How I'm Using Social Media to Find My Niche

How I'm Using Social Media to Find My Niche 

by Nikki Uy, Spring 2013 Niche Movement Cohort Member 

I had learned about the Niche Movement through the Assistant Director of Student Outreach and Support Wellness and Alcohol and Drug Education at Saint Joseph’s University, Katie Bean. She had invited me to the Mark Conference at Rutgers in February 2013 and since I enjoyed it so much, she directed me to the Niche Movement’s application process for their first online mentorship. At the time, I had my Facebook deactivated as my fasting for 40 days of Lent and I had hated the idea of having a Twitter. One of the reasons why I thought I needed to get away from Facebook was because of an increasing addiction to seeing that little red balloon pop up to fuel my self-esteem. I figured Twitter was not going to be any different.

Once the founder of the Niche Movement, Kevin O’Connell welcomed me into the Spring 2013 Cohort, it’s safe to say that my vice shrunk in swelling. Though I didn’t quite make it the 40 days (5 days early!), the separation helped me balance using Facebook for communication purposes and the occasional ‘facebook stalking’ (Admit it! I’m sure majority of people are guilty of this too!). This worked to my advantage now, seeing that I had to reactivate my Facebook to keep up with the Movement’s postings.

I also created a Twitter account, which honestly, was to my own dismay at first. After Kevin gave us a list of handles to follow, though, I immediately became attracted to the advantages Twitter yields. It’s been two or three months now, and I have already been exposed to how easy it is to communicate with certain associations and people that I’m interested in. Though I owe many laughs to accounts like Ugly People Problems and Funny Pokemon and many nostalgic memories of the past few months to 90s Girl Problems and It’s Boy Meets World, and I must apologize for my endless tweets to the Backstreet Boys in an attempt to win VIP tickets to 20th anniversary tour this summer.

Personally, I’m very interested in the fields of Psychology, Philosophy, and if any of those two relates to the concept of utilizing language, my heart explodes with passion.  An aspiring future Speech Therapist, I’ve connected with grad students divulging both positive and negative experiences in pursuing the same field such as Life as a Speechie. I’ve been able to read up on research on therapeutic speech programs for both children and adults through accounts like Speedy Speech. I was reassured that the job market for Speech Therapy and Pathology is in high demand, thanks to PediaStaff, Inc. These sorts of connections, simply through reading Tweets, have reaffirmed what I want to do with my life.

I even created a page on about.me, which has the option to connect a Wordpress blog to it. To fluff my page even more, I’m actually in the process of creating a blog centralized on documenting my life through pictures and stories (which Twitter has also helped me with by expose me to different artists and writers!). If there’s one that I learned through the Niche Movement, it’s that there are loves and interests of mine that I can develop through the use of social media.

Skip Your Career Fair (SMW edition)

Two weeks ago I wrote Why You Should Skip Your Career Fair and it picked up a lot of traction but I was frustrated because I wanted to fit more into the post other than one resource, Creative Mornings. So today I am announcing I will be releasing a “Skip Your Career Fair Series” over the next 3 weeks. Once a week I will blog about a resource, event, organization or concept on why you should skip your career fair and network somewhere else.

I am very excited to attend a few events next week as part of Social Media Week and just like Creative Mornings, Social Media Week is worldwide but is located in NYC, Miami, & DC on the east coast. So college students, here’s why you should be just as excited as I am to attend SMW:

1. It’s Social Media Week! If you are looking to work in the digital field or land a job that has anything to do with social media, the key players are going to be there. Also, industries from health to fashion and everything in between will be represented.
2. Workshops are either free, have a student fee under $50 to attend, or a small fee (< $10) to tune in virutually. To find out if they are free you will see “open” or “global pass required.” Once you click on attend it will tell you what you need to do to attend.
3. Each event has “contact event organizer” in case it is closed out, you’re not sure how to register or you want to learn more. Just like I suggested in my last post, this is at least a way to introduce yourself and tell them you are a college student trying to get your foot in the door.
4. My favorite event I can’t wait for and this could open doors for all of you is “Fast Company Presents: The Most Innovative Social Media Companines in 2013”
5. Last but not least there are ways to get invovled. Imagine if you volunteer for at one of these host sites or introduce a speaker. This is networking 101 and could be great for you to meet people in the industry you are trying to work in.

If you are looking to work in a major city at a “Facebook-type” company then I highly recommend immersing yourself in social media week and even if you can’t physically be there follow the twitter convo. I know the Big East Career Fair is coming up in March, but guess what, none of the companies on the list include the companies or figure-heads involved at Social Media Week.

College students and recent graduates: If you are in the middle of networking and preparing to interview Kevin will personally start critiquing your resume for free and give you feedback. Just send it to thenichemovement@gmail.com, quickly introduce yourself and let Kevin know what field you are trying to get into. Remember, you want to tell everyone you are job searching and it can never hurt to get too many eyes looking at your resume.

So over the next 3 weeks I will be releasing a “Why You Should Skip Your Career Fair” series by the middle of each week.

Kevin O’Connell, Founder – The Niche Movement

Bring the Niche Movement to Campus to meet with students, staff or host your next workshop, keynote or training.

Engage with the Niche Movement - Facebook - Twitter

I'm a student leader graduating soon.

If you are reading this and are a college student or a recent graduate within the last two years think about the type of company culture you want to be a part of. Apply to be part of the first Niche Movement Cohort where we will work with your niche and discover employers that have jobs that you want. Applications due March 3rd.  

I work with student leaders.

If you are reading this and work with student leaders that you want to help land a job they love then share The Niche Movement with them.

I already found my niche and want to tell my story.

And if you happen to stumble upon The Niche Movement and you already found your niche then share your story. Or we can help you recruit top, talented college who by helping you create appealing job description, screen candidates and host internships or jobs on our website.

Why you should skip your career fair

 

That's right, save your time and energy and put your efforts toward a strategy that will actually work for you. The Niche Movement is going to share some tactics and things you can do to avoid a crowded gym or student center with a hundred of employers who are probably there for the free lunch and day out of the office.

Let's face it, companies are at career fairs because their competitors are. They are also set up a table because no one ever told them to seek talent elsewhere. But let's be real: resume, after resume, after resume get piled on their table and put into their car when they leave...and its a shame because companies pay sometimes more than $500-$600 just for a table and to talk to hundreds, if not thousands of college students so desperately looking for a job.

But student leaders, you shouldn’t be desperate. You worked hard while in college, you got involved, you built your leadership skills and are crossing off some pretty amazing things on your “before I grow up list.” What I want to tell you is don’t be one of the hundreds or thousands at your next career fair. Depending on what you want to do here is our first suggestion:

You want to look for intimate settings that aren’t crowded with other college students. Here is one:

Creative Mornings take place once a month in over 40 cities worldwide (listen up to all of you studying abroad). Even if you live within a 90 minute commute to one of these cities it is worth it. Every month they have a theme anywhere from design to marketing to money. Then, their chapter organizes and finds a well known or up and coming figurehead that has found their niche.

The best part, is they provided breakfast, its free and they host them at some unique places. When I went in July to NYC I heard Kellie Anderson

talk about design and I got to network with more than 100 artists, graphic designers, programmers and even the founder SwissMiss. Oh yeah and it was held in one of the most creative offices I've ever seen called the X/O group who started theknot, thebump and thenest.

The only thing I observed though is I saw no college students. If I am a college student interested in getting into design, photography, videography, web design, marketing, event planning, etc I would be DROOLING. Here’s the thing, unless you are digging deep, trolling twitter (not for #mantisGF) and networking like crazy, you will never hear about opportunities like this.

Now, getting a ticket for a Creative Morning meet ups is not easy because they are free and go quick on the Monday they are released, so you need to be quick. However, most hosts are very accessible and when I emailed them to try and get 2 more tickets they at least gave me a response (from a live human).

Tip: Here’s our advice if you get shut out - hunt down the organizer and contact them. If you have a skill such as videography or photography they are always looking for help to document their events. If you have your own blog or doing an assignment for a course, use that as an excuse to get in- depending on the person you contact they may have a soft spot to let you in. Last, (and we don’t suggest this) just show up and explain you are a student. Worst case you don't get in and you go explore the town or stumble upon some other company. 

Kevin O’Connell, Founder - The Niche Movement

Bring the Niche Movement to Campus to meet with students, staff or host your next workshop, keynote or training.

Engage with the Niche Movement - Facebook - Twitter

I'm a student leader graduating soon.

If you are reading this and are a college student or a recent graduate within the last two years think about the type of company culture you want to be a part of. Apply to be part of the first Niche Movement Cohort where we will work with your niche and discover employers that have jobs that you want. Applications due March 3rd.  

I work with student leaders.

If you are reading this and work with student leaders that you want to help land a job they love then share The Niche Movement with them.

I already found my niche and want to tell my story.

And if you happen to stumble upon The Niche Movement and you already found your niche then share your story. Or we can help you recruit top, talented college who by helping you create appealing job description, screen candidates and host internships or jobs on our website.