In case you weren’t sure, this week marked the beginning of a New Year. You know what that means: a 2010 Year-in-Review from every blog, newspaper, magazine, and random mailing list you still receive and don’t know why. So to add to the pile, I’m taking a look back at my 2010 predictions to see how well I did (I wasn’t terrible!)

Prediction #1: Twitter will remain unpopular among college age students.

Verdict: Kind of.

It’s hard to say whether this prediction is right or wrong as Twitter does not often release usage statistics, but PEW Internet recently released an interesting study on social media usage by demographic. While the younger age group (15-24) still makes up a majority of social media users, the fastest growing group is the over 74 year cohort. This neither proves nor disproves my prediction, but it is still an interesting statistic!

Prediction #2: Twitter will be bought.

Verdict: False.

Okay, so Twitter wasn’t bought. BUT, I did say that they would not monetize. Given that they have not released any information regarding their profits (and given that they probably would have if they were actually making a profit), I’m going to postpone this prediction to 2011.

Prediction #3: LinkedIn profile expansion among college age students.

Verdict: False.

It seems that most college students still don’t understand the power of networking sites like LinkedIn. The usage demographic remains heavily skewed towards the older male demographic with fewer than 4% of users in the 18-24 age group. Hopefully my E-Book about Networking for New Grads will help that.

Prediction #4: People will actually start to care about Facebook privacy.

Verdict: True.

This summer, Facebook’s privacy debacle made headlines on almost all major newspapers. It’s agreed by basically all journalists that Facebook screwed up royally. Whether anyone actually cared about it? I hope so!

Prediction #5: Explosion in sales of E-book Readers and 3D TVs.

Verdict: Half true.

Did you get a Kindle for Christmas? The Kindle has dominated the Amazon Best Seller’s list for the entire year. Gartner group reported in December that electronic book readers would reach 6.6 million by the end of 2010, which is a 79% increase from 2009.  If only I’d stopped there.  Due to a serious lack of content, 3D TV sales this holiday were dismal at best.  Guess no one wants to wear funky glasses in their living room.

Prediction #6: More cross-over between social platforms.

Verdict: True.

You can login to almost any website now using Facebook Connect and Twitter now allows you to look for friends by connecting your LinkedIn profile. The Facebook and Twitter APIs also allow lots of social media newcomers like bookmarking site Diigo to send updates straight to Facebook and Twitter.

Prediction #7: Pressure from baby boomers to improve Facebook usability.

Verdict: Kind of.

This is a hard prediction to measure and I don’t think there can be a definite answer. What we do know is that baby boomers are the fastest growing demographic on Facebook, so Facebook is making more of an effort to cater to this age group. I recently set up my aunt on Facebook and saw that they have a great new “Welcome to Facebook” page, something I would not have seen when I joined the site back in 2006. If they keep adding features like this to improve usability, I think baby boomers will continue to flock.

Prediction #8: Google Wave will be an epic fail.

Verdict. SO true.

You may ask, “What is Google Wave?” Exactly. Google announced this August that they would no longer be developing their Google Wave product.  From one of the most buzzed about products in 2009 to a discontinued service in 2010, this definitely qualifies an epic fail.

Prediction #9: Backlash towards telegraphic communication.

Verdict: False.

Guess I was wrong. People don’t seem to have a problem with twitter’s 140 character limit. Is social media making us dumber?

Prediction #10: Service that combines personal recommendations with personal networks.

Verdict: True.

Facebook has been doing this all over the place. With their Facebook Connect and API, websites can creepily steal utilize information on your facebook profile to offer recommendations based on what your friends like.

Well there you have it. With four and a half true, three false, and two kind of, I’d say that’s a pretty good showing for 2010. Check back soon to see a new set of predictions for 2011.

Last year, only 24% of college graduates who applied for a job had one waiting for them when they graduated.  As a graduating senior, that’s a very uncomfortable statistic.

I spoke with a few CRC people at Wesleyan about why they thought the number was so low and they told me that college students are generally not very good at networking.  Many students don’t get jobs before they graduate because they are opposed to networking or don’t understand it at all.

Networking is not ingratiation. A lot of college students say that they would never get a job through networking because they are morally opposed to “sucking up”.  While it’s a good thing these people are opposed to sucking up, it is a bad thing that they think sucking up and networking are the same thing.  They aren’t.

Photo Courtesy of foreverdigital

Networking is not schmoozing at a party. Many of my friends tell me that they hate networking because they feel awkward doing it.  I ask, “Doing what?”  They say, “You know, talking to random people at parties.”

First, if you’re having difficulty talking to people at parties, try drinking a glass of wine.  Second, networking is not about randomly approaching someone at a party that looks distinguished enough to be important.  That would be awkward.

So if you aren’t sucking up to people and you aren’t schmoozing at a party, how do you network?

• Contact people you already know in order to get in contact with people you want to know. Being personally recommended for a job or interview from a trusted source will instantly get your resume out of the pile and into someone’s hands.  The key to any job search is finding out who the people are you want to know. Whenever I apply to a job, I first search on LinkedIn for the company, see if I have any 2^nd degree connections, and then ask that connection to put me in contact with someone at that company.  If you don’t have a LinkedIn profile (which you should), or don’t think you have that many professional contacts (which is okay), there are other ways of doing this.
• Find an advocate. Ask a past colleague who liked you if they have any suggestions for people to talk to or places to look at.  There is nothing more useful than a boss that loved you, whether it was from an internship or an on-campus job that relates to the field you are interested in. These connections are vital because they will know where you should look for jobs, they will likely know people at the places you are applying, and they will want you to be successful in your job search.
• Use your network to find whether or not you are a good match. Leverage your contacts to ask around about the companies and positions you are applying for.  Learn if you are a good match by asking questions about the company, their reputation, their work environment, and the type of people that work there. By narrowing down your search to places where you would actually be a good fit, you are more likely to find a company or position that you like and a company that likes you.
• Focus your efforts on contacts, not applications. According to a handout from Wesleyan University’s Career Resource Center, over half of graduating students get their jobs through networking.  So why do so many people spend a majority of their search applying to dozens of jobs. Rather than applying to 100 jobs, contact 100 people in your network.  It’ll take a lot less time and you’ll be more likely to find something that fits your needs well.

While schmoozing at a party and an appropriate amount of flattery may not hurt your job search, it is not the most effective way to go about focusing your efforts.  Instead, find out who the people are you want to know and then leverage your network to get in contact with them.  A good handshake doesn’t hurt either.

Good luck in 2011!

The summer is coming to an end which means that many young professionals are wrapping up their summer internships or lining up a position for themselves for the fall.  I had an extremely rewarding experience this summer working for PBS.  I mean, who doesn’t love getting their picture taken with Josh Groban… during a workday!

Internships are all about creating lasting relationships with people in an industry that you are interested in.  Whether your internship consisted of (or will consist of) making photocopies versus giving input on the user-friendliness of a website redesign (thankfully, I had the latter), social media can help you make the most out of your experience.

Create and maintain connections with colleagues on LinkedIn.

LinkedIn is a social network for professionals, plain and simple.  No “Birthday Calendars” and no fancy bells and whistles, just a clean, powerful personal business network.  With over 13 million unique monthly visitors, (and growing fast), you want to have a presence on LinkedIn.

As I said in my post on online reputation, 75% of hiring managers use LinkedIn to research job candidates before making an offer.  (1) Spend 20-30 minutes and create a real profile, taking your time to fill in all the fields.  Having a bare-bones profile with just your name (like so many that I’ve seen) says “I don’t care enough about my professional connections to actually spend time to let you know about me.”  That is not the message you want to send.

Start following colleagues on Twitter.

Twitter: who uses that, right?  Wrong.  While Twitter might not have found its way into your friend circle or personal networks, Twitter is a powerful tool for personally connecting with individuals in your industry.  (1) Start by creating an account and following your co-workers.  If they know you, they will likely follow you back.  Keep in mind that unlike LinkedIn, you don’t necessarily have to have met someone personally to follow them.  Make sure to follow the 5 Things on Twitter You Shouldn’t Do.

So you have a bunch of colleagues following you, now what?  (2) Decide what you want to tweet about.  For example, say you are interested in sports marketing.  (3) Set up a Google Alerts for “sports marketing”, “nike advertising” and “adidas ad campaign” (just examples), (4) start following sports marketing blogs, and (5) then tweet any interesting articles or links that you find.  You will begin to connect with other professionals in your field, creating helpful relationships that you can use when it comes time to search for a job.

Start a blog.

Blogging requires dedication, perseverance, and a genuine interest in a specific topic.  If you have those qualities, then starting a blog is a good step towards establishing yourself as a valuable resource in your field of interest.  (That’s what I’m trying to do!) Here are a few resources:

My number one piece of advice is to just try it.  I was convinced that I wouldn’t enjoy having a blog until I started writing about what my PBS internship was teaching me about social media.  If you find that you aren’t passionate about what you chose to write about, write about something else.  Use your blog to find out what you are truly passionate about.

Have you Googled your name recently? While self-searching might seem a little narcissistic, it is becoming a vital practice in managing your personal brand and cleaning up your online reputation.

Managing your online reputation is becoming more and more important, whether you like it or not. Penelope Trunk writes that you do not have to quit your day job to pursue a career in art. To help maintain or obtain that day job, let’s look at some of the things you can do right now to start cleaning up your digital dirt.

1. Start by Googling Yourself

If your employers are going to be googling you, then you should know what they are going to see. This preliminary search will give you an idea of where you stand with your online identity. Is there a lot of embarrassing stuff out there about you? Is there nothing out there about you (this is an equally important problem that I will discuss later)? Set up a Google Alert that will let you know every time a new search result appears with your name.

2. Make a list of your online profiles

Compile a comprehensive list of all your profiles on social networking sites and any other profiles that might come up in a search for your name. The object of managing your personal brand online is not becoming invisible, but rather controlling what future business contacts, employers, and colleagues will see. For profiles and accounts that you do not want to show up in search results, simply use an ambiguous display name and avatar. Use Google to remind yourself of profiles you might have that you forgot about.

3. Clean up your “Big Three”

If hiring managers are looking on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter, then you definitely want to be visible in those places.

Being on these sites can give you a leg up against the competition, but only if you are conscious and cautious of the material posted. When considering any social network, keeping in mind that privacy is a precaution, not a solution. If content is online, then it is accessible one way or another.