For various Induction talks @unisouthampton

1. Building your professional digital
profile
@lisaharris
24th September 2015

2. Building a professional digital profile
• how we can proactively manage our digital
experiences for:
– effective learning in a world where we are increasingly
swamped with data.
– showcasing our knowledge and building our networks
to “stand out from the crowd” – enhancing
employment prospects or a setting up a new business
– promoting “digital citizenship” – for example by
behaving responsibly online or raising awareness of
and supporting good causes.

3. About.me/lisa.harris
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4. Finding me online
About.me
Twitter
LinkedIn
Slideshare
Web Science Institute
Southampton Business School

5. “Life-wide”and“life-long”learning
Contacts
Experts
Teachers
Classmates Friends
Family
Coworkers
Synchronous
Communication
Mobile
Texting
Video
Conferencing
Microbloging
Instant
Messaging
RSS
Wikis
Blogs
Subscriptions
readers
Podcasts
Social
Bookmarking
Social
Networks
Information
ManagementLibrary/
Texts
Open
CourseWare
Evaluating
Resources
Scholarly
Works
Locating
Experts
Wendy Drexler (2008)

6. Digital Literacy
• “Digital literacy is the ability to locate, organise, understand,
evaluate, and analyse information using digital technology. It
involves a working knowledge of current tools and an
understanding of how they can be used”
• “The active management of online activities such as
collaboration, networking , content creation and curation in
order to “stand out from the crowd” in today’s job market”
• “an ability to respond positively to change”
• “How we can best live, learn and work in an increasingly
digital society”

7. Watch our video

8. Digital Capabilities (JISC 2015)
https://www.jisc.ac.uk/rd/projects/building-digital-capability

9. Scope of digital literacy: information
management
• Finding, managing, evaluating and curating
information
– how do we manage the sheer volume of search
results we might get?
– How do we recognise a trusted source?
– How do we curate relevant materials from
different sources and formats to meet a specific
need, for example in addressing an assignment
question.

10. Scope of digital literacy: creating
materials
• How do we create new materials in written,
visual and audio formats?
• What role can a reflective blog play in our
learning journeys?
• How can its impact be enhanced with images
or video?

11. Scope of digital literacy: effective
communication
• How can we use tools such as twitter to
communicate, collaborate and participate in
online communities – building our own
networks and contributing to the work of
others, potentially on a global basis?

12. Scope of Digital Literacy: identity and
behaviour
• Safety and security – managing passwords,
privacy, access and tagging
• Managing the boundaries between the
personal and the professional
• Digital citizenship – charitable fundraising,
paying it forward, activism

13. According to the British Computer
Society…
Employers increasingly require validation of digital literacy skills
and employability can depend on it.
Why is Digital Literacy important to employers and employees?
• Digital literacy is required in 77% of all employment
• Digital literacy is expected to be required in 90% of all
employment by 2015
• Employability for graduates increasingly requires a broad
range of digital literacy skills
• Employers expect graduates to be able to communicate using
digital media”
(http://www.bcs.org/category/17854)

15. So what are employers doing?
• According to a recent study by Jobvite
– 92% of recruiters use social media in the hiring process
– 80% had been positively influenced by a candidate’s
professional social network profile
– 78% had been negatively influenced towards a candidate’s
inappropriate use of social media
• The best candidates might not be actively looking for
a new job (up to 90% of the workforce)
• Social media can identify the best talent , encourage
conversation and build relationships with them
• Enables recruiters to promote their company as “a
great place to work”

16. Why should you care?
A standard CV is no longer sufficient to stand out from the crowd in a
global and rapidly evolving job market.
“We are currently preparing students for
jobs that don’t yet exist, using technologies
that haven’t been invented, in order to
solve problems we don’t even know are
problems yet.”
- Karl Fisch, “Did You Know”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmwwrGV_aiE

17. So what should job seekers do?
• Recognise that building an online personal brand is
now a critical aspect of career development
• It boosts our reputation and gives us new skills in
communication, creativity and reflective thinking.
• The information we display on social networks
should actively encourage rather than discourage
potential employers
• Don’t “opt out” - finding NOTHING about a person
on a Google search creates a negative impression too

18. Dare you Google yourself...?

19. www.employadam.com
• The original video
• Why it works
• The follow up video

20. UOSM2033/UOSM2008

21. Setting up your blog
• You may have your own already that you wish to
use
• You can use a major free platform like
wordpress.com
• You can use the University’s blog.soton service
(University branded Wordpress blogs available
through iSolutions)
• Some good examples:
– Chris Phethean’s PhD progress blog
– Andy Sugden’s and Catherine Hunt’s curriculum
innovation module blogs

22. Blogs: pulling it all together
• Use the blog framework as a central point pulling in your
other social media content:
– Tweets – Flickr – LinkedIn – Vimeo - Slideshare – Pinterest -
Soundcloud - YouTube
• You can also embed other social media within individual
blog posts
• Video is increasingly important, especially authentic user
generated content
• Provide sharing buttons
• These activities provide a regular supply of “googlejuice” to
the blog

23. Google likes blogging
• Social media interaction with digital content is
the *biggest influence* on its search visibility:
1. Facebook shares
2. Facebook comments
3. Facebook likes
4. Tweets
• Hootsuite blogpost
• Advice from Social Media Strategist

24. Digital Champions
Sam Su
Oliver Bills
Marina Sakipi
Panos Grimanellis
George
Georgi
ev
Hamed
Ayhan
Hame
d
Ayhan
Farnoosh Berahman
Manish Pathak
Ivan Melendez
Ahmed
Abulaila
Lucy Braiden
Alessia
Fiochi
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25. DigiChamps: Flo Broderick
• Took Digital Marketing and CI modules, learned
interviewing skills and video editing
• Helped out in a big way at Digital Media Europe
• Masterminded student contribution to Digital
Literacies Conference
• Provided student perspective on our research into
online learning MOOC filming in Portus
• Now in Madrid working for Telefonica Digital
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26. Digichamps: Ivan Melendez
• KISM MSc @ Southampton 2012
• Helped out with employability workshops and
university events
• Now working for Hootsuite in Vancouver
• Read Ivan’s story

27. Joining the Digichamps
• More information:
– Digichamps Blog
– Facebook Group
– What do the Digichamps do? (video)
• Digichamps help staff and students with educational
applications of new technologies, build professional online
profiles, and manage social media for live events.
• Students from all University Faculties & all levels of study
• Send a note to Lisa explaining why you would like to join
the Digichamps and highlighting the skills you offer / would
like to develop
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