Laura Miller

I found myself enjoying this as almost a "refresher" to counseling. Going over concepts such as; using unconditional positive regard, developing rapport, and active listening- these are all key ingredients to being a good counselor.  It was fun to go over these basics again.  In addition, I really like the idea of coach vs. manager.  As I reflect on my years as a counselor, I've found I'm becoming much more of a "coach" as I've found over the years that having students find answers for themselves is just far more productive than giving them the answers.

The post interview communication is so important as it shows interest in the company, as well as thoughtfulness and responsibility. The idea of building a portfolio feels to me like the replacement of the paper resume.

I’m wondering if it really is still important to bring paper marketing materials to an interview. If a job seeker has an online profile and portfolio, and has digitally submitted all application materials, why bring paper copies? It feels as though we are moving away from paper materials enough now that this step would redundant.

I like the idea of considering everything on the resume is there as a part of a strategy. I think that using this concept will help my students be more thoughtful about what they are adding to the resume, as well as how they are choosing to organize the information. Also, it’s good to know it’s time to get rid of “Objective”.  That header is still on my last resume.. 😊

I like the idea of teaching our students about the employers’s point of view on what they would want to see on a resume. It’s a good way to help students focus on adding only what information is needed for the specific job. 

I like the idea of using social media presence as a marketing strategy. Don’t get rid of your social media, instead use it to highlight your talents, skills, and character, and to encourage employers to “travel” to your hub, where they will find your digital resume. I’m excited to see this trend replace the traditional paper resume.

Doing some work to clean up an online presence is good practice for anyone, but especially someone looking to enter the job market. Cleaning up personal posts, plus actively posting new, more positive aspects will go a long way for students looking to have a good online presence. Developing your own personal brand is the new resume, and is probably the most important step for a new job seeker. It’s my job as Career counselor to be able to teach developing a brand to my students.

As a career counselor, I would encourage a student to think of their entire online presence as a marketing strategy for attracting potential employers. It is now important to have an online presence in the fields the student is seeking a career in, as well as specifically adding their own brand in a way that will attract employers (find me, become interested in me). A tactical use of keywords specific to the desired career will increase the number of potential employers that will find your students online presence.

While I'm not a huge fan of what we are calling "Social Currency", I can see why it would be beneficial for companies to recruit and hire employees that have a positive and beneficial presence (or brand) on social media.  Rather than looking at past achievements on a static resume, being able to determine in real-time how a potential candidate would work to solve problems would be a great way for a company to find the best candidates for their positions.  As a career counselor, it is important to understand how recruitment is changing in this new digital environment and… >>>

I like how the 5 keys  to success provides a good framework for all of the different aspects of being an employee and allows us to think carefully through each key and help our students prepare.  I especially like the ideas around exploring emotional states as well as physical states in the Be a Professional key.  Your emotional state can have  huge impact on your job performance, and I think it is so important to talk about that while the student is still in high school.