Hi everyone! My name is Kimberly Wilson, and I am the new Mandy’s Mashups social media intern. My role here will be updating the blog, website, and Facebook page, as well as brainstorming other ways to branch out with new projects.

I am currently on track to graduate in May from Clemson University with a degree in Spanish & International Health, so the International Education aspect of Mandy’s Mashups really appealed to me. Throughout my undergraduate career, I have had the opportunity to travel to Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, and Spain to study and intern. Thanks to these experiences, I have developed a passion for travel, studying abroad, and all things international, so I am incredibly excited to merge this interest with social media.

I will be very honest and admit that I have ZERO experience using social media in a professional setting. I, like all college students these days however, have plenty of personal experience using Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest, among other social media sites.  

What else are we supposed to do during a 90 min lecture when the next exam is weeks away??

It has been enlightening to see, however, that social media can actually be something productive and useful, not just a time-waster when putting off that ten page paper or final chemistry exam (or cheMISERY as I liked to call it).

By working as an intern with Mandy’s Mashups, I hope to continue expanding my knowledge of social media’s professional functions as well as its relation to international education. What are your first experiences with social media? Did you jump on the Facebook and Twitter bandwagon from the start or did you hold out until it was only completely necessary to have an account?

Please feel free to write me with any suggestions for the website and social media channels below as a comment or through the contact form!

A topic that always causes people a little bit of concern when they think about social media use is using students to generate content.  I wanted to address this topic in this post because I feel it is important for people to face their fears in some cases and hopefully this post will help alleviate some concerns.

Starting in the fall I employed a student, who had previously studied abroad, to be our Global Ambassador.  One of the major duties of this position was to take on our social media campaigns.  Rather than give her all our social media channels to work with I limited it to Facebook to start since this was the channel she has the most experience with.

I am here to tell you that our Facebook page has exploded with more interaction because of her work.  We worked together to start and she came up with a theme each week to post on the page.  She only works in the office about 5 hours per week so she doesn't have a huge amount of time to post.  However, with the ability to schedule posts on Facebook pages, she has been able to work for only one hour per week and schedule posts for the entire week in that one hour.  Some of the themes have included particular countries where we have programs, scholarships, and deadlines.

Her fellow students have loved her posts and I am able to track the interactions with Facebook insights.  She also created a campaign, on her own, to increase the number of Fans we had and we were able to get 40 new fans in just a little less than a week.

Whenever I mention using a student as mentioned above some people cringe because they fear the additional work monitoring a student would entail.  In all honesty I have done very little monitoring of her posts.  What I did was explain to her in the beginning what I was looking for and emphasized the fact that she was representing our office and our institution and should keep that in mind when posting.  That is all it took.  Now, I know that not all students work out as nicely as she has but with a little guidance and some patience you can really make student work count.  Her fellow students relate to her posts and we have made it seem as it is coming from our office which is a great for us.

I have posted a few screen shots of our page below.

I would love to hear what your experience has been with working with students in regards to social media.  No story is too small.

Here is the latest installment in my series of guest bloggers.  This is from Danielle Sleeper who is currently a graduate student seeking a career in international education.  Here is how she is using social media to aid in her job search.

Getting Schooled in Social Media: The International Education Job Search

Does this sound like you? Full time student, part-time intern, maybe also holding a part-time paid job, completing a thesis project, while simultaneously finishing up final credit requirements to graduate—oh wait—and then there is that little something called the job search.

Well, that’s me. Hi! My name is Danielle Sleeper and I am a master’s degree candidate in the School of International Service at American University, pursuing a career in international education. I use social media on a daily basis to engage, connect with and learn more about my passion—facilitating international cross-cultural exchanges to help other communicate effectively and understand the world (personal branding statement! Will talk more about this later).

If you are a regular reader of Mandy’s Mashups, you are already aware of how platforms like Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Pinterest are changing the field of the international education. Having a handle on how to optimize these tools will not only boost your resume, but can also give you an edge in the job search itself.

Side note: I am, at this point, by no means gainfully employed full-time in the field of international education. Therefore, I am not here to teach you how to use social media in your job search. Rather, I am here start a discussion on what I have learned or tried using social media thus far—all of it an ongoing experiment in the job search 2.0. I look forward to your hearing more about your tips and tricks in the comment section below!

I have trouble talking about the “job search” as a standalone event in my life. In truth, it has been a year-long journey in establishing an expert presence, making connections, and building relationships along the way. And networking itself is just that—adding value to your community.

Experiment 1: Be a professional. You don’t have to have a job title to do this—in fact, being creative in how you define yourself is often more effective. I am an “intercultural specialist”. Why? It is how I can most easily explain what I do and what I believe in. In online profiles, and consistent across all social media platforms, I follow that title with my one-sentence personal branding statement and a clear photograph of my face. Some users are wary of putting “too much” information in cyberspace, but there is something to be said for under-sharing as well. Employers want to know who you are and one of the first things they will do is Google search your name. Let them know you are a real person and materialize your passion. That said, make sure what shows up on a Google search is professional—not photos from Saturday night’s party. 

Experiment 2: Engage. I dove headfirst into the Twitterverse about a year ago and never looked back. Every day, I tweet about news headlines, trends, and stories in international education. I follow just about everyone and everything related to study abroad, cross-cultural communications, diplomacy, and internationalization. Over time, I built up quite a following of international education experts and leaders. The greatest advantage to Twitter is that it levels the playing field—I love that on any given day I can start up a conversation with the director of the Fulbright Commission or communicate directly with organizations like iEARN-USA or Cultural Vistas. Moreover, I can get a better sense of the company vibe and values.

Results? I was hired as an intern for Melibee Global Education via Twitter and communicated with Mandy’s Mashups for a long time before finally meeting Mandy in person at the Forum on Education Abroad Conference. Don’t be shy to reach out to people you don’t know—reply and message. And as soon as you can, ask for that informational interview offline. Rachael King writes a lot on the ABC Rule: “Always Be Coffee-ing,” a practice I am trying to make a habit. For an idea of who to reach out to, look at who I am following on Twitter. Bonus: a lot of these organizations tweet about open job positions.

Experiment 3: Offer something. I am a member of many LinkedIn international education groups, and though I cannot say I do this particularly well, I try to join in on conversations and offer resources to other educators in the field. For example, someone recently posted a request for resources on reverse culture shock. Having written a very extensive literature review on this last semester, I was able to send over my bibliography and other articles I thought were valuable. Another idea is to write a guest post for an international education blogger (check one for me!).

Experiment 4: Be innovative. Everyone and their host parent are talking about Pinterest nowadays. The great thing about Pinterest, I believe, is its ability to demonstrate who you are through images. When you look at my Pinterest page, for example, you will have an immediate idea of what I am about: intercultural exchanges, travel, culture, and…er…food porn (it’s all about being the real you, right?). I recently created a resume board as a visual gallery of my accomplishments, as well as another board of organizations I would like to work for. The idea is different enough to stand out at the moment, and I regularly circulate the links to these boards on Twitter and professional LinkedIn groups for feedback. Also, I should mention that Mandy has a great upcoming webinar on this. Be sure to check out “Pinterest for International Education” on Tuesday, May 22, 2012 at 2pm EDT. I know I will be there.

Experiment 5: Just keep swimming. My experiment in Job Search 2.0 has been quite an expedition. I continue to reach out to others, join conversations, and learn more about international education--all while finishing up my degree and other things. In essence, social media has supported my job search; it certainly is not the be-all-and-end-all. I recognize that the traditional job search is not going to change any time soon; I am still proactively writing letters of motivation, sending out resumes, putting together writing samples, conferencing, and interviewing in-person. Thank you letters are best hand written.

But social media has given me a voice I never thought I possessed. More to the point, it’s fun. Rest assured, my social media presence will remain strong even after I’ve scored my dream job in international education.  

Where are you in your job search? How has social media worked for you? Any other tips you can give a recent graduate?

Connect with me at http://about.me/daniellesleeper

For other tools and resources in the International Education job search, check out my new Pinterest board! http://pinterest.com/daniellesleeper/international-education-job-search/