Students gathered in the University Center Program Lounge on Feb. 12 to gain insight and knowledge from the Office of Career Services about how to utilize their social media presence and how to network with future employers both on and offline.

The Career Thing at 3:30: Networking: Using Social Media to Maximize your Options is part of the "Career Thing" seminar series that began in the Fall semester. Career Counselors facilitate discussions on a variety of different topics to help students discover ways to stand out to employers before they enter into an increasingly competitive job market.

Katie Crawford, a Career Counselor in the Office of Career Services, led the seminar and focused on what hiring managers do and don't want to see on social media sites like LinkedIn, how to create a networking plan and how to take advantage of all of the opportunities offered on campus.

According to Crawford, there are things that students should and should not be posting on their social media websites. Things she advised students to avoid ranged from more serious content such as profanity, drugs and alcohol, to issues students may not have even considered like spelling and grammar mistakes.

"Forty- two percent of employers have reconsidered a candidate, positively or negatively, based on content they find online," Crawford said. "If you wouldn't bring it up during a job interview, you don't want it on your profile."

While there are many things to avoid on professional and personal social media, Crawford said there are specific things employers are looking for that students should be sure to show like experience, skills and an online presence in general.

"They want to see your professional experience, length of tenure, specific skills, your career goals, industry-related posts and that you'd fit into the culture of the company," Crawford told the students. "You also don't want them to not find anything at all, because it'll look like you have something to hide or have been living under a rock."

Crawford suggested that students search themselves on an online search engine, see the results and then act accordingly once they see what they find. This tip was one of 10 that Crawford said made up a networking plan. She also urged students who do not already have the professional networking website LinkedIn to get one as soon as they can.

"You have nothing to lose and everything to gain by getting on LinkedIn. Right now it's by far the most used professional networking and recruiting tool in the nation and really in the world," Crawford said. "So no matter what your major is it's beneficial if for no other reason than to be an online representation of your identity."

She also suggested that students take just a small amount of time out of their day to develop their professional online network.

"You don't have to go home and spend hours on this every day, just spend 15 minutes working on networking and sites like LinkedIn," Crawford said. "I like to spend my morning just working on my professional online presence. I wake up, make my coffee and just work on it for a few minutes."

Jessica Burress, who is a senior majoring in criminology attend the seminar and said the seminars the Office of Career Services offer have helped her feel more prepared for the job search.

"I'm a senior and I just want to be as prepared as possible when I graduate, and I want to use all of the resources I have available to me to get the job that I want," Burress said. "If nothing else it makes me feel a lot more comfortable about being prepared, creating a resume and a cover letter. Going away from these things I feel a lot better about knowing what employers are looking for."

The Career Thing at 3:30 has been held since the beginning of the fall semester and Crawford says that while attendance has not been where the Office of Career Services would like it to be, they have received nothing but positive feedback from students who have participated.

"We have gotten great feedback from students, and the number one feedback we get is 'I wish I had known about this sooner,' and while our numbers haven't been where we'd like them to be our feedback has been 100 percent positive," Crawford said. "So my message to students is it's happening, it's free and if you're not in college to eventually get a job, then why are you here?"

For a full schedule of the remaining Career Thing at 3:30 seminars visit http://www.semo.edu/careers/calendar.html or contact the Office of Career Services for more information.