College | Caffeinated

When #U30Pro chat had their “Freestyle” chat last Thursday, I posed a question to the group. I forget the exact tweet, but it was something along the lines of, “Do you still need a resumé?”, and some great conversation, debate, and advice started flying to and fro.

That was last week. This is now. This is a new question. But still on the resumé topic. So it’s like a new-old question. Moving on.

What non-traditional skills are fit for a resumé?

By “non-traditional skills”, I do not mean the ability to juggle fire. That’s really freaking cool, but probably won’t land you a job outside of a carnival (apologies to dude in picture, I’m sure you have plenty of other marketable skills). However, if you can juggle fire, please post a video. And teach me. Please.

Non-traditional skills are things like understanding how to use Wordpress, knowing what tools to use for social media management and how to use them, the ability to configure and read online analytics, tracking social media mentions, having an intimate knowledge of social media platforms (i.e. Twitter, Facebook, Ning, Vimeo, LinkedIn, Posterous, Foursquare, etc), and all of those other crazy things that when I mention to my parents, they give me the confused-Scooby Doo look. You know the one.

Obviously, my pre-dental roommate probably would not put any of these on his resumé- partially because he gives me the same look my parents do. Actually, he looks more like an unamused Squidward. I, on the other hand, want to work in new, non-traditional, social, whatever-the-hell-you-want-to-call-it media. These are skills that should, in theory, be important to a potential employer. Right?

Are these skills, once one gains them, things you put on your resumé? How do they fit into the grand scheme of resumé things? How do you explain them to a hiring manager who gives you the same look as your parents or roommate? What other non-traditional skills am I forgetting?

photo credit to flickr user montpelier

It’s been awhile since I have done the whole #FollowFriday thing. Actually, it’s been awhile for many of us. For whatever reason, Follow Friday died. I kind of miss it, but I’m glad it’s gone. Like High School, it was good while it lasted, but peace out.

Well, time for a little reunion. I feel the need to preach on some people everyone should follow. Everyone. Ballgame.

Arik Hanson – Blame him. Well, for getting me involved/blogging/thinking, blame Arik. I’ve failed at talking to him recently, but he’s always been able to point out the right way when I hit a fork in the road. I’m not the only one who will attest to his awesomeness, either.

Kasey Skala and Paul DeBettignies – Don’t worry, this list isn’t a Minnesota lovefest. Kasey and Paul are always there to light a fire under me, make sure I’m on my game and always getting better. Not only that, but they’re really smart dudes that never stop questioning what’s happening.

Seth Simonds – To me, Seth is like a wise sage. Whatever that means. He offers up great advice and wisdom. He’s the reason this blog is simple. At first I thought I would hate it, but it’s grown on me. Admittedly, it’s a matter of time before I use Headway, but his words, “focus on the content”, were just what I needed to hear when getting this underway.

Stuart Foster – He’s probably going to hate this. Despite coming off as a D-bag sometimes (yes Stu, I’ve actually had someone ask me why you were “such a D”), I think it’s mislabeled. He simply doesn’t pull punches. Everyone needs someone to knock ‘em down a few levels every so often.

So there’s my Follow Friday. Oddly timed the day after I post about ass-kissing. I guarantee you none of this is like that- simply thoughts and thanks I’ve had for awhile I thought I should scribe. I’m going to brainstorm a new style for Friday posts. A little of this, a little of that, a little of Matt Cheuvront’s new Friday Quick Hits, and some caffeination to get you through the afternoon. Enjoy your weekend.

photo is random file photo. I think I took it while waiting in an airport in ‘06 or ‘07.

Hot air. It makes hot air balloons rise, as pictured. It’s also blown around so much on Twitter that, if Twitter were one really really BIG hot air balloon, we might make it to the exosphere (yes, that’s the upper most level of the atmosphere and, yes, I had to Google it. Thanks for nothing, science class).

Tim Jahn, of Beyond the Pedway fame, tweeted about getting tired of the constant ego stroking that social media encourages. It’s true, and we’re all at fault to some extent. Ego stroking is always an issue, social media or not. But, like seemingly everything else, social media puts it on hyperspeed and under the microscope. It sometimes seems like one giant kiss-ass party. Pardon my language (aw shucks… now I’m doing it!).

Rare is a time that this is more true than the Twitter chats we all adore so much. Last semester, I admittedly slacked in my chat participation. I said I was too busy, but honestly, I could have made some time every so often. I didn’t make that time because I thought many chats lost the value they provided. It went from an open flowing of thoughts and opinions to constant retweets and “yeah, right on! I totally agree, you are..!”. I found myself reading the same thing over, and over, and over, and… yeah, you know what I’m talking about. A moderator, or someone who has a little more followers than the rest of us, makes a comment and suddenly everyone is acting like they just tweeted, “Free ponies and Mr. Potatohead keychains for all!” Sure, if they actually tweeted that, I’d be all for it. But they don’t (sadly). I just want a Mr. Potatohead keychain.

Is there an issue of balance? Of course. Sometimes I want to congratulate somebody. Might it come off as brown-nosing? Well I never know how it will read to someone else. But I do know how 300 tweets that say, “OMG!!!111!!! You’re, like, so totally smart! I wish I would have thought of that geniusness  in 140 characters or less!! WOW!”, will read. If you saw those tweets from me, you would look at my avatar and see a large brown dot on my nose.

Going back to Tim’s statement- this isn’t solely a Twitter issue. This is an issue for social media at large. So, with that in mind, I ask you two things: Why do we stroke the egos of our social media buddies, colleagues, mentors, etc? How do we cut through the B.S. and get back to, “Well here’s what I think…”?

Photo courtesy of Flickr user Aristocrats-hat. Dictionaries down, I know that “geniusness” is not a word. If you enjoyed reading this or just like to click things, subscribe here after you comment.

I read an interesting article from True/Slant on Monday. The article claims that Gen Y is the most stressed generation ever, with high expectations and dreams of owning it all (h/t Lauren Fernandez for sharing). I recommend reading it, but if you want the CliffNotes version, here it is: Gen Y is tweaking more than anyone else in history. Ever. Well, they probably didn’t include cavemen. I guess they would be a close second. You would fret too if T-Rex lived in your backyard.

Anyways, on to the point: the article says we’re stressed to the max. If generations were bagels, Gen Y would be the everything bagel. The article labels us as, to name a few: stressed, entitled, narcissistic, materialistic, miserable, assertive, confident, greedy, self-indulgent. Is your head spinning yet? Talk about a tough blow. I feel like Zach Galifianakis after being laid out by Tyson.

The part that got to me though, especially as I start a new semester, is the following quote from psychology professor Jean Twenge:

“A recent study published in the Journal of Youth and Adolescence … found that two-thirds of college students believed their professors should raise their grades if the student simply explained that he or she was trying hard. One-third believed that if they attended most of the classes for a course, they deserved at least a B in the class. Almost a third thought they should be able to schedule the final exam around their vacation.”

Now originally, this post was going to be about the failure that is the American education system. But that’s like playing a 98° CD at your party- it used to be cool, but quit already. Not long after, I read this article and had the proverbial light bulb: what if it isn’t the system (well, as much as we think it is), but it is the students?

I acknowledge that I don’t like the way the American education system is organized. In fact, I hate it. This may be because I’m cynical, or because I’m one of those touchy-feely learners with ADHD whom most of my teachers despised, or maybe, MAYBE, it’s because I feel entitled. I mean, I’m part of Gen-Y so that comes naturally, right?

Does Gen-Y feel entitled to an education? We got a trophy for just showing up for basketball games, even if we sucked, so why shouldn’t we get an A for just showing up for class? It never mattered if you tripped over every damned hurdle on that track, but you tried hard, so you got your medal. That Social Research class should work the same way, right? I showed up, I should get an A! Is the education system failing us, or are we failing the education system?

Yes, I know the introduction to this post is historically inaccurate. Put the encyclopedias down. Props to Flickr user Terren from Virginia on the shiny picture of swimming trophies.

During #BlogChat Sunday night, a good question came across the stream (I forget who asked it, sadly). The question was, “Should students who want to work in social media be active in social media?” The question was drowned out from all the other hubub, so I thought I would raise it here.

My trigger response was “well, duh!” (surprise surprise, right?). However, on Monday I had eight whole hours of ColbyTime while I drove from Minnesota to Mizzou, and eight hours is a lot of time for me to be left alone with my brain (aside: Common is the most underrated rapper of the Aughts. Period). So what did my brain and I come up with? Well, if a student wants to work in social media, they don’t have to be active in social media as a student (that bang you hear is me shooting myself in the foot).

To clarify, being “active” in social media does not count the number of “OMG L0lzzz” posted on your buddies’ Facebook walls. We already know 95% of college students have Facebook, and let’s be honest, the other 5% are lying. The level of “active” we’re looking for here is similar to the time and dedication that guys put in at the gym and girls put in to their bump-its; tedious, detailed, and trying everyday to do it better.

Students- What are your thoughts? Alright, so most of you are already SM-active if you’re commenting, but give it some thought, eh? Professionals- What are you looking for in hiring for entry-level positions with a SM component (or entirely SM)? Is history of being SM-active as a student a requirement or strong qualifier?

photo via Flickr user See-ming Lee

News broke the other day that Bristol Palin, 19-year-old mother of one and daughter of political figure Sarah Palin, has set up her own PR firm.

Light the torches! Storm the mansion! We won’t stand for this! She’s inexperienced! Her mother is famous! She’s giving communications a bad name! Rawr! Rawr! Rawr!

This is the reaction I saw from many in the communications community. The tweets, comments, and digs at Bristol as a person made me sick. People were ready to burn her and her hours-old PR firm to the ground. It’s petty and short-sighted.

Yes, she is inexperienced. But as long as she shows a willingness to learn through mistakes, is that really a major issue? Yes, she probably has the opportunity to do this because of who her mother is. You’re willing to blame her for stepping through a door of opportunity that is open to her? And is she really giving communications and PR a bad name? Or, perhaps, the community is giving itself a bad name by lashing out at the news. People were so concentrated on shoving Bristol so far away from the communications community. I saw communications veterans, people I respect greatly, separate themselves from Bristol, instead of making an effort to reach out to Bristol, welcome her in to the communications profession, point her towards a few great resources, and so on.

Rachel Kay posted a great piece yesterday about Bristol’s first PR challenge: crisis communications for her own firm. We will learn a lot about Bristol’s intentions and motivation through how she handles this. But the irony, oh the irony, of a young communications professional having to execute crisis communications, for her own PR firm, targeted heavily at the communications community.

It would have reflected much better on us, the communications community, had we welcomed her and guided her in the right direction. We could have shown strength in our community, on a national stage, by embracing this as an opportunity- an opportunity to showcase to others the support and helpfulness that I know is within our community.

Writer’s note: this is not a ‘holier than thou’ post. I’m not denying that I had similar initial thoughts. This is also not a political piece.

Photo via Flickr user Dan Taylor

So, that was 2009. It’s over. Let’s move on.

College | Caffeinated was down for all of the New Year’s Resolution posts, so I won’t make you suffer through another. Here’s the brief summary of my resolutions: work it harder, make it better, do it faster, makes us stronger. I’d like to thank Daft Punk for leaving us with such inspiring prose.

I head back to Mizzou tomorrow (scratch that, Monday now- damn snow), where I will start the core courses of my Strategic Communication degree this semester. Yes, I am a semester behind in my Journalism coursework. A combination of a poor showing freshman year and lack of faith in Mizzou’s J-School led me to take a semester off. The faith, and my grades, are restored. As a bonus, I finished a lot of courses towards my Sociology degree and took courses towards a Business minor.

You’re probably wondering, “what does this have to do with anything?” Well, doubtful person, as a reader of this blog, I’m sure you’re interested to know where my thoughts are coming from.

This is an important aspect for every blogger- personal, business, educational, whatever. Nothing is context-independent. We do not live in a vacuum. The best bloggers are not the ones that share awesome ideas, information, and stories, but the ones that share what inspired their awesome ideas, why they found certain information useful, and how their stories relate to the overall mission of the blog, and ultimately, the blogger.

I encourage you to check out my revamped ‘The Author’ page, where I briefly explain myself and why I chose the path I’m on, and ‘The Blog’ page, which details why I chose this simple theme and what I like to write about.

As you do that, consider your own context, especially if you write. Even if you don’t write, it’s an important thing to consider in any communication. How can you expect someone to understand the message if they don’t know where it’s coming from?