Communicate Your Way to Success

With the dawn of social media and all the forms of it that bombard our smartphones every minute of every day, it's definitely a communications world today. And, all those forms of digital communication can be a double-edged sword. They can help you succeed, but they can also send you crashing. Social media can help you build a strong reputation. It certainly also can ruin a reputation.

We at Concorde want our students to succeed as they navigate their ways through health care career school. Our students can use the various forms of social media and digital communications available, whether studying in a nursing program or dental assisting program, or training to be a surgical technologist or massage therapist, to succeed in their careers.

We enlisted the advice of Robin Spielberger, a digital media specialist and adjunct instructor in communications at Concordes campus in Memphis, Tenn., to help with best practices to use when navigating the often-tricky waters of social media. The following tips on the proper use of social media and digital communications for today's student and young professional are excerpted from an article entitled, 20 Ways to Not Be #ThatIntern.

Social media tips while attending a health care career school

• Keep it to yourself - What you put online is exposed to everyone, Spielberger said, so be sure to ask yourself if it's a good idea to put it out there. "... and for the love of kittens," she said, "do not post any potentially questionable pictures." You must also make sure that comments friends make are appropriate as well. We're no better than the company we keep.
• Ingenuity goes a long way - There are thousands of questions for new employees. Instead of bombarding your new boss or instructor with them, show some ingenuity and fortitude and find the answers yourself. Google was created for a reason.
• Put it away - Everyone is glued to their smartphones these days. Keep your phone in your pocket and on silent until there is an acceptable time to check it. Try to limit yourself to a few times a day.
• Know your grammar. You're in college, aren't you? - About 80 percent of clients and companies demand high-quality services which involve writing or presentation creation. If you hand in error-ridden work, it not only reflects poorly on you, but the company's reputation suffers. Can an organization really trust you to work for them if you can't spell? Especially in the age of spell-check.
• You're only as professional as your email - Business email should be professional in nature, but too often is impolite, too casual and filled with errors. This leaves a bad impression on recipients which might include your boss, colleagues, clients, professors, and prospective employers.

Summing up

Many people post freely on their social media accounts without realizing the dangers and the repercussions of their actions, Spielberger said. You need to assume anything you post can, in theory, be seen by anyone and everyone in the age of the internet.

More than 40 percent of polled employers said they use social media to screen possible hires, according to a recent survey by CareerBuilder. Nearly one-third of that 40 percent said they have found problems that resulted in them rejecting the candidate. Those problems ranged from provocative/inappropriate pictures and comments to lying about qualifications.

"As you can see, there are all kinds of ways to jeopardize your hireability," Spielberger said. "The moral of the story is, think before you post. If you are applying for jobs now, go back through your photos and comments to make sure there's nothing you've missed. Believe me, you do not want that picture to come back to haunt you three, or even 10, years later."