Social Media for Student Career Planning and

Harnessing of Community Assets

Introduction:Jennifer Blanchard Belk is an Assistant Professor of Interior Design, has a Masters of Art Education, and is the winner of the 2013 National Association of Women in Construction Education Visionary Award. She has served on admissions, scholarship, and specialization committees and serves as

Chair of the University College Faculty Conference (representing segments of the university such as Honors Programs, Academic Success Center, Career Development, International Center, etc.). As

an Orientation Faculty Mentor and freshman seminar instructor, she has extensive experience working closely with incoming students, assisting them with academic advising, college community

assimilation, and exploration of career options. Some of her research interests include Service Learning, Career and Professional Development, and Student Travel.

Jennifer Blanchard Belk

Collaborator:Ashley Sineath

• Graduate of Winthrop University• Research assistant within the program • Former secretary for the Winthrop Council of Student Leaders• Former President and Recruitment Chairman of Alpha Delta Pi Sorority.

Goals and Content

Why is career exploration so important?

The number one reason students drop out of college is a lack of career focus. Even if they do stay in college, students who lack focus end up spending more time and money to earn a degree.

With advance planning, your child can enter college well informed and focused on a career goal (ACRN, 2006)

If students have a clearer idea of their career goals, they will more likely to engage in academic tasks (Blustein 2002)

Exploration helps students make more post-secondary plans that are both realistic in nature and clearly related to their career

goals (Davis, 2006)

What are the issues with the state of student career exploration?

Young people have high ambitions, expecting to be highly educated and have professional careers, yet research has found that many do not develop coherent plans for achieving their

goals.(Hughes & Merchur Karp, 2004)

Students should not only be using the title of the position with the students but explaining what their job entails

(Kerr, 2003) 

Students have a lack of active investigation into what the career or educational path actually entails

(Davis, 2006)

The U.S. does lead the world in one important statistic:

The U.S. has the highest college dropout rate in the

industrialized world.(ACRN 2006)

 

America’s Career Resource Network Association (ACRNA) urges consideration of the extensive body of evidence of the educational, social, and economic value of career information and services that foster informed and considered career decisions. A. Educational Outcomes

i. Improved educational achievementii. Improved preparation and participation in postsecondary education iii. Better articulation among levels of education and between education and work iv. Shorter time to graduation v. Higher graduation and retention rates

B. Social Benefitsi. Benefits to family, peers, and community ii. Higher levels of worker satisfaction and career retention iii. Shorter path to primary labor market for young workers iv. Lower incidence of work-related stress and depression v. Reduced likelihood of work-related violence

C. Economic Consequencesi. Higher incomes and increased tax revenues ii. Lower rates and shorter periods of unemployment iii. Lower costs of worker turnover iv. Lower health care costs v. Lower incarceration and criminal justice costs vi. Increased worker productivity

The Educational, Social, and Economic Value of Informed and Considered Career Decisions

Students with access to career information resources & programs and who make the connection between their academic coursework & future goals:

Why start so early?

Guidance activities directed at junior high school students had the largest effect sizes, indicating that guidance efforts may

be most effective with pre-teenage (rather than high school or college) students (Hughes & Merchur Karp, 2004)

When surveyed, the majority of high school dropouts say they began to “disconnect” in middle school or earlier.

(Castellano et al., 2002)

Sixth-through-ninth-grade children have demonstrated very little understanding of how school relates to the real world and seem to have little to no awareness of the skills and knowledge

needed for success in the future. (Johnson, 2000)

Career Development ContinuumPreparing all Youth for Success in College, Career, and Life

Career Awareness

Learn about a wide variety of jobs and careers

Career Exploration

Explore, research, and plan for the future

Career Preparation

Gain education, training, and work experience

Awareness Exploration Preparation

Classroom & School • Web Research• Guest Speakers• Career Interest Assessment• College & Career Fairs• Career Contextual Instruction• College Awareness

School & Workplace•Core Academic Preparation•Career Technical Courses & Programs•Career-Related Project-Based Learning•Career Plan Refinement•Work-Ready Certification/Soft Skills•Occupational Certifications•Job-Seeking Skills•Work Experience•Internships•College Preparation•Postsecondary Options:

•Community College•4-year College or University•Trade/Technical School•Military Service/National Service•Apprenticeship•Enter Workforce (full or part time)•Self-Employment/Entrepreneur

Families & Neighborhood

• Adult Interaction • Role Model Observation

Families & Neighborhood

•Risk Taking•Role Playing•Progression of Responsibility

Workplace•Job Shadowing•Career Mentoring•Community Service Projects•Informational Interviews

Workplace• Industry Tours & Field Trips• Career & Job Fairs • Youth in the Workplace

Classroom & School•Career Pathways, Courses, & Clubs•Integrated Curriculum•Classroom Simulations •Career Plan Development•Career-Focused Projects & Assignments•College Exploration

Why should parents be involved?

Parents play key roles in youth’s career decision-making process. Parents need help recognizing that youth look to them to

provide learning experiences and are greatly influenced by parental occupational advice.

(Ferry, 2003)

Scientists agree that parents are the single most influential factor in the career development and choice of their children but

are not adequately informed about how to help. (Clark, 2000)

Many parents could benefit from educational interventions that expand their knowledge of potential career options that are

available to their children in the area and nationally. (Ferry, 2003)

Although parents feel they are actively involved in their children’s career decision making, they also feel that they are uninformed

about the process and unable to provide competent help.(ACRN, 2006)

In what ways do they want to explore careers?

In a 2011 dissertation study (Whitten), 288 high school students discussed what career exploration help they would like from their school?

•Field trips to job of choice

•Speakers•Observation

opportunities•Career fairs•Listen to and

interact with professionals

Looking Back: Winthrop University Senior Research:

Surveys were administered to Winthrop University seniors (Fall 2012; Only those who had already applied for graduation) to obtain information about their career search methods.

More than 200 of the 800 surveys were returned (+25%)

Question Topics Included:

When they started researching career pathsHow they started researching career pathsHow confident they are in career/major decisionWhere and how they network online

The Results:

87% Seniors who believed that career exploration should begin during or before High School.

72% Seniors who actually did start researching careers before or during High School

86% Seniors who were confident in their career decision

47.9% Seniors who changed their major at least once during college

Why is online networking important for career and college exploration?

Community asset mapping is part of a more general movement in the US for people to become more self-reliant and develop

stronger social relationships with each other. 

School counselors can no longer function in isolation from the community in which they work …..using the neighborhood associations, civic clubs, community centers, colleges and

universities, and business to grow your network.(Griffin, 2010)

….but how can I easily grow my network and use it to benefit my students???? …. Utilize Social Networking!!!

Legal and ethical issues for guidance personnel and parents

What is the difference between using Social Networks for Personal Networking and Professional Networking?

Why LinkedIn?

Professionals are signing up to join LinkedIn at a rate of approximately two new members per second.

LinkedIn users are more affluent than the average internet user

LinkedIn has relevant users who offer trusted information

LinkedIn Facts - As of August 2013, LinkedIn operates the world’s largest professional network on the Internet with more than 200 million members in over 200 countries and territories. Members did nearly 4.2 billion professionally-oriented searches in 2011 alone!

Worldwide Membership As of the school year ending May 2012, there are over 20 million students and recent college graduates on LinkedIn. They are LinkedIn's fastest-growing demographic.

LinkedIn and Business

•As of June 30, 2012, LinkedIn counts executives from all 2011 Fortune 500 companies as members; its corporate hiring solutions are used by 85 of the Fortune 100 companies.

•>2 million companies have LinkedIn Company Pages.

•LinkedIn members are sharing insights and knowledge in more than one million LinkedIn Groups.

Sample Student Connection Info:

Sample Student Skills and Interests:

Reasons to Use LinkedIn

Strictly sourcing related reasons to use LinkedIn

1. It has a high passive to active member ratio 2. The number of members continues to increase 3. It is referral-friendly 4. Its profiles are easily comparable and searchable 5. Its profiles are accurate 6. It provides recommendations and facilitates introductions

Non-sourcing related reasons for using LinkedIn

1. A powerful talent management research capability 2. It offers many professional learning groups 3. It provides an easy reference snapshot 4. It allows you to poll 5. It is integrated with many other services – Slideshare! 6. It allows InMail for communications

… but are the people and organizations we need online?(We did research to find out!)

2012 Mobile Stats- Higher Ed

•97% of Millenials own a cell-phone •58% have a smart-phone. •60% of surveyed higher education administrators believe mobile is already basic to how students experience college Administrators report mobile being important at the following stages:• 92% - Recruitment marketing• 90% - Informational accessibility for enrolled students• 87% - Strengthening community amongst enrolled• 83% - Influencing yield/mix/summer melt in admissions

How are universities leveraging current social media outlets? •Sharing Information; Promotion of student groups and connecting people

•Showcasing Student & Faculty Work

•Platform to Broadcast Events

•Emergency Notification

•Producing, Not Just Promoting

•Creating a Dialogue and Communicating to Students

•Getting Wired Via Mobile

Helping students and parents understand the beneficial uses of social and professional networking!

Early Connection with university and professional community leads to college admission, satisfaction, retention & success

Colleges have recognized the enormous potential of connecting with their students through various social media channels for admissions, community building, and leading edge retention efforts.”

(Inigral Insights, The Social Side of Student Retention:)

Why Should You Use Professional Networking for Community Asset Mapping and Resource Harnessing?

  

Past research shows that individuals are more likely to actively engage in volunteering for or giving to an organization if that organization is a part of

their social network.

SNSs … are low-cost tools that can promote the creation and maintenance of strong social network ties by increasing the frequency of communication

with and the emotional closeness to other individuals.

In contrast to e-mail, where information is pushed out to audience members from a single author, SNSs allow users to actively seek out or pull in

information about individuals with whom they share an offline connection.

(Boyd & Ellison, 2007; Ellison et al., 2007; Lampe, Ellison, & Steinfield, 2006). 

Professional Networking Success for Counselors

Use Professional Networking to:

•Find Your Speakers

•Find Career Fair Participants

•Set Up Field Trips

•Assist With Mentoring

•Make Community Collaboration Opportunities

•Track Graduates and Perform Assessment

But …are the professionals you need active on professional networking and

are they willing to assist you?

Why College Educators Use Professional Networking

How can you help parents get LinkedIn to their student’s career search!

Social Media and technology is changing the way we do business and the way we communicate. Professionals are utilizing sites such as LinkedIn to do candidate research to make hiring decisions and to market to clients. LinkedIn can also be used to explore career options and to make connections for mentoring and shadowing opportunities.

Although LinkedIn is restricted to ages 18 and up, you can assist your child by exploring networks already available to you! Your child’s success in deciding on a major and building a career could be improved by you utilizing a site like LinkedIn to connect with professionals and peers.

Broad Search: With your child’s involvement and guidance, do an “Advanced Search” to identify people 

within particular industries. Whether you know them or not, the information you find can do a lot for helping your child understand the realities of a profession!  Enter search criteria for industry, location, even school. The more you define, the more selective the results. Select a 

professional profile of interest to view their:

 

Groups: Groups provide one more avenue to explore a career, including the roles and responsibilities of the people in that career, where they work, and their thoughts about the industry. Learn about three professional groups with 100+ current members. Access, through “Interests”, through the 

professionals you find or through a general search, and view. All info will be accessible if the group is open (or you may join them if appropriate). 

Targeted Local Search: Search for professionals in industries your child is interested in who are actually in your vicinity. Students may want to reach out to them to set up informational interviews or shadowing opportunities. As most professionals display their work 

emails, students can contact them directly!

Exploring colleges: Under “Interests”, click on “Education”. Scroll to “Prospective Students” and 

input names of schools to begin exploring. There you can find out about:

Any information found can be shared with your child or others!

ANY QUESTIONS???