obtain corporate sponsors 3 min. run time Corporate Sponsor Variety of videos

Career Development Information- Through Twitter Twitter is a free micro-blogging service Enables users to send and read messages known as tweets Most users allow open access to tweets You can follow individuals without them having to follow you or vice versa, as they would on most other online networking platforms Allows for real time communication

Tweets! The act of communicating via Twitter It is a short message sent through Twitter 140 characters

This is what 140 characters looks like. It's actually longer than you might expect. If you add URLs, sometimes you have to get cr8tiv.

Tweet Career Information to Followers

Tweet Career Information to Followers on your website

How Students Can Use Twitter Reading/Learning –Industry Trends –Researching Companies for an Interview –Job Openings –Learning about Job Search Best Practices Sharing –Establish yourself as an expert in your industry –Use your status updates to tweet about industry topics, tips, advice –You don’t have to create all the content. –You just need to be viewed as someone “in the know”. Connecting –Retweet others and they may follow you back

Advise Students On Who To Follow Who to Follow –Professionals in your field of interest –Faculty –Journalists –Bloggers –Thought leaders Gain access to endless stream of links to interesting stories, facts, and research – –

Why Use Linkedin? Many Students don’t want to be reached via Facebook Create a Group Foster career development discussions Post Job and Internships Allow for students to talk A business-oriented social networking website primarily used for professional networking

Start A Group Post Articles Post Jobs

Reach Them Where They Are! FacebookLinkedInTwitter # Users 500 Million Users65 Million Users100 Million Users Advantages More people are using Facebook than any other social networking site – access based on friend requests and security settings Designed for professional networking, more control over info posted Open access allows a user to communicate with hundreds of followers at a time. * Number of Users reported by Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter as of May 2010

Encourage Students To Join LinkedIn 83% of employers use the internet to find out information about potential employees Create professional profile Making clear what student has to offer Making clear what they are looking for Building their network Reconnecting Joining groups Asking and answering questions

 Website traffic  # of likes or followers  # of comments  # of RSVPs to event invitations  # mentions & re-tweets  Free analytics like Google Analytics  Buzz monitoring tools like Google alerts  Facebook insights  Hootsuite analytics  URL shortener insights  Polls or surveys How to Measure Results Ways to Track Sample Tools

Questions Heather Law Massachusetts Institute of Technology Career Development Specialist Cambridge, MA, USA