Nobody cares about your potty breaks

In coordination with local partners, last week in Dubai, Socialize, a social media agency and training house, hosted “Social Media Magic,” a special youth seminar focused on social media guidance for students. The aim was to educate students on the resources social media offers to help them kick start their careers.
“For a generation that takes the Internet as a ‘given,’ it is important for them to understand how to use this resource to make it work for them,” said Akanksha Goel, chief enthusiast at Socialize (). “Most of these students are limiting themselves to Facebook for social activities and we hope to show them other options that could broaden their horizons.”
Social media can be used by students to search for employment, position them for career success and start the process of building a digital presence. During the seminar it was explained to the students the importance of defining a personal brand, while developing an online presence. Common pitfalls of social networking were discussed and tips were offered on how to harness online resources as career enhancing tools.
“The Internet has made possible the very 21st century concept of personal branding. Everyone can establish a personal brand online but that’s where online reputation management becomes important,” said Goel.
Managing a personal brand is more than simply being careful about which personal photos are posted on the net or endorsing organizations and ideas very selectively. The key to creating a recognizable personal brand is consistency. Goal remarked that harmony between how you view yourself and how you want the world to view you is crucial — or consistency in personal branding won’t be achievable over the long term. Deciding on the actual expression of a personal brand is not a matter to be taken lightly. Consider the dilemma faced by Socialize intern Muhammed Ali Jamadar. If he went by his own name online, any search results would be skewed towards more famous bearers of that name. He decided to make his online brand “MaliZomg” so that both he and his talents would stand out in search listings.
Personal brands grow fastest when the focus is on smart tactics and a concentration of efforts. Goel advises students to pay more attention to the resources at the professional networking site LinkedIn.com for career building rather than spending hours daily on . Students should indicate where they are studying in their profiles, but they can also note in which profession or industry they hope to establish a career, i.e. architecture, retail marketing, etc. Goel suggests that students create a Google profile page which includes a summary of their education and experience as well as links to other sites where their work or ideas are featured.
“Use your personal brand consistently across all social media. Blogging is important because it’s associated with leadership and expertise. Students should blog about projects they’re doing in school, articles they read and research that they find valuable. Companies are looking for information, ideas and talent. An active student can attract a following from the business community that could lead to recommendations or job offers after graduation,” said Goel. “Twitter is not a resource best used to broadcast what you ate for lunch. Through Twitter, students can follow industry experts and get in tune with the latest news and developments that might affect their chosen career.”
Goel isn’t opposed to students spending time online communicating with friends. In fact she believes that school friends often form the core of a professional network. Facebook posts are meaningful in a career sense when they are used to share information about projects, events or market issues. When a student has been out of touch with a school mate for a while, he should use social media to discover that friend’s latest challenges or career moves, not just ask, “What’s up?”
“One of the areas we covered with students in the seminar is that it’s essential to focus on life’s long term goals,” Goel said. “Don’t spend a lot of time on social networking sites when there’s an exam to pass or a paper to write. When you are online, think how you’re adding to your personal brand. Consider what value you are bringing to your online relationships and if those relationships are adding value to you. Ask too, ‘What could I be doing instead?’”
Students shouldn’t spread their online brand too thin either. Having a strong profile at one site, such as and participating actively within that social network is far better than trying to participate in four disparate networks and having just 15 minutes each day to give to each one. Quality is always better than quantity when it comes to taking part in social media. Optimize your time on social media sites and see sense in what you’re doing, to best add value to your personal brand.