If I knew all the words

A little bird sent me a direct message on twitter the other day that I should weigh in on a conversation I am most certainly passionate about.

I mosied on over to PROpenMic and weighed in on a conversation about requiring students to participate in social media in their college courses. Now, this conversation was coming from students not professors or practitioners.

I was pretty frustrated with the post and a majority of the replies from other students who agreed they felt like it was a chore. Social media has changed my life as cheesy as that sounds, and shaped my career. My first reaction was “Do you ever complain openly about writing a paper for your Writing class?” because that is what I would compare participating in social media for your PR class to. Your professors give you an assignment for a reason, you can fight it all you want, but in the end you can:

A.) Do the assignment

B.) Not do the assignment and fail

-Or-

C.) Drop the class and potentially the Major

It’s your choice, you’re a big girl or boy at this point in your college career and your professors are not here to baby you because you don’t like an assignment.

Okay, that is my rant.

What really frustrates me is what these students do NOT SEE! What I would give to go back and be a part of the social media courses they are teaching now! I Think I ask my old professor just about every week if she would video her classes and send them to me. I’m very impressed with the high level of conversation her students get into on their Twitter chats. It makes me proud to say I am a product of the same professors and School of Journalism and Communication (*cough University of Oregon cough*).

Here is my Note to those students who feel they should not be required to participate in Social media.

Dear SM Student,

I’m sorry you feel as though you are being “Forced” to learn about social media. My first question for you is, “what do you want to do with your life?” or “what is your dream job?” Is it being a sports journalist, CEO of a fortune500 company or Manager at McDonalds? Whatever your dream job is social media can help you achieve your goal or assist you in advancing within your company. But you don’t know this yet, because you are resistant to participating in social media as a useful business tool.

Your professors are trying to teach you a skill that will put you miles ahead of your peers applying for that same job. They are trying to teach you a skill that  senior level managers and account directors, VP’s and Presidents in so many companies don’t understand—Social Media. Hiring managers at these companies you want to work at so bad are looking for the next great Social Media talent who can teach the organization about the wonders of Twitter and Facebook and how they can help their company reach its consumers. Your professors are trying to provide you with the tools to be that  next great employee with the social media skills.

We are in a Recession and it is going to take years, not Months to get our job market back to an expectable level. I guarantee you will graduate and have a panic attack that you have no idea how you’re going to land a job–I did. But you know what I did, I used the skills I learned in my Social Media class and I put it to use. I pitched myself to hiring managers on twitter—Beat that Elevator pitch! Try selling yourself in 140 characters—it ain’t easy. But it worked. I found a creative way to sell myself and my skills that caught the eye of quite a few hiring managers. I got the job.

I continue to use my twitter account and blog that I created for my SM class to advance my professional career. I interact and network with key opinion leaders in my industry and they know who I am! This wouldn’t have been possible if I didn’t TRUST my professors when they said, “leap- And the net will appear!” The net did appear and now I have a huge network of professional, professors and mentors who I can bounce ideas off of.

Social media is not a fad. It is the future. It is the future of every business and every organization. If you’re not looking for a job in public relations you can use these skills in any job whether it be to promote yourself and your services or to help promote your brand message and build relationships and two-way communication with your consumers.

Take advantage of the advice your professors are giving you, be a sponge and soak it up. It’s harder to continue learning when you’re working at a full-time job. You begin to yearn for the days you sat in class. My Blog and Twitter account have acted as wonderful supplements to my resume. I no longer have to send along writing samples, I just direct potential employers to my blog.  It is not only highlighting my ability to write, but it is also highlighting my social media skills.

I will bet money that no matter what your career may be, that your future employer is either already in the social media sphere or is looking to dive in. That means they are looking for someone with ideas and knowledge about how it works…. You could be that person.

Clean up your act online. Your employers WILL Google your name— that is not a myth. Stop complaining about the work, and start caring about your future. Social media is the future. You’re paying to go to college, start caring about where that money is going toward.

I apologize for being harsh, but this is a reality and it seems as though, you need a reality check.

Sincerely,

Staci