Visitor and Resident Map
What digital platforms are students currently using to develop their professional network?
Due to the pandemic, many students are developing and strengthening their connections via various social media platforms and online tools. The digital platform most that most students are currently using to develop their professional network is LinkedIn. LinkedIn allows you to portray yourself and your achievements as well as professional experience, which can be assessed by other professionals. LinkedIn makes it easy to form connections and relationships with individuals in the same career field as you. Furthermore, as we near graduation, many of my professors have recommended using LinkedIn to develop our careers post-university. Also, Reddit is another digital platform where information on various topics is accessible with ease. Reddit over the years has gotten very popular among students who are seeking concise answers to their questions and planning on learning about new topics/material by themselves. Reddit does not convey primary sources but it is a great way of connecting and developing your professional network by interacting with individuals with similar tastes and interests.
What can you (as a student) consider to expand your professional learning network?
The digital platform that has helped me the most in terms of developing my professional network is WordPress. Using WordPress has allowed me to reflect on my learning, express my thoughts, and with different students as well as professors. WordPress allowed me to connect with two professors who became my referees for my current job. Another platform that helped me expand my PLN is Twitter. Most of my professors have Twitter accounts, on which they share their recent findings and results from their research group. Twitter has aided in my contacting various of my professors and learning about their field of study. Due to Twitter, I can learn about various types of research done in my department (chemistry), and using the information I obtained from Twitter allowed me to successfully join multiple professors’ labs and conduct my own research projects.
In your network, how can you create a digital identity/reputation?
The most crucial thing needed to develop digital identity is using your time efficiently. It is a known fact that whatever you do on the internet can be traced back to you. Thus, it is very important that an individual, like myself, share information and comment/like posts that are appropriate and respectful. My go-to method of developing a digital identity is to share posts about things I am passionate about, such as gaming, reading, making songs, etc. These posts are a glimpse of myself, my interests, and my personality. Reputation can be developed over time and in my opinion, the primary way to develop reputation is to connect with other people, engage in forums and blogs, posts on subreddits, in a regular manner. Frequent engagement shows that you are an active member who associates with their digital platforms regularly. Again! sharing respectable and appropriate material is very important because what you share reflects who you are; sharing appropriate material aids in developing your good reputation online.
Consider what a local employer would do if you applied for a job with them – can they search the content, is it of benefit to the career path, does it hinder the opportunity of employment?
In July 2020, I applied to London Drugs for a pharmacy assistant position. During my interview, I was very explicitly told that the company is very strict regarding its reputation online. Furthermore, I was told that London Drugs affiliates with another company that does a background check on potential candidates which consists of the social platforms of the interviewee. Thus, my social accounts were analyzed/checked up by the company to ensure that no disrespectful or crass material was found that can damage the company’s reputation. Thankfully, due to no vulgar material being present on my social accounts, I was hired by London Drugs and currently am still employed there. This is an example of how what you share online and what you do with your digital identity can impact a job opportunity.
References
Wikipedia contributors. “Digital Visitor and Resident.” Wikipedia, 31 Dec. 2020, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Visitor_and_Resident
akk12
Hi Nav,
Thank you so much for sharing your personal experience with digital platforms. One thing that I can take away from your post is how you utilize Twitter I have never created a Twitter account because I have never understood how I can use it to benefit me. And the fact that you have been able to ” learn about various types of research done in [your] department (chemistry)” has really made me realize that I am missing out on a very important networking platform.
brownsugar
Hi! Yes, twitter is extremely helpful in terms of connecting with people. Facebook used to be the ideal way of connecting with people but nowadays, in regards to PLN, the best facebook does is create groups and advertise those groups. Twitter on the other hand allows users to share anything with anyone, and the feed on twitter can come from people you dont know but share interests with. Hence, its more ideal for expanding your horizons and making vast connections.
conradw27
Hi Nav,
I completely forgot about Reddit when writing my blog post! That’s a really good example of ways that students, among many others, are able to connect with one another and find answers to an enormous amount of questions and/or concerns.
Thank you for the personal experience with London Drugs, it’s interesting to get an inside view of what the interview was like and that they scan your social media platforms. If your reputation had been bad, that would definitely reflect on them. I’ve heard of an employee at a restaurant in Victoria who was recently exposed for crimes that he had committed and it turns out that the employer was actually aware of these things. Now this company’s reputation has been rightfully destroyed. I am constantly seeing people’s status updates regarding the incident, informing others not to support the establishment anymore.