Creating a Social Resume

Tech and Tips Tuesday

Creating a Social Resume
Smart phones and social media expand our universe. We can connect with others or collect information easier and faster than ever. -- Daniel Goleman


As members of the professoriate, we know that scholarship, teaching, and research are our primary duties. Posner, Varner, and Croxall (2011) tell us that creating a social resume, or online presence, can positively support our work in all three of these areas. Their article, Creating Your Web Presence: A Primer for Academics, suggests that we begin by searching for ourselves on Google and Bing to get an idea of what others see when they look for information about us. Then, based on our results, it is important to clean up or build up our online presence, or both. Today, social media is our public resume, so be sure to treat it that way and present a professional, polished profile. 

If you haven't yet joined LinkedIn, Twitter, and Google+, I highly recommend that you do so. There is a learning curve involved with each, so be patient with yourself through the process, but get it done.  The benefits outweigh any challenges.

There are many great resources like the above article to help you get started and explain why you should. One of my favorites is the source of the infographic below. Created by OnlineColleges.com, the infographic was shared with me a couple of years ago by The Daily Muse. While some of the precise statistics could use updating, the information is still relevant and useful.

In addition to the suggested resources within the infographic, I would like to add that The Chronicle of Higher Education's Vitae, an academic career hub, and Academia.edu, a place to share research, are two wonderful new websites for educators.

So, who does the Internet say you are? Find out and make the necessary adjustments to secure your future success!

If you have not done so already, please lend your voice to our January survey, and join me tomorrow for Historic Humpday when we explore how our roles and responsibilities as college educators have changed through the years!

See you then, 

Melynda

@Melynda_Conner
#TCBHigherEd

Reference:

Posner, M., Varner, S., & Croxall, B. (2011). Creating your web presence: A primer for academics. The Chronicle of Higher Education. Retrieved from  http://chronicle.com/blogs/profhacker/creating-your-web-presence-a-primer-for-academics/30458