University Star

THE GIST

Maira Garcia, a recent Texas State alumna and Austin American-Statesman Web producer and Anna Tauzin, Texas State alumna, led a core conversation with attendees on how to get a job by having a uniform personal brand.

EXCERPTS

"I am ‘mairalg’ everywhere on the Web and I think it's really important that you're consistent."

“We recommend something like Dropbox. So when you're building your site, you can put everything you need to put in your portfolio so it all right there."

"Back up your backup"

If you don't have a domain you can use Aboutme.

Anna- "Go to a meet up and, get there a few minutes early and find the organizers and introduce yourself. Say, ‘I'm so and so and I'm interested in this,’ and it's their job to know who there and help the new people."

M-"Don't drunk tweet. Keep it professional."

Don't just broadcast, participate.

A- "Your bio should include: where you work now, what you did before, something you're interested in professionally, your education, some fun factoid."

A- "I've hired a lot of people and if they send me something additional, I'm not going to get mad."

M- "Anything that shows how bad-ass you are, send it to them."

Take off the objective line on the resume. Who you're sending it to knows what you're applying for, and/or there may be more than one job they’re hiring for.
Instead put a five-line summary at the top that has three highlights of who are you."

Accomplishments, five seconds to make me want to read more.

Merge your blogs because in essence it's your personality.
A- "It may have hurt (a friend of Tausen) a little bit but in the end she got a really awesome job so i say bring it all together under one umbrella."

Or put RSS feeds for different blogs or Twitters on the side of each so they're all in one place no matter how potential employers find you.

Knowem.com for $99 will across different platforms register your name.

Get a professional to evaluate your skills.
"A lot of people have a confidence issue, you know it but you don't really know that you do." -Cindy Royal

If a job posting asks for a certain amount of experience and you don't have it, apply anyway.

A- "They say no, but you didn't lose anything, maybe 35 cents."
They're not really looking for seven years.

Don't send your resume to HR, put someone’s name on it.

Maira on applying to the Statesman
"I sorta knew some of the reporters but when Twitter came along oh that changed everything."

It's constant networking, but you cannot forget the face time -- time that's the most important.

"Buy a piece of real estate on someone else's brain."

"Photos going from analogue to digital, and everything thing moves that way I think portfolios are also going digital. Have a digital portfolio on an iPad. Take control of the interview and show them your work, if people aren't doing that you're going to impress them."

Have the same color schemes across all sites.

Snail mail a hand written note put your business card in it, no one else does that.

WHAT I LEARNED

When looking for a job it is important to make sure you develop a presence on the Web while staying true to who you are. Employers today are using the Internet to research their candidates, so you need to make sure you have a uniformed "Me, Inc." If you're creative, unique and you employers will take notice.