A meaningful journey

Through MANG2049, it has taught me that even though living and working online can promote better learning through more effective discussions due to full participation, it requires greater discipline as compared to offline.

I have improved in dealing with online information due to the extensive amount of resources shared and used while discussing the topics. Now, I take less time to spot for reliable sources. MANG2049 has definitely exposed me to more online communities and be active in it. Now, I have added twitter and WordPress. Also, I am working on my LinkedIn. This module also taught me how to build effective online networks and collaborations for professional purposes. It can be seen clearly I have changed in terms on creating online materials, from just words to images and better text. The most that have changed is on managing my online identity and privacy. Before, I thought the best way is not to have online presence because I could not take the risk of the possibility of creating a mistake with the “world” as witness. However, after many detailed discussions and researches during MANG2049,  I have understood and accept the great importance of having an online professional profile.

My desired career industry to be in is Marketing. While planning, I came up with my purposes and objectives for my existence online, which are represented below.

After MANG2049, my purposes for online existence have completely changed. Previously, it was just for personal and social reasons. Now, it will be made and prioritized for career purposes (Management of online identity and privacy). To achieve my objectives, I have decided to focus heavily on one social platform, LinkedIn, the most used social media platform by recruiters and the current most powerful tool in finding jobs. According to Laura Shin, LinkedIn is a necessity for the Marketing industry! I will still be active in other social platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, but in a minimalistic manner.

My online professional profile must incorporate both what I want to be seen as (Positivity) and who am I really (Authenticity). Also, although I have flaws, the profile will strategize on positive reinforcement, because blunt honesty might be very self-destructive. Since I am an undergraduate, I do not have many work experiences so the least I can do is to show future employers how well I market myself!

So, how will I market myself effectively in LinkedIn???
(Self-reminder: I am an undergraduate)

1. Professional Profile Picture

The image below shows a simple checklist that will guide me in posting the right profile picture.

Picture credit : characterist & mangodminajplace

2. Specific Headline

My headline with be edited to be specific and make me easily searchable.

 

3. Attractive Summary with video

I will include keywords that will make me easily searchable and attractive for my desired job. The summary will be short and will contain “call to action” at the end of the video. My purpose for the video is to showcase my analytical skills, creativity, efficiency, finance knowledge, and my fun personality (cannot be shown in a normal resume).

4. Connections & Recommendations

For this step, I will follow what are recommended under, “Connect with everyone”, “Ask for recommendations” and “Make connections”. I have targeted myself to make about 50 connections.

Picture credit : socialmediatoday

5. Others’ opinions matter

Lastly, I will acquire some constructive feedback on my LinkedIn from reliable people to keep me more assured.

Overall, thank you MANG2049 for pushing me to keep up with the digital world, especially professionally. It has broadened my knowledge and awareness on the key online issues today, like on free content, online identities and ethical issues.

xxx

References :

Careerly, H. 8 Steps To Creating A Powerful LinkedIn Profile. (2013). Available at:
http://www.businessinsider.com/8-steps-to-creating-a-powerful-linkedin-profile-2013-12?IR=T& [ Accessed on 14 December 2014 ]

Target Jobs. Creativity: graduate recruiters like fresh thinking. (2014). Available at: https://targetjobs.co.uk/careers-advice/skills-and-competencies/300864-creativity-graduate-recruiters-like-fresh-thinking [ Accessed on 15 December 2014 ]

Ventura, M. How to create an all-star graduate LinkedIn profile [10 tips]. (2014). Available at: http://theundercoverrecruiter.com/all-star-graduate-linkedin-profile/ [ Accessed on 14 December 2014 ]

Shin, L. How To Use LinkedIn: 5 Smart Steps To Career Success. (2014). Available at: http://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2014/06/26/how-to-use-linkedin-5-smart-steps-to-career-success/ [ Accessed on 14 December 2014 ]

Jobvite Job Seeker Nation Study. (2014). [online] Available at: http://web.jobvite.com/rs/jobvite/images/2014%20Job%20Seeker%20Survey.pdf [ Accessed on 12 December 2014 ]

Social Recruiting Survey Results. (2013). [online] Available at: http://web.jobvite.com/rs/jobvite/images/Jobvite_2013_SocialRecruitingSurveyResults.pdf [ Accessed on 12 December 2014 ]

Reflecting on free content

From Evan’s and Ebrahim’s posts, i have learned alot from the educational perspective for free content use. The type of content mostly discussed by my peers are related to content for learning like journals and articles. Most come from the viewpoint of the publisher or creator of those type of content.

The advantages are definitely promosing to most as most of the creators’ goal is to gain high readership and high traffic. Again from Evan’s and Ebrahim’s posts, it clearly tells me that free content adds great value to people’s lives. It encourages people to learn as access to knowledge is high. Moreover, some of the free content are of good quality, reliable and useful. Users just need to be able to evaluate the content.

However, since we are discussing about selling “products” for FREE the disadvantages are no doubt related to money. The moentary benefits are unable to be attained directly. It can be attained  indirectly like from further access to their content also known as paywalls. Paywalls was greatly discussed among my peers’ posts. There are two kinds of paywalls, soft and hard. An example of soft paywall, its free for the first 5 pages but pay $1 for the full journal. However, the money is always the sad factor. Online users are so unattracted to paid content, once they see a price tag, no matter the amount, they skip it quick, because to them, their next few search results which are free and takes up not much time, might just be able to fulfll their needs. Again, it depends on users who value time or money more. Another indirect way of earning money from free content is through advertisements. However, still a disadvantage.

All in all, mostly vote for open access and free content. Afterall, it just proved that people simply just love FREE stuff. And you know, if you make the users also known as consumers happy, you as the creator will be satisfied as well. However if you are planning to make a living out of it, a strategic business plan should be made. 🙂

xxx

Comments made on :

I got my degree for $0

Beware! You might be guilty of copyright infringement right now!

Sell it for FREE! or not

Personally I feel that from the views of the users like researchers, they prefer free content. Paying for content even if the amount is as little as the coin they dropped and did not pick it up, is simply an obstacle to most. It is just unattractive and inconvenient as compared to free content. Moreover, there are many other choices for similar content on the internet. Why pay then? However, there is an exception for some users who value time more than money or believe the general pricing concept that with price comes quality. Also that group of users might be frequent online buyers and do not find inconvenience a problem.

It really depends on the type of content and the supply and demand of the content. In general, if the supply of similar or same content is high and demand is lower, price should not be high, in this case it should be free. This is perhaps the first step to note as a creator. Is my type of content very much available already? What is the current value or market price of my content? Then set accordingly to where you stand in the market.

Now from the perspective of the creators of the onlilne content, if it is sold for free then they cannot recieve immediate and direct monetary benefits. However, free content attracts people which leads to higher traffic, in return that can be taken into great advantage. It can lead to indirect monetary benefits like from advertisements. Moreover, positive reputation will also be built, creating the hope for long term benefits. One of the other disadvantages of creating free content online is you will not know fully who benefits from your content. If your content is not free, you can get more accurate and detailed information of those who benefit from your “creation” like from their payments etc. But if you are not interested in getting to know them, then there is nothing to worry about! Another downside of making your content free is higher chances of negative use of your content because since it is free, the accessibility of your content is much higher then content that required payments.

 All in all, I feel that it all depends to the creators’ goals for their content. If their goal is to achieve high traffic and for long term purposes, then the advantages will outweigh the disadvantages. Thus, vice versa. 

xxx

Reflecting on the ethics in social media

After reading many of my peers’ posts on different ethical issues from the use of social for business or educational use, I can safely conclude that all of the issues arise from the humans themselves, it is just that social media is able to “turn up the volume” of those issues and make them grow quicker. Most issues discussed is on freedom of speech, there was one saying that says, “we did not know you existed until you shared what you just shared on your social media”. It just shows how much social media has magnificently improved the speed of sharing personal information. The things and words we share on social media can have several impacts on others. One of the most important thing is to be able to determine whether the things shared are true or false. Some information that are true and cause negative effects on the affected party might have no price to pay. It is just harsh reality, and sad fate of humanity. However, if any information even false causes defamation or any legal frauds, those can be punished. Although it is endless to argue about what is right and what is wrong, we should feel lucky that we actually have the code of Ethics, which is mentioned by Evan, to guide us and thus benefit us. It is also undoubtly that the responsibility of controlling and managing the ethics have to work hand in hand. If the students are in concern, then the school, parents, teachers, government and even social media have to help. But,  I feel that social media can only promote ethical use, not blamed. The existing code of ethics that has guided and mould the organizations, be it schools or companies, should be transfered to the social media ground. It is not difficult, it just requires committment from everyone.

Stop taking off my “clothes”!

Picture from ebay

There are so many ethical issues arising from the use of social media today. Do you ever believe nothing can never be too good. There must be something bad about it. With social media, marketers these days are going crazy! They go all out just to have a  deeper understanding of their targeted consumers. Typically, their sole purpose is just to understand consumers much more in order to be able to produce products catered to their exact needs and desires, to make advertisements appealing to them, increase sales etc. With the information collected directly from social media, it is much better and more accurate than survey results for example. They give raw, true and detailed data. Unlike survey results where consumers state what they like or feel but their actions might not be parallel.

However,  consumers feel that that way of studying them is somewhat unethical.They feel that their privacy has been invaded greatly, especially for those who literally share most of their lives on their social media “home”s. Its like walking on the streets and random strangers suddenly going up to you opening you clothes or pants or hair or anything! And they say, “Oh nothing, just want to take a look a closer look at you, i mean no harm or have no ill intentions.” How would you feel? Personally, I feel that it is just impolite and I will feel so invaded.Who knows there might be “creepers”. Even if there are no “creepers” and they mean no harm, it is still unappreciated and unacceptable to most people. We do not go around naked. It is similar in this unethical issue of invasion of privacy, humans just naturally do not feel comfortable being naked with their lives. They wish that there is a fine line that should not be crossed.  Perhaps, this does not apply to people who really do not mind at all at letting anyone know anything about them.

Personally, I feel that policies to protect users of social media can be implemented. Maybe, a short notice that their online behaviours or actions from which part of their social media usage might be used for research purposes etc. This means that perhaps permission could help relieve the issue. This way, users have the right to be studied or not. It is much more ethical to ask rather than doing anything to someone without notice, pretty basic manners.

xxx

Reflecting on professional online profiles

After reading my peers’ thoughts and posts on builing a professional online profile, it is no doubt that Linkedin is the best platform to showcase it. Most talked about how we should remove and edit away information that will cause a bad image on us. Also, about one’s flaws, should we state them as well? Personally, I feel that if we can state those flaws in a way that does not lower our chances in getting a job, then it is alright to state them. For example, ” I am rather slow in completing a certain task, but will never miss a deadline or mistakes made are very much unlikely.”, this way the flaw can sort of be forgiven and employers are not as worried about the flaws. Thus, I have concluded that we should do positive reinforcement rather than negative because it does not mean we are faking but instead we know professionalism. Nevertheless, i also feel that all those mostly applies to new job seekers, fresh graduates or average job seekers. In reality, if you can really get the job done much better than the rest, and can benefit the company greatly, your flaws do not really matter. Plus, authenthicity is crucial, if not what you have done online is useless and a waste of time.

Other than that, It really got me thinking on how competition between candidates will be so much more these days, with the amazing advancements in creating our “CV”s. Unlike previously, you will not be able to go in the HR department and view people’s CVs so easily and freely. Moreover, the profiles created online if done as adviced by the professionals, are much more detailed. We can now easily access to real sources to see what are there in the market, what have other people got. This keeps everyone fighting to find how to have an edge. The competition field is extremely dynamic now.

xxx

You might just get your dream job while you are sleeping!

Picture edited by Patricia PU

According to Jobvite, 73% of recruiters have hired a candidate through social media and 93% of recruiters will review a candidate’s social profile before making a hiring decision. Therefore, it is undoubtedly important to have an online professional profile. Unlike a “paper” CV, you can do and show much more in the platforms available online. Also, be authentic! The worst thing you can do is have an employer with such high hopes only to kill them when he/she meets you in real life.
Take advantage of the power of Internet. If you have an online professional profile, it can mean that you can get a 100 more unexpected job opportunities than someone who do not have. However, if not done correctly, it can mean 100 possible opportunities less. They can even happen while you are asleep or showering!

So, here are the steps in which I feel can help you get a 100 more not less.

The first step is the easiest, “Google” yourself which was briefly shared in one of my previous posts. It is the most known way to help you see what strangers or future employers can see about you online.

Next, edit and manage what you have found about yourself online. This step only applies to editable information like self-created online profiles etc. If you encounter any difficulties in managing your online profiles, perhaps not being to edit something due to forgotten password or login details, you may seek human or again “Google” help, cross fingers you have a friend who is a somewhat IT “expert” who can help you in your unfortunate encounters. If not, be prepared for future needs for clarification.

The third step is the most crucial part in developing an authentic online professional profile. You can start with Linkedin, the most used platform for professional purposes. Make sure to include important details and information about favour you in getting a desired job. For example, your previous experiences and qualities or evidence that show that you are amazing. Being unique is one thing but keeping it short is important too!

Lastly, get your peers or even professionals to review your finished product. It is good and definitely not wrong to be confident of your task, but asking for plenty comments and advice will only benefit you. Ask them on the organization of the profile, whether it is representative of you and whether it is attractive! Use these feedbacks to improve your profile. Also, always keep it updated.

Now, you can wait and see… 🙂

References:

Social Recruiting Survey Results. (2013). [online] Available at:http://web.jobvite.com/rs/jobvite/images/Jobvite_2013_SocialRecruitingSurveyResults.pdf[Accessed 3 Dec 2014].

Mauney, B. (2013). Five Simple Ways to Boost Your Professional Brand On LinkedIn [INFOGRAPHIC]. [online] Blog.linkedin.com. Available at:http://blog.linkedin.com/2013/07/29/five-simple-ways-to-boost-your-professional-brand-on-linkedin-infographic/ [Accessed 3 Dec 2014].

Reflecting on online identities

After reading some of my peers’ post, my views on online identities have broadened. Also, the fact that the number of identities really does not matter unless the identity causes harm to others, like scamming people. It all really depends on individuals’ purposes and needs.

Personally i feel that an online identity is made up of 2 aspects, created by self and others. Online identities can be managed by oneself to a certain extent. Sometimes it just cannot be altered and made due to our online behaviours. For example, we want to search for flights for a holiday, we are less likely to say, “Oh, i do not want to be known by the internet “abusers” that I am interested in travel, so i shall not search or maybe i will go and use someone’s else device”. That takes too much effort for most of us. On our social media, we also can only manage our identities to a certain extent. Sometimes, what others have shared about us are unavoidable. Thus, only self-created information shared online can be managed to a full extent for online identities.

To have many onlline identities does not mean that you are a multifaceted person, it might just mean that those are different parts of who you are. How you manage your identities itself is also a characteristic about you. Although it has been brought to my attention that it is preferable to have not too many identities, it can be hard to maintain and might confuse people. Especially for future employers, confuse them about you and you will confuse their hiring or promoting decisions. You may have your reasons for having multiple identities, but you might not have to chance to explain fully to your viewers. Thus, it is advisable to keep one or two online identities.

How many “YOU” are there online?

Have you ever googled yourself? I bet you did! Well, I did a few times, especially at times when I have nothing better to do (although I actually have). At one time, I was surprised to see what was there about me online. Apparently, there was more than one “me” online. My online identities were mostly created by myself. Those times were forgotten and thankfully I googled myself. I immediately edited away information that I no longer wish to share or have regretted sharing. Previously, I was fine with sharing about my life, but as I grew older, I feel the need to limit the personal information I share online, for personal security and prevention of unwanted interference. I try my best to have only one identity online, for I do not wish to confuse future employers or anyone. It then came to my mind that we, unlike celebrities, have substantial ability to limit our personal information online. Is that good news? Personally, I feel that it may be good news as we have control over our identities portrayed online. We have greater control in carving people’s perception and impression of us. However, it might not mean that we are giving true information about ourselves. For instance, one might look very professional in one’s facebook but like a party animal in one’s Instagram. This shows that online identities might not be accurate judgments of individuals. The online identity might be fake too. If an individual is a book, his or hers online identities are merely just some pages of the book, not the whole book. I feel that one cannot be defined by his or hers online identity. If one has more than one identity online, there may be various reasons. Also, people change, the online information obtained about a person has to be measured on its reliability. However since stereotypes cannot be prevented, individuals should preferably be careful of what they share online. Nevertheless, there are involuntary creations of our online identities. They cannot be prevented as they are taken from our online behaviors that we unknowingly form. For example, what we search on search engines.

(Taken from http://9gag.com/gag/a1ZZOWD)

Overall, I feel that one can have one or more online identities depending on one’s purpose. They can help individuals show others more information of who they are. It can help people understand them better as compared to than real encounter(s). It is almost impossible to share everything about a person in one or a few conversation(s). However, it also depends on the amount of information available online.

xxx

A lil bit about me

Hi there!  My name is Patricia Prapta Utama. I am indonesian chinese but lived most of my life in the beautiful and clean city named Singapore. Previously, I graduated from Ngee Ann Polytechnic with a diploma in Banking and Financial Services. Instead of pursuing in a degree in Banking, i have decided to do marketing. The decision was mostly influenced by my self-interests and current circumstances, where i am helping out in my family’s business in Jakarta. I hope that through this degree, i can attain a strong foundation for developing future business and marketing strategies. Dealing in the real world is very different especially in indonesia where sometimes logic have to be neglected. At times i wish i just had to deal with the computer, not humans, because dealing with them can be really tiring. If the computer crash, let it be. hahaha So far, the courses have given me great guidelines for my work. Cant wait to learn more!

xxx