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ALEKSANDRA MEYER AND TUOMAS KORKALAINEN (EDS.)
The Junior
Woodchuck Guide to
Social Media THE JUNIOR WOODCHUCK GUIDE TO SOCIAL MEDIA
Attribution 1.0 Finland
Editor Aleksandra Meyer and Tuomas Korkalainen
Layout Tuomas Aatola
Miia Vallasvuo
Cover Maisa Abdalla
Publisher Metropolia Ammattikorkeakoulu
Kulttuuri ja luova ala
Print house Metropolian digipaino 2014
ISBN 978-952-6690-38-4
The Junior Woodchuck Guide to Social Media , print
ISBN pdf: 978-952-6690-39-1
The Junior Woodchuck Guide to Social Media , PDF
mikrokirjat.metropolia.fi
reititin opinnoista tyÜelämään
The Junior
Woodchuck Guide to
Social Media CONTENTS
Preface 6
Fazerâs Chase
for an Online Expert 9
Avoid Getting Caught as a Prisoner of Human Resource Information
Systems 18
The first steps towards
Target-oriented Online Presence 24
Through Portfolios into the professional community 36
Metropolia Career Services and Social Media 43
How to Apply Social Media to Job Search âCase JobiJobi! 57
Operating in the Realm of Social Media 63
Principles of cloud services and applications 68
10 Golden Rules for Engaging via Social Media 74
Authors 826 7
Preface
This micro book, a shortened edition of its Finnish equivalent, examines the new opportunities that social media
can offer to the recruitment process. In the spirit of a survival guide some of its authors have spiced their articles
by hints, advice, rules and warnings. However, the book
does not only focus on finding a job or employees, but
offers a wider perspective on online influence and visibility in general.
Since the format of this book only provides limited space, these articles do not lead the readers deep into
the recesses of social media. It rather offers a set of personal experiences, thus giving an interesting overview of
the different tools that can be used in order to achieve
certain goals.
Networks have enormous potential. Therefore it
might not come as a surprise that we made use of social media when looking for authors for this publication.
Thanks to word spreading quickly and a few hints and
queries, we were able to form a set of multi-vocational
authors. It included experts from our own organization
(project staff, co-ordinators, and teachers), ideas from
other higher education institutions and projects, and the
business point of view. All these different perspectives
were embraced with open arms and enthusiasm.
The project behind this publication, administrated
by Helsinki Metropolia University of Applied Sciences, is
called Reititin â which, by the way, means ârouterâ in Finnish. It has been operating at the interface of education
to employment, building routes from studies to working
life. The project has thus been working with students
and their possible future working life partners.
Social media, recruitment and thesis work have
been the projectâs main focus from the very beginning. 8 9
These three areas have been connected through a service called PROksi (proksi.metropolia.fi), an online environment established by the project.
This book would not have been possible without
its authors. We would therefore like to give our warm
thanks to everybody who has contributed to the original work and its English equivalent â especially Tiina Niskanen from whom the idea of a translated version originally came from.
All and all, installing new types of working practices into our own and our partnersâ routines can occur in
several ways â may this book be one of them!
Helsinki, Wednesday, 25 June 2014,
Aleksandra Meyer and Tuomas Korkalainen
Fazerâs Chase
for an Online
Expert
KATI SULIN
TRANSLATION: ALEKSANDRA MEYER
Our job announcement stated that we were looking for
online experts â that is, specialists in digital marketing
and communications. In line with Fazerâs usual recruitment process, we released a job announcement via the
recruitment portal Monster.fi and on our own website.
However, in this search process we decided to
skip the traditional printed announcement on the daily 10 11
newspaperâs Sunday supplement and invest in social
media instead. This seemed natural since this type of
Soon afterwards things started to happen. First, a Twitter campaign with the title #Hirewepsi (âHire Wepsiâ)
was launched, and another called #Neafazerille (âNea
to Fazerâ) followed. In practice, there were two creative
women who appropriated these hashtags and began to
encourage colleagues, friends and acquaintances to recommend them to Fazer as most suitable candidates.
Both seemed to have excellent networks, since
recommendations started raining down in a commendable pace. Tweets came from all sorts of people both
from Finland and abroad â they ranged all the way from
advertising agency executives to ex-colleagues. What a
great proof of working skills this was, showing the ability to get people actively involved in the issue they were
promoting!
And that was not the end of it. YouTube applications were next in line, and it has to be said that a video
says more than a thousand words. In addition, I respect
the effort and time that people put into the script, filming
and special effects of their video clips. A conversation
with a slice of toast in video format is something that
sure enough raises emotions.
What you order is what you get. In the job advertisement, we decided to encourage people to use social
media creatively, and these present-day online experts
most certainly knew how to do it. Things have changed
from the past. Back in the day, applying for a job was like
big state secret: one only opened up about the process
to good friends. The application was written during the
dark hours of the night and was delivered in a sealed envelope. However, transparency has now arrived in the
search of work.
At some point during campaigning I wondered if
all these peopleâs current employers were following the
application process with equal excitement and interest
as I did.
How the Ecosystem Actually Works
In practice, we published the job announcement on the
âmonster.fiâ and âfazer.fiâ addresses. When the content 12 13
was published, we were able to share the link on different platforms. However, the first critical reflection came
when we had to decide which of the two links should be
shared â the one on Monster or the one on our own site.
Strategically, it would have been desirable to control the
potential job seekers through our own web service â in
that way they would have immediately had all corporate
data sources available.
This being said, a degree of hesitation followed.
Visually, Monsterâs announcement was much more
beautiful and would pay court to our soon-to-become online expert with a page with a beautiful pink background
â and most importantly, a picture of nothing less than
our mouth-watering raspberry tartlet. What an appetite-arousing image! It occurred to us that a white-background, text-based, matter-of-fact job advertisement on
our own page would not have aroused equal emotional
reactions â all it did was give platonic information. Therefore, with regard to our social media posts, we redirected our applicants to the Monster recruitment portal. You
can be assured that the development of our own fazer.fi
recruitment section rose to the top of our to-do lists after
this experience.
I myself was the one to take care of the actual
message exchange in social media; in that way I was
able to handle all of the conversations from start to finish.
I wrote the first post on Sunday through my own Facebook profile, referring to the established role of the job
section on the daily newspaperâs Sunday supplement.
When writing on my timeline, I started a discussion on
whether Facebook could act as a virtual replacement of
the Sunday supplementâs job announcements. This post
aroused a brief discussion, and the end result was that I
had to promise a kilogram of âFazer Blueâ chocolate as a
reward for the tip that led to the recruitment.
The biggest torrent of conversation was on Twitter, where we posed the question if anyone was interested in a job in the world of tastes. The ones interested kept asking for more information, mostly considering
the offered option to do distance work. Chains of tweets
were born around both the @fazerfinland and the @kati_
sulin profiles. 14 15
With regard to direct messages (DM), I asked to
send them through my personal Twitter profile. One of
the job seekers had already been quick enough to advise
that DMs could only be sent if both parties followed each
other on Twitter. This was, however, already familiar to
us, leading to a policy that we started following everybody who in some way took part in the discussion about
the on-going recruitment.
Several endorsers and job candidates actually
contacted us via DM messages, and the topics varied
from questions to praise. The announcement was on for
a week, and phone hours for additional conversations
were offered on Monday and Friday. During these days I
informed our followers on Twitter and LinkedIn about the
possibility of personal telephone discussions. On Friday,
we even got a message that there were enough reminders of the recruitment process, probably suggesting that
people were starting to see these posts as unnecessary
spamming.
We also tried out launching the job advertisement on Facebook, that is, the âFazer Finlandâ Facebook
Community. The feedback was positive; there were up
to 185 likes and a couple dozen of comments. However,
the mandatory electronic application form had a question on how the applicant had been informed of the open
position, and it eventually came out that there were just
a few applicants who had found out about the job announcement through Facebook. Twitter was undoubtedly the strongest information channel in this campaign.
Finally, I will shortly mention Google Plus (Google+). All the companies that develop themselves do naturally have to be aware of the latest trends. This being
said, I used my own personal profile for discussions on
Google+. I shall follow with interest what the Business
Edition of Google+ brings with it.16 17
Tips:
⢠Do not hesitate to include social networks to
support job advertising, especially if the open
the position requires online expertise.
⢠If you announce an open position through
social networks, make sure you reserve
enough time for online conversations, as
people will be asking the same questions
about the open position as they would via
e-mail and telephone.
⢠Especially if you are using networks
established through communicating with your
own name and face, be sure to thank people
for sharing the information, commenting
and the rest of support provided for your
announcement.
⢠If applicants are given the opportunity to send
their CV, application, and work samples in
different formats (video, blog, pictures, flash),
make sure that the people processing these
applications have the necessary IT skills to go
through the material.
⢠If you start a recruitment campaign online,
make sure you do it with style from the
beginning to the end.
The Finnish version of this text was also published in the
guest blog of the Markkinointi&Mainonta magazine on
2.9.11 and my book Digimakupaloja â 100 päivää onlinedialogia (Digital Treats - 100 Days of Online Dialogue).18 19
Avoid Getting
Caught as a
Prisoner of
Human Resource
Information
Systems
RISTO SĂNTTI
Human Resource systems within organizations are broad,
extending from core strategy support to various minor
practical tasks and issues. HR information systems are
aimed at supporting many different tasks in this sphere. A major problem in HR ICT systems seems to be the
systemic complexity of related needs, as well as a continuous change in these. HR ICT systems need to be flexible, and capable of adapting. The system developers
should be able to comprehend the variety of user needs,
and react to them in a broad way. This seems to be a considerable challenge. When organizational realities change,
the HR system user needs to change in line with them.
The wishes and abilities of organizational actors evolve
constantly, and are different at different points in time.
When needs change, so do the demands made of the
systems.
Choices concerning the criteria for the properties of HR information systems often need to be taken
with only incomplete information available, in the midst
of specific cultures and mindsets or of partial optimization, and with limited resources available. Building HR
ICT systems within organizations is a time-consuming
and expensive endeavour. The adoption of some of the
existing HR ICT super-systems means having to accept
the logics and properties defined by the developers of
the system. Those parameters may have been set many 20 21
years previously, in a considerably different organizational context, as well as amidst a different understanding of
HR information needs.
If the system modification and renewal options
are built-in (a situation that seems to be the baseline reality) it is very probable that what is purchased will not
offer an ideal fit with the organizational needs. Of course
the buyers often have the option of modifying the system properties of what they acquire, but it is likely to be
a prohibitively expensive undertaking, at least to achieve
the desired performance level. As a result, the overall
functionality (and with it the value) of HR ICT super-systems is limited, and may even hinder sensible and effective utilization of the core HR processes.
In relation to competences, HR information systems contain both some very interesting opportunities
and some potentially damaging pitfalls. Starting with
the risk side, there has been a tendency towards massive competence recognition systems. The recognition
of a broad array of various competences fits well with
the logic of IT systems. Unfortunately, information about
everything that organizational actors can and should
master is something that is rarely needed as such, and is
also difficult to operationalize. The competences needed
in each and every work task vary enormously, and trying
to recognize, sort, and prioritize various skills and abilities
can absorb a great deal of time. There are various core,
strategic, and basic competences that may emerge on
organizational, group and individual levels. Some competences must be recognized, while knowledge of others
may be far less important. Compiling massive competence listings seems to be a time consuming and largely
fruitless activity.
A potentially fruitful role for HR information systems might be found in the definition of competence
needs and in the agreement of competence development activities. Individual competence development targets, agreed upon in development discussions, can be
gathered through fairly simple system solutions. From
these, a summary of the needs of organizational competence development can be defined in order to find, produce, or buy competence development solutions that 22 23
answer just these needs. A rotating competence followup system would make it possible to follow up developments in the competences needed. All this could, and
maybe should, be done with light and simple system
support. Overall, it makes sense to recognize which areas of organizational competence management would
benefit from system support, and which would not. It
may be a surprise to find out that many areas of competence management neither need system support nor
benefit from it.
The potential of HR ICT systems to assist recruitment and competence development in the post-selection phase offers interesting opportunities. The key is to
develop simple and flexible usability that emphasizes applicant needs. This is unfortunately not always the case.
A system-centred user interface probably informs the applicant about something relevant concerning the recruiting organization itself. Much ground is lost immediately if
the first contact with the potential new employer organization leaves the applicant with the impression that he or
she is dealing with a faceless bureaucracy.
The recruiting organization should be present and
visible in an easily accessible way on the social media
sites used by its employees; in other words, the employer
needs to operate in prevailing services. It is through those
prevailing services that potential applicants â who may
not yet have knowledge of or interest in the organization â
might be persuaded to familiarize themselves with it.
In the recruitment process itself, a recruiting organization should aim to distribute application forms that
are flexible and invite potential applicants to express
themselves in a personal way. Those applicants who are
in the initial stages of contact with the recruiting organization are probably only marginally interested in it and
may withdraw from the application process if it is too
onerous. Long application forms asking rigid questions
are not advisable. In order to a encourage possible applicants rather than deter them, an interim solution for an
organization in the process of developing a new set of application forms would be to waive the application formâs
currently prevailing requirements forcing applicants to fill
every single field on the form and to do it the âright way.â24 25
The first steps
towards
Target-oriented
Online Presence
JUSSI LINKOLA
I have been working in a project called Vyyhti, whose
goal has been to promote and develop networking, entrepreneurial activities and co-operation in the field of
culture and creative industries (Vyyhti 2012a). In order
to familiarize our target group with the ways of realizing
these objectives, we created the concept of electronic
exercise clubs. From a micro-entrepreneurâs perspective,
their purpose was to support the creative usage and application of web-based tools (Vyyhti 2012b; Linkola 2012,
6). From the point of view of students, we highlighted the
possibilities that an electronic portfolio could offer in presenting modern knowledge to interested parties.
When describing the basic tools and skills upon
which a target-oriented online presence can be built on,
I shall use the planning and realization of the e-portfolio
and electronic exercise clubs as examples. In addition, I
will present findings and recommendations that may be
useful to those starting to operate online.
Target-oriented Online Presence
What does target-oriented online presence actually
mean? The Internet and the range of applications it offers
provide an inexhaustible store of information and entertainment â texts, movies, music, games, and so on. Tons
of opportunities for communication, sharing ideas and
developing new individually or collectively implemented
content production are at hand. The utility and futility of 26 27
the content and services can be individually experienced,
but an awareness of how to channel oneâs own activities
can produce clear results as an alternative to ignoring the
web or working without a goal.
In my opinion, target-oriented online presence
equals active online participation and social media events.
This means that targets are set for each activity, results
are evaluated and measured, and finally, measures are
re-targeted on the basis of assessment.
A Blog Site â The Foundation
of Online Presence
The web is a changing environment. New services are
created and existing ones evolve; some of them remain
in the slow lane or run out of business. If you are operating in the field in a target-oriented manner, it is necessary to follow trends and react to the changing landscape.
Even more important is to create a stable foundation for
the actions that is not dependent on external changes.
The best tool for this kind of long-term development is a
blog-based website.
In terms of findability, the individual homepage
is critical to the company or the person in question. It
ensures that we are easily located and that the desired
message and image are transmitted to the visitor â a person who has succeeded in finding us on the web through
active search, a recommendation, or surfing the web.
A blog extends the possibilities of applying the
website for different purposes. It allows us to communicate, inform, comment or take stand on things, and
demonstrate expertise and know-how (Aalto & Uusisaari
2010, 93; Kalliala & Toikkanen 2009, 41; Kortesuo & Kurvinen 2011, 72â74; Wikipedia 2012C).
For example, professionally written blog entries
dealing with oneâs own field of business will remain as
âbaitsâ in the vast ocean of information. In order to examine if something is caught in the net, people will pay
visits to it in unexpected contexts and at unexpected
times. A well-sustained professional blog is a gripping
surface expanding from entry to entry, allowing us to
build and bring out our expert identity, generate interest
and stand out. Through a blog we can get anchored into 28 29
this surface and keep it under our own control, and use
third-party services in an agile manner according to our
own needs.
We can also create a portfolio through the means
of a blog-based site. When carefully designed, it can
serve professional life in various situations (Laasonen &
Linkola 2012). In the Vyyhti projectâs electronic exercise
clubs and e-portfolio workshops, the design and creation
of a blog site were practiced through the blog platforms
WordPress and Blogger.
Harnessing Information Flows
as a Means of Prioritization
In addition to building a website and blog-based online
visibility, the environment has to be monitored. We must
learn how to find useful and inspiring information than
can have an effect on oneâs professional development.
It can be found, for example, on competitorsâ and partnersâ websites, through inspiring influencers and thinkers,
newspapers and online magazines, as well experienced
hobbyistsâ blogs. Since following all of this is not possible,
one has to learn how to find necessary information when
needed. Moreover, this should be rationalized through
the use of a feed reader in order to follow constantly updating online sources.
Looking up information on search engines is
worth practicing because it shows the usability of web
content in practice: if you cannot find any information or
end up on a page difficult to use, make sure you do not
repeat the same mistakes on your own page! Observation is the best way of teaching how to reflect on our
content from a random visitorâs point of view. It helps us
think about how the message can be formatted in such
a way that the interested party can find the page, understand it, and, if choosing to do so, share it to others.
The use of a feed reader allows us to follow numerous frequently updated online sources efficiently and
effortlessly (Aalto & Uusisaari 2010, 103; Kalliala & Toikkanen 2009, 19). If you invest half a day to get introduced
to the feed reader, the effort will pay itself back in a few
weeks, as the wading through recent updates can stop
and the focus can be shifted to the content. 30 31
Starting a More Versatile
Communication and Co-operation
When your findability and search skills are in good condition, it becomes natural to more broadly identify the
opportunities of the web. It is thus the right time to participate and interact with others. At this point, it means
making good use of different networking equipment and
social media as tools for the exchange of ideas, a multilateral means of communication, and production tools for
co-operative content production. This field is in a restless
state of new, changing and ceasing operations, but it offers the potential to enhance work and cooperation.
A classic example of a network made possible
via co-operation is the online encyclopedia Wikipedia.
Started in 2001, it is a massive project based on voluntary content providers (Wikipedia 2012a). The use of a
similar centralized approach can be successfully used in
much smaller projects, where a suitable web platform
can be utilized for functions such as project management, collaborative writing or producing teaching material (Laasonen 2010, 19-25; Linkola 2011, 7-11). In the
same way, more advanced cloud services can be used
to transfer operations to the web that have traditionally
occurred on oneâs personal workstation.
In the Vyyhti projectâs electronic exercise clubs,
this kind of co-operation was practiced using the Google
Documents Office software and Google Drive, which together constitute a versatile service package. With the
help of Google Docs, it is possible to create, publish and
share content such as text documents, presentations
and spreadsheets through applications running in a web
browser (Google Docs Help 2012). The first step towards
the world of cloud services and online-transmittable collaboration can for example be an article, a plan, or notes
written simultaneously in a joint text document.
There are a number of different web services suitable for collaborative activities and communication addressing different themes and topics (Wikipedia 2012b).
It is good to be open towards new services and to explore the use and the logic of their operation. It is, for
example, worth assessing whether your target audience within the users is reachable through the service, 32 33
whether it includes useful content or whether it can otherwise be utilized, say, as a collaborative tool. The range
and quantity of these services is worth keeping under
control; resources should be given to the tools that benefit you most.
Additionally, one might be tempted to entirely
focus their web presence to Facebook because of the
large number of users and its becoming a part of peopleâs everyday. However, the continuous changes in
the serviceâs features and functions may also cause unwished surprises. An example of this is when the visibility of page updates to followers was made subject to a
charge (Copeland 2012). Since it is not possible to predict
such changes made by each individual service, it is good
not to focus too much on a single channel but to diversify oneâs online presence and use tools picked in accordance with individual objectives and resources.
A recommended course of action therefore is
long-term, blog-based website development. As a
complement, the utilization of various services for content publishing such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn,
Vimeo, and Flickr, are the best way to expand oneâs online presence through cross-linking and service-specific
communication.
Web Services Mentioned in the Article
⢠Blogger (http://blogger.com/)
⢠Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/)
⢠Flickr (http://www.flickr.com/)
⢠Google Docs (Drive) (https://drive.google.
com/)
⢠LinkedIn (http://www.linkedin.com/)
⢠Twitter (http://twitter.com/)
⢠Vimeo (http://vimeo.com/)
⢠Wikipedia (http://www.wikipedia.org/)
⢠WordPress (http://www.wordpress.org/ &
www.wordpress.com/)34 35
References
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sa. Helsinki: BTJ Finland Oy.
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Helsinki: Oy Finn Lectura Ab.
Kortesuo, Katleena & Kurvinen, Jarkko 2011.
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Blogi (date of citation: 15.11.2012)36 37
Through
Portfolios into
the professional
community
LEENA BJĂRKQVIST
In this article, I will discuss the first steps of creating
online presence with an e-portfolio, especially amongst
students and young professionals. As a lecturer in Cultural Management, I teach students how to make their
achievements and abilities visible and compare them to
the competences needed in their own sector.
For each student, the learning process is unique,
and it is part of a teacherâs job to guide the students
towards an individually suitable goal. However, the
marketing of oneâs own skillset is not always easy. According to my own experience, the trickiest part is to
recognize and define oneâs professional competence
and goals. You can test this claim for yourself by trying
to answer the following questions: What are your most
important professional competences? How would you
describe your use of them in a professional situation? I
have posed these questions to both professionals and
students, which has shown that answering them is rarely
easy.
According to the PORTOLANO project (2007-
2009) , it is the lack of clear definitions and acknowledgement of existing skills in arts and culture that makes
it difficult for professionals in that field to evolve, to envisage a career change or to enjoy geographical mobility.
The project focused on working with competence portfolios, and the production of guides regarding the making of virtual portfolios. In my own work, I have applied
guidelines are available on the webpages of the Portolano project.38 39
Demonstration of Skills â the Heart
of Competence Portfolios
Originally, portfolios were a compilation of the best work
samples of photographers, models and architects, mostly made for marketing purposes.
In the visual branches, pictures speak for themselves. These kinds of portfolios are a clear of marketing your own skills and convincing others of your competence. Collecting your best work samples into a stylish
ensemble is a way of convincing both others and yourself about the quality of your skills. Little by little, the
usage of portfolios has spread out across other creative
industries and schools.
Portfolios can be divided into marketing portfolios and competence or skillset portfolios. Marketing portfolios are websites designed from the point of view of
a customer or a viewer. Competence portfolios, on the
other hand, highlight the journey during which the understanding of oneâs skills becomes clearer â in this way its
author can start defining his or her goals and competences from their own perspective and not according to the
expectations of others.
A central part of compiling a competence portfolio is collecting and organizing all documents exemplifying the authorâs skills and knowledge. These can be personal or belong to a collective work â such as written
documents, images, pictures, videos, and illustrations
demonstrating the participation in different projects. In
addition, official diplomas, references, job descriptions,
recommendation letters etc. are good to have at hand.
However convinced of your own professional
skills you may be, it is important to consider whether others deem your trustworthiness in the same way. When
compiling a portfolio, the most important issues are
ownership and the power to define oneâs own achievements and abilities â yet another reason to include official
diplomas and references. Having supervised a great deal
of portfolio compiling, I have yet never stumbled across
faked material or intentionally misleading information. In
future, such a thing might happen, but so far everybody
has only been sincerely excited, as one student put it,
âto the be centre of the universeâ. 40 41
From a studentâs point of view, a successful portfolio is a journey during which oneâs own skillset becomes more tangible and an interest towards compiling a portfolio remains a tool for lifelong learning. After
their second portfolio workshop, first-year students expressed an increased understanding of the contents of
their degree. The process of working their professional
history and philosophy into a form that others could understand also helped them to comprehend their professional choices more deeply and to look towards the future. When working with virtual portfolios, you do not
have to suffer from the âblank page syndromeâ since
you can, for example, work with the pictures and layout
if writing temporarily seems difficult.
The making of a competence portfolio is a part of
the final stages in the education in cultural production.
So far, many have expressed plans to convert their skillset portfolio into a showcase portfolio that can be used
to market oneâs skillset. Hereâs how one student put it in
the spring of 2012:
âThe course opened up the concept of a portfolio
in a new light. What exactly is a portfolio and how can
it be beneficial as a tool for a producer? Although the
portfolio I compiled during the course will still need
some fine-tuning to find its final form and content, I nevertheless put it online in the hopes of someone finding
it through Google and offering new professional opportunities. As soon as I will finish the portfolio, I will he
able to offer it to anybody requiring it, especially potential
employers. I also became interested in founding an own,
personal website using the Wordpress platform.â
Many want their portfolio to be a marketing tool
for their own skillset: âYou would want your portfolio
to be something you can link people to when you are
searching for a job â without ever having to think twice. â
The main goal is not so much to learn new professional skills, as to understand your own capability, knowledge and attitude as a whole with a past and a future. âI
went on the [e-porfolio] course in order to better understand what I want to do and what I have to give. I feel
like the knowledge already is there and that I just have to
re-structuralize it to make better sense of itâ.42 43
Websites mentioned in the article
⢠Portolano Project (http://www.itineraires.fr/
ePortolano/)
⢠Wordpress (http://www.wordpress.org/ &
www.wordpress.com/)
Metropolia Career
Services and
Social Media
TIINA NISKANEN
Old Service, New Tools
Since 1998, I have been working for the Career Services
at EVTEK University of Applied Sciences, and after the
2008 merger with Stadia University of Applied Sciences,
I continued in my position at the new Helsinki Metropolia
Goal for your
competence portfolio
Identify and define
your competences
Collect and organize the
documents that examplify
your skills and knowledge
Combine documents
with an analysis of
your competences
Combine documents
with an analysis of
your competences44 45
University of Applied Sciences. At some point, I noticed more and more discussions about social media in
recruiting and job search and was curious to see how
Metropolia Career Services could make use of various
applications.
Pioneering Experiments
I created platforms that were all meant to encourage
employers and job seekers â both students and alumni â
to participate and find each other. Being among the first
in Finland to test new tools, Metropolia Career Services
were promoting Metropolia as an organization that keeps
abreast with time.
Even though I developed and tested applications
independently, I got a lot of help from my networks in
and outside Metropolia University. I searched for recommendations and general guidelines even if I was not able
to fully follow them with the resources available. A good
tool can be used for many purposes â up to such that
were not all intended by the designer. Here it was not important to use tools in an orthodox way or like everyone
else did, but in a way that was useful for my customers
â students, employers, alumni, and staff.
On a general level, I loved the overall sharing spirit
of openness and helping around social media. Agile, iterative and experimental development styles were also accepted alongside traditional planning. This was also born
out of necessity, since this field and its applications are
undergoing a constant change.
Applications: Primarily in English and
From Personal to General
Because there usually is less information available for
our English-speaking students than for Finnish-speakers,
I decided to make the social media platforms primarily
in English. After all, 14 out of 65 of Metropoliaâs Degree
Programmes are in English.
Before starting to think how social media applications could help Metropolia Career Services, I always
first tested them on personal profiles. I wanted to pilot
as many applications as possible and see which of them
might interest people and stay alive. 46 47
In spring 2010, I got green light from my boss for
using some of my working hours to explore the possibilities of social media for Metropolia Career Services. Initiated by the Communications Department, there was
also a cross-disciplinary meeting among Metropoliaâs
social media enthusiasts, where we brainstormed and
discussed possibilities and guidelines. All kinds of staff
members, ranging from the IT Department to the library
and the student affairs office, took part in the meeting.
Little by little, when time permitted, I created an
online presence in the following services (launch time in
parentheses â first date signifying the launch of a personal profile, the second one for our Career Services):
All of these could be used for searching for information and jobs, but Paper.li doesnât help you in networking or personal branding (neither does a wiki, unless you
put your name on the pages as a contributor).
Twitter. Follow for visibility, headhunt or job
hunt actively! A Twitter account seemed easiest to set
up, so I started with it. I chose @metrocareer as the handle. I got tips from e.g. Ilse Skog from Metropoliaâs Communications Department and from Jussi Linkola from the
Degree Programme in Media. Metropoliaâs Media Centre Valo made the profile and background images, and
the Communications Department approved them.
However, I did not have something original to
say all the time (e.g. marketing our own events), so the
first idea was to gather example lists of employers (e.g.
according to area or industry) and career info providers
for students. If I would have found our students in the
service, I could have made list of them, but many students did not mention their school in their profile. Later I also auto forwarded posts from the Career Services
Facebook page and let the Paper.li magazines I created
⢠Twitter (3/2010, 6/2010)
⢠Facebook (12/2007, 9/2010)
⢠LinkedIn (7/2007, 10/2010)
⢠Wiki (-, 2010 2011)
⢠Paper.li (2011, 2011)
⢠Google+ (7/2011, 11/2011)48 49
generate automatic tweets for the account. To make the
account stream more alive and interactive, I also started
to retweet job offers.
In May 2014, @metrocareer was the most followed Twitter account of Metropolia with over 1 000
followers.
Facebook. âEmployers and Metropoliaâs job
seekers: participate, get visibility and find each
other! Job ads and CVs welcome!â
Because the length of the Facebook page name
wasnât as restricted as with Twitter, I named the page
bilingually as âMetropolia Career Services â Metropolian
rekrytointipalvelutâ. As with Twitter, I got images from
the communications department.
The concept was to offer a joint forum for employersâ job ads and job huntersâ links. The employers
embraced the idea, but no job seeker did actually post
a link to their portfolio, promotional video, homepage or
LinkedIn profile.
The changes the Facebook user interface has
undergone since the launch of the page in 2010 have
constantly made the page less useful: the Timeline put
the job ads in a separate box where they were harder to
find, and the visibility of the page posts for the followers
has become worse all the time.
LinkedIn.The IT lecturer Erik Pätynen, probably
the first to spot the new feature, originally made Metropoliaâs company profile on LinkedIn in 2010. I asked permission to be added as an admin and inserted, for example
our Degree Programmes and Career Services into the
profile. As an employee of the Career Services, I could
for example have posted reminders for graduates and
summer job seekers.
I then promoted the possibilities of LinkedIn to
Metropoliaâs HR and Communications departments and
Alumni Relations Coordinator. After this we got more admins, and additional image material from the Communications Department.
Wiki.At a certain point I did not have a good place
to save links for the use others and myself. However, I
attended a workshop by the VALOA project where we
were encouraged to try something new. This is when I 50 51
chose to explore a flexible, open and crowdsourced wiki.
It took me quite a while to figure out a bilingual structure,
but in the end, the crowdsourcing idea did not take off
and I also realized the links would soon be outdated.
Nevertheless, I had a great learning experience
with the help of colleagues such as Petri Silmälä from
the IT Department (wiki technique), Jussi Linkola from
the Degree Programme in Media and the Vyyhti project (wiki platform), Vesa Linja-aho from Automotive and
Transport Engineering (crowdsourcing, licencing) and Tarmo Toikkanen from Aalto University (licencing CC BY SA).
Paper.li Paper.li is a service turning the tweets
you follow into a digital paper that is visual and easy to
browse. I think I got the tip for using the application from
Päivi Ylitalo-Kallio at the Metropolia library. Later I ran
across another similar app called Tweeted Times.
I made two versions of digital papers for the Career Services.âThe Metropolia Career Dailyâ chooses
tweets from all accounts that @metrocareer follows,
âThe Jobs in Finland Dailyâ those tweets that contain at
least one job search related hashtag.
Google+. As soon as I received the news from my
colleague Petri Silmälä from the IT Department that the
business pages on Google+, were opened, I felt eager
to test them. Because the service was much less used
in Finland than Facebook, it was easy to gain visibility
for Metropoliaâs brand on for example CircleCount.comâs
ranking of the most followed Google+ pages in Finland.
For a joint forum for employers and job seekers, Google+ has not been as interactive as Facebook.
This can for example be seen in that the employer or
job seeker cannot post on the business page otherwise
than by commenting on posts by the page. However, for
job seekers looking for opportunities outside Finland, the
service is well worth exploring.
Wordpress. I have used a personal Worpress blog
for documenting some of my work with social media at
Metropolia Career Services.
Challenges and Possibilities
Even if I was enthusiastic myself and got reasonable organic success with my social media experiments, I did 52 53
not manage to inspire and convince Metropoliaâs Career
Services network so that it would actively have marketed the possibilities to students. After our supporting
team for the Career Services was terminated in October
2013, the future for the social media presence I have built
seems uncertain.
Resources and Team Effort
Since being something new which people did not have
the time for or the interest to explore, social media applications were easily pushed aside.
I did not have the same authority as our Communications Department to instruct the staff to do guerrilla
marketing with the help of e.g. slogans and social media
addresses in email signatures. A message to students
now and then from a distant supporting team member
like me could not have the same effect as a network of
20 staff members closer to students.
However, I did sometimes our intranet to post job
ads that had come via social media channels â simply
to promote the channels and show that there really is
valuable information available.
Developing service concepts and brisk customer service also requires time in social media. Because
the working time allocated for social media was never
specified and I was so enthusiastic, I did part of the experiments on my own time. Since I wanted to test applications relatively broadly, I did not have enough time
to update, develop and react to system changes âon the
contrary to e.g. Metropoliaâs main page on Facebook
which has several administrators running it.
A New Approach
Generally speaking, I see potential in recruiting and social
media, but not in the sense that all job seekers would in
future do a social media campaign when seeking for a job
or aggressively build their personal brand online.
The more interesting thing I learned with my Career Services experiments is the broader idea of openness and connectivity, reciprocal helping â even in the
spirit of paying it forward â and how these aspects aid all
parties in functioning more effectively and satisfactorily. 54 55
In addition, social media would fit nicely with the profile
Metropolia has chosen for itself as facilitator of networking between higher education institution experts and the
labour market in the metropolitan area, and activator of
social dialogue
Tips for the Job Seeker
Apart from the job ads on Metropoliaâs intranet and the
nationwide recruitment system for universities of applied
sciences Jobstep.net, it is good to remember the possibilities of social media. Here are some tips:
1. Follow Career Services, interesting employers or subjects (e.g. LinkedIn groups, Twitter hashtags #vacancies, #career, #jobsearch,
#jobhunt and #careersadvice).
2. Participate in discussions; share your knowhow, link to your own profiles.
3. Promote yourself as a job seeker, link to your
own info (homepage, portfolio, LinkedIn CV,
promotional video on YouTube etc.).
4. Act responsibly online â the web never forgets.
5. If you wish to be found, do not hide. If you
wish to be found as Metropoliaâs student or
graduate, mention Metropolia on your profile.
6. Building networks takes time both in real life
and in the virtual world: do not leave it to the
moment of graduation.
7. Think how you wish to present yourself to employers interested in you and to what kind of
employers you wish to appear interesting (an
ad agency and a tax office probably require a
different approach)
8. Think about what your user name (not always
for you to choose), writings (comments, discussions, posts, blog posts) or other online activity (Facebook page likes, Twitter accounts
you follow, your network size in different services) inform about you to a recruiter.56 57
9. NOTICE! In Finland a recruiter is allowed to search
for information about an applicant online, but it
should not affect the recruitment process in any
way. Since this is impossible to do in practice, you
often hear said that you should not google applicants.
Web services mentioned in the article
⢠Metropolia Career Services http://www.
metropolia.fi/en/services/career-services/
⢠Metropoliaâs Intranet tuubi.metropolia.fi/
⢠Wikihttp://wiki.metropolia.fi/display/
careerservices/
⢠Personal Blog
⢠tiinaniskanen.wordpress.com/
How to Apply
Social Media to
Job Search âCase
JobiJobi!
ANN-CHRISTINE WAHL
Using social media in job search does not appeal to everyone. Despite being a very social medium, many still
consider social media a private area. During the past 10
years, job search has been massively digitalized. Already,
93 % of employers are likely to use social media to screen the candidates.
When correctly used, social media can work as
leverage in job search. In addition, it can be a means of 58 59
communication, and establishing a professional online
profile. 78 % of recruiters have successfully hired a candidate who was identified or introduced through a social
network or social media.
The JobiJobi! service has been studying the
growth of social recruiting in Finland during the past
three years. The aim has especially been to improve
young peoplesâ job search skills in social media and collect useful information especially to the project blog.
Online Image
People are increasingly spending time on the Internet, which also reflects to the size of the userâs digital
footprint. In Finland, screening candidates on the Internet
is not against the law, but using the information to make
a recruiting decision is. This is practically impossible to
monitor. Many employers also see that it is their right to
search a potential employeeâs background before hiring.
This is why every job seeker should do a search
engine check on themselves and look at the results from
the employerâs point of view. In general, employers react
negatively to pictures of alcohol consumption, references to illegal drugs, profanity and spelling mistakes. Volunteering and membership in professional organizations
gather positive attention.
If the search results do not support the desired
professional image, it might be a good idea to clean up
some of the material from oneâs own channels and check
the privacy settings. The Internet has a long a memory and because of this, pre-moderation is always easier
than trying to fix the problem afterwards.
Networks
When looking at todayâs job market, good networks are
almost as if not as important as work experience. Social
media is a great place to establish your presence in professional circles. Great places to network are for example
Twitter and LinkedIn.
Twitter is a home to professionals from various
fields and also a good place for job hunting. On Twitter,
discussions are more factual and fast paced compared
to Facebook. One can gain followers by participating 60 61
actively in discussions and sharing interesting content.
Itâs also easier to get in contact with corporate HR representatives through Twitter than email.
LinkedIn is a social media channel purely intended
for job search and recruiting â already the userâs profile
page is formed of their CV. People usually connect with
past and present colleagues, but the LION tag after a userâs name indicates that a person is also open to network
with unfamiliar people. In addition, there are various active discussion groups on LinkedIn, which are great places to get introduced to other professionals from the field.
Expertise
Traditional job applications leave next to little space to
present your expertise. Social media gives concrete tools
to demonstrate your skills.
The best way to demonstrate your expertise is to
engage in conversations and being useful to other users.
Listening is also a skill worth bearing in mind. Expertise
is not about imposing your services and blocking everybodyâs stream with an endless amount of âinterestingâ
links. One should be wary about what to share and always be sure to comment them in some way.
Social media works like a grapevine; good as well
bad reputation spreads fast. In best cases, other users
recommend people with a good reputation through social media. In this way, social media connections can
prove very valuable.
Portfolios
Online presence rarely limits itself only to one social media channel. Although some people want to stick strictly
to the official online portfolio, it is becoming more and
more common to add social media channels to a job application. There are several services (e.g. about.me and
flavors.me), which allow you to gather all your links and a
little description of yourself, all under one page.
Why Social Job Seeking?
Social media add versatility and depth to job search. Firstly, this is because a job seeker using social media gives
the employer a more profound picture of him/herself. 62 63
Secondly, the employer does not have to go behind the
job seekerâs back to obtain more information.
If interested in social job seeking, it is only a
matter of finding the best-suited social media channels
for oneself and getting to know them profoundly. Furthermore, one should only be using social media in job
search for the right reasons. Using it only âbecause one
shouldâ rarely results in anything good.
References
Jobi blog (www.jobijobi.fi/jobi)
Jobvite Social Recruiting Survey 2013
Operating in the
Realm of Social
Media
RISTO SĂNTTI
This is a quite personal account of what operating in the
realm of social media can involve. I present some issues
that my professional experience suggests may be worth
considering.
My business experience was gained in the field
of human resource management in large multinational
organizations. The dominant focus of my work has been
on competence development, with major side tracks on
fields such as recruitment, personnel selection, talent
management. My present responsibilities at the University of Vaasa lie in the field of the networked university,
which is an area gathering momentum in a rapid pace.64 65
Social media is interlinked withâand caused
by the transformation ofâthe development of information technology, the Internet, and the networked world.
While we are in the midst of a great change, it is difficult
to objectively evaluate where exactly we are at a certain
moment. It would be a relief to know that the pace of
change is balancing and slowing. Nevertheless there is
little reason to believe that this is the case. An educated
guess is that we are now in the middle (or maybe even
still at the start) of this change process.
The concept of change contains an understanding
of generations as different operators in the social reality.
There is much on-going discussion about generations,
and unfortunately much of it is marked by a stereotypical mindset and limited content. Obviously several generations of people exist simultaneously. What we can
see are Traditionalists, Baby Boomers, and generations
X, Y and Z. Social media is a strong societal phenomenon that influences everyone. All generations therefore
need to find and to construct their own approach to and
relationship with social media. It may be worth noticing
that declining to do anything with it is also a relationship
choice.
Current discussions often present narratives on
the special and natural relationship between Generation
Y and social media. This is probably true when viewed
from a special narrow perspective. Generation Y has
grown up alongside the emergence of software and
hardware that follow a certain logic. There are, however,
two considerable handicaps facing this specifically social
media competent generation. First, the competences
seem great when seen from the viewpoint of the majority of Traditionalists or Baby Boomers, but recent research has revealed considerable competence gaps in
the social media competences of Generation Y too. Second, evolution is extremely rapid, and it will be demanding to keep up with it.
An example of the future state of affairs may be illustrated in a setting that is realistic in the light of currently emerging new technology where a child of Generation
Z would advise her mother: âMa, donât press it with your
finger. Think yourself inside.â Generations understand 66 67
best those phenomena that they have faced in the critical phases of their personal development. This natural
learning window also closes rapidly somewhere around
the age of 20 after which the human mind naturally solidifies itself into ârightâ concepts and truths about reality. Therefore, the demand for flexible thinking will be
one we all face.
What seems to be very relevant in the context of
social media in human resource management is its potential to facilitate dialogue. Human interaction, qualitative discussion, and, at the highest level, dialogue help to
foster good work and related well-being. The huge array
of social media tools still needs to be sorted and re-conceptualized from the angle of dialogue within and external to organizational networks.
From the dialogue angle, Massive Open Online
Courses, MOOCs, are a hot topic that both educational institutions and organizations will need to relate to.
These Internet courses are more or less open to interested students, and are aimed at very large participating
groups. A relevant question relates to interaction â that
between students, instructors and peers. Two development paths seem to be evolving. Traditionalist, previous
university course based, top-down and teacher-centered
xMOOCs are one line. The other is the cMOOC operating by connectivist principles, aiming at both scaling
the course but also supporting diverse viewpoints and
discussions within it. The xMOOC model is âeasierâ to
build and provide, but the cMOOC model seems to provide better local learning experiences and those based
on participant needs.68 69
Principles of cloud
services and
applications
PETRI SILMĂLĂ
Principles of Cloud Services
Cloud services are online utilities existing independent of
time and place. It is possible for an organization to rent a
cloud service in order to ensure that it can manage the
uploaded material itself.
The majority of cloud services are financed by
advertising and selling usersâ data to advertisers. In this
case, the information is stored in external servers, which
usually reserve the rights to the material. Typical ad-funded cloud services include the file storage service Google
Drive, the file-sharing service Dropbox and video sharing
site YouTube, as well as social networks such as Facebook, Google+ and LinkedIn.
A Tool for Recruitment
In the 2010âs, many organizations take full benefit of various cloud services. The introduction to these new tools
is also easy, and does generally not require any special
installation or modification. They can also help save on
costs.
In addition, employers find cloud services fascinating. The last decade has seen the introduction of
numerous social networks where organizations introduce their work opportunities or describe themselves
as a workplace. Respectively, job seekers can raise their
profile by reporting on their professional careers, skills,
hobbies and interests, and even submit concrete work
samples.70 71
The most effective online services, both from the
employersâ and the job seekersâ point of view, are Facebook with a billion users, LinkedIn for professional networking, and Google+ which is still searching for its markets. Many expand the range of self-impression by using
YouTube or Vimeo. Also, a creative use of new photosharing services such as Pinterest may lead to positive
results.
However, these third party services do not come
without problems. Social networks do for instance not
replace the traditional job interview as users can easily
manipulate and polish their profiles. Social networks also
convergence the civil side and working life to each other
in a way that our culture not yet is familiar with. If you regard this convergence a problem, you can always control
how your profile appears to the world.
Boundary Conditions of Cloud Services
Free of charge utilities provide no service commitment.
The service may close or become subject to charge without prior notice. In general, the use of cloud services is
suitable for short-term projects since this reduces the
risk of the cessation of the service or a sudden change
in the terms of use.
The data security in cloud services is based on
trust. In some cases, the stored data might be lost or the
staff behind the service may be able to see the data. You
should not upload confidential information or business
secrets onto cloud services, at least not without encrypting them first. Furthermore, you should always make a
backup copy of the data you upload on such third-party
service.
In cloud services, the provider usually partially or
completely reserves the rights for the uploaded material.
Copyright issues are always determined by the Terms of
Service. For example, the rights of images and videos
uploaded onto Facebook are transferred to the company
for as long as the person is registered with the service
provider. In general, the user should choose cloud services that do not reserve the rights of the material, at
least not exclusively. It is recommended to use services
located on the territory of the European Union because 72 73
the EU Data Protection Directive only allows the export
of personal data to reliable countries.
The United States are applying the so-called
Patriot Act. It allows American companies to disclose
user information to the authorities, even if the service is
located outside the USA, such as Europe.
Cloud services usually require registration. All users do not necessarily want to give information to a third
party, in which case the organization should consider
whether it is appropriate to use the cloud service.
Cloud services are usually closed systems. Their
potential application integrations are thus limited. This
means that the organizationâs own systems data usually
cannot be integrated with cloud services.
What are Cloud Services Most Suitable for?
⢠The use of cloud services is suitable for the
following types of activity:
⢠The operation is relatively short-lived.
⢠The uploaded data is financially relatively
insignificant.
⢠The project involves people who have already
registered as users of the cloud service.
⢠The activity spans over countries and
organizations.
Checklist before Using the Cloud Service
⢠Find out how many people in your organization
and your customers have already registered for
the cloud service you are going to use.
⢠Determine the financial value for the data that
you are going to upload onto the cloud service.
⢠Read the Terms of Service. The more valuable
the information is, the more precautious you
should be.74 75
10 Golden Rules
for Engaging
via Social Media
PAULIINA MĂKELĂ
1. Be Genuine and Kind in Social Media
When you are a genuine, mindful, friendly, polite, compassionate and kind person in social media, you get a
good start. When you act according to your values, you
are as good as your word.
Create your social media profile in a way that suits
you. Usually it contains your first name and your last
name written together. Add an identifiable profile photo
of you. It will distinguish you from others and is the visible part of your person in social media. Write a short
introduction of yourself so that others can get to know
you better and get information about what you are going
to do in the service. Be open while using social media
on a level you are comfortable with. Tell others online
and face to face in which online services they can find
you. Add information about your social media presence
in your email signature and business cards.
2. First Listen, Then Discuss
Start using a new social media service by watching and
following others. Before registration to the social media
service check how others have filled in their profile information. If you are not able to do it before registration, do
it afterwards by learning from others. When you adopt
an appropriate way of using the social media service, itâs
easier for you to start discussions.76 77
3. Acquire Good Media Literacy and
Remember Source Criticism
Media literacy describes the competencies that enable
a person to analyze and evaluate messages in a wide
variety of different media. Acquire good media literacy:
you need it whenever using the internet, television, networks and so on. Learn how to use appropriate equipment and how to filter and evaluate received information.
Learn how to create and forward messages. Use media
in an appropriate way and make use of media devices in
different interaction situations.
Remember source criticism! Evaluate the usefulness and reliability of the information source. Check information from various sources and consider whether or not
the information provider is well-known and trustworthy.
4. Set Your Own Limits and Be
Aware of What You Commit to
When you register to several social media services, you
will encounter an information flood at some point. Learn
how to control, eliminate and tackle the information flood.
Set your own limits for using social media. Also learn to
switch equipment off frequently.
Social media services have their own terms of
use which you approve when you register to the service.
The terms of use concern the use of the social media
service, safety and privacy, for example.
Think about what kind of role you take when using
social media. Are you using social media in a professional
way or is it for your personal usage? Or are you using social media for both at the same time?
5. Donât Bully, Donât Insult
Good and bad things happen both online and face to face.
Make sure that you behave well on the internet. Cyberbullying occurs in all age groups. Cyberbullying has criminal consequences and can lead to legal investigations
and prosecution. When you are in an outburst of emotion,
steer clear of the computer.78 79
6. Think Before You Share
Think about what you share about yourself and your family in social media services. Pictures, comments, status
updates and videos will spread out quickly on the internet and will potentially be available to the whole world.
Material that has been uploaded and shared once can
never be completely removed from the internet. Praise,
congratulate, thank, give positive feedback and allow in
others a positive change. Forward blog texts, materials,
invitations, job advertisements, videos and links which
can help your network.
7. Know and Respect Copyrights
The easiest way to respect copyrights is to use your own
texts, photos and videos. You cannot use anyone elseâs
material protected by copyrights without the authorâs
permission. Use Creative Commons licensed material if
you donât have your own photos, videos or music. Creative Commons license offers a large selection protection
and freedom to copyrights. Creative Commons is a noncommercial project.
8. Adapt into the online culture
Learn how to share and tell stories. Learn by combining
different sources of information and by forwarding material to others. Share your own know-how and learn new
things simultaneously. Create your own personal learning environment (PLE) from your social media services.
Bring your own know-how forward. Your presence in social media services is also a sign that you want to learn
something new. Learn how to network in order to get a
lot of professionals from different fields in your network.
Use crowdsourcing to solve difficult issues by requesting
information about the issue in your network. By using
crowdsourcing, you can get answers to your questions,
new ideas, examples of how to utilize social media, volunteers or workers to your project and a name to your
company, among other things.
9. Tolerate Incompleteness
An essential part of social media is being able to tolerate
incompleteness. You can share unfinished things in order
to bring more people from your network to participate in 80 81
it. It can be a new service, product, project, training, material or report under preparation. You should be brave
and make your projects visible already when you are in
the phase of coming up with ideas and planning. This way
you might get help from an unlikely source. Present your
plans â someone can help and/or join in with your plan.
10. Protect Your Information and Act Wisely
Protect your privacy with the right settings and think
about your openness. Create strong passwords in social media services and change them frequently. Donât
click strange or suspicious links. Never send your credit card information, online bank service credentials or
passwords via e-mail. If you think that you are a victim of
phishing or cyberbullying, donât hesitate to ask for help.
If your profile has been stolen in a social media service,
contact the administrators and ask them to remove the
wrong profile. File a report of an offence even if you only
suffered minor financial loss.
Links
⢠Finnish Society on Media Education
⢠en.mediakasvatus.fi/node/5568
⢠Save the Children - Media Education
⢠www.pelastakaalapset.fi/en/
how-we-work/media-education/
⢠The Finnish Police
⢠www.poliisi.fi/english
⢠Creative Commons
⢠creativecommons.org/
⢠Finnish Competition and Consumer Authority
- Scams
⢠www.kuluttajavirasto.fi/en-GB/scams/
⢠The Media Literacy School
⢠www.mediataitokoulu.fi/etusivu-3/
⢠Finnish Communications Regulatory Authority -
Information Security
⢠www.viestintavirasto.fi/en/index/
tietoturva.html
⢠Data Protection in Finland
⢠tietosuoja.fi/1560.htm 82 83
Authors
Leena BjĂśrkqvist Lecturer
Helsinki Metropolia University of Applied
Sciences
Degree Programme in Cultural Management
Tuomas Korkalainen Project Planner
Helsinki Metropolia University of Applied
Sciences
Film and Television
Jussi Linkola Project Planner/coordinator
Helsinki Metropolia University of Applied
Sciences
Pauliina Mäkelä Community Gardener, Social Media Trainer,
CEO of Kinda Ltd
Tiina Niskanen Coordinator
Helsinki Metropolia University of Applied
Sciences
Petri Silmälä Coordinator
Helsinki Metropolia University of Applied
Sciences
Information Management and Systems
Services
Kati Sulin Vice President,
Online and Media
Fazer
Risto Säntti Researcher
University of Vaasa
Ann-Christine Wahl Project Manager
Satakunta University of Appied Sciences,
TyĂśtä Meille Nyt ja Heti! (âWork for us now
and immediately!â) projectMETROPOLIA AMMATTIKORKEAKOULU 84
KULTTUURI JA LUOVA ALA
These micro books published by Helsinki
Metropolia University of Applied Sciences
consist of micro articles in which the writers
sum up the thoughts of ongoing development
work or start a discussion over a new topic
ALEKSANDRA MEYER AND TUOMAS KORKALAINEN (EDS.)
The Junior
Woodchuck Guide to
Social Media THE JUNIOR WOODCHUCK GUIDE TO SOCIAL MEDIA
Attribution 1.0 Finland
Editor Aleksandra Meyer and Tuomas Korkalainen
Layout Tuomas Aatola
Miia Vallasvuo
Cover Maisa Abdalla
Publisher Metropolia Ammattikorkeakoulu
Kulttuuri ja luova ala
Print house Metropolian digipaino 2014
ISBN 978-952-6690-38-4
The Junior Woodchuck Guide to Social Media , print
ISBN pdf: 978-952-6690-39-1
The Junior Woodchuck Guide to Social Media , PDF
mikrokirjat.metropolia.fi
reititin opinnoista tyÜelämään
The Junior
Woodchuck Guide to
Social Media CONTENTS
Preface 6
Fazerâs Chase
for an Online Expert 9
Avoid Getting Caught as a Prisoner of Human Resource Information
Systems 18
The first steps towards
Target-oriented Online Presence 24
Through Portfolios into the professional community 36
Metropolia Career Services and Social Media 43
How to Apply Social Media to Job Search âCase JobiJobi! 57
Operating in the Realm of Social Media 63
Principles of cloud services and applications 68
10 Golden Rules for Engaging via Social Media 74
Authors 826 7
Preface
This micro book, a shortened edition of its Finnish equivalent, examines the new opportunities that social media
can offer to the recruitment process. In the spirit of a survival guide some of its authors have spiced their articles
by hints, advice, rules and warnings. However, the book
does not only focus on finding a job or employees, but
offers a wider perspective on online influence and visibility in general.
Since the format of this book only provides limited space, these articles do not lead the readers deep into
the recesses of social media. It rather offers a set of personal experiences, thus giving an interesting overview of
the different tools that can be used in order to achieve
certain goals.
Networks have enormous potential. Therefore it
might not come as a surprise that we made use of social media when looking for authors for this publication.
Thanks to word spreading quickly and a few hints and
queries, we were able to form a set of multi-vocational
authors. It included experts from our own organization
(project staff, co-ordinators, and teachers), ideas from
other higher education institutions and projects, and the
business point of view. All these different perspectives
were embraced with open arms and enthusiasm.
The project behind this publication, administrated
by Helsinki Metropolia University of Applied Sciences, is
called Reititin â which, by the way, means ârouterâ in Finnish. It has been operating at the interface of education
to employment, building routes from studies to working
life. The project has thus been working with students
and their possible future working life partners.
Social media, recruitment and thesis work have
been the projectâs main focus from the very beginning. 8 9
These three areas have been connected through a service called PROksi (proksi.metropolia.fi), an online environment established by the project.
This book would not have been possible without
its authors. We would therefore like to give our warm
thanks to everybody who has contributed to the original work and its English equivalent â especially Tiina Niskanen from whom the idea of a translated version originally came from.
All and all, installing new types of working practices into our own and our partnersâ routines can occur in
several ways â may this book be one of them!
Helsinki, Wednesday, 25 June 2014,
Aleksandra Meyer and Tuomas Korkalainen
Fazerâs Chase
for an Online
Expert
KATI SULIN
TRANSLATION: ALEKSANDRA MEYER
Our job announcement stated that we were looking for
online experts â that is, specialists in digital marketing
and communications. In line with Fazerâs usual recruitment process, we released a job announcement via the
recruitment portal Monster.fi and on our own website.
However, in this search process we decided to
skip the traditional printed announcement on the daily 10 11
newspaperâs Sunday supplement and invest in social
media instead. This seemed natural since this type of
Soon afterwards things started to happen. First, a Twitter campaign with the title #Hirewepsi (âHire Wepsiâ)
was launched, and another called #Neafazerille (âNea
to Fazerâ) followed. In practice, there were two creative
women who appropriated these hashtags and began to
encourage colleagues, friends and acquaintances to recommend them to Fazer as most suitable candidates.
Both seemed to have excellent networks, since
recommendations started raining down in a commendable pace. Tweets came from all sorts of people both
from Finland and abroad â they ranged all the way from
advertising agency executives to ex-colleagues. What a
great proof of working skills this was, showing the ability to get people actively involved in the issue they were
promoting!
And that was not the end of it. YouTube applications were next in line, and it has to be said that a video
says more than a thousand words. In addition, I respect
the effort and time that people put into the script, filming
and special effects of their video clips. A conversation
with a slice of toast in video format is something that
sure enough raises emotions.
What you order is what you get. In the job advertisement, we decided to encourage people to use social
media creatively, and these present-day online experts
most certainly knew how to do it. Things have changed
from the past. Back in the day, applying for a job was like
big state secret: one only opened up about the process
to good friends. The application was written during the
dark hours of the night and was delivered in a sealed envelope. However, transparency has now arrived in the
search of work.
At some point during campaigning I wondered if
all these peopleâs current employers were following the
application process with equal excitement and interest
as I did.
How the Ecosystem Actually Works
In practice, we published the job announcement on the
âmonster.fiâ and âfazer.fiâ addresses. When the content 12 13
was published, we were able to share the link on different platforms. However, the first critical reflection came
when we had to decide which of the two links should be
shared â the one on Monster or the one on our own site.
Strategically, it would have been desirable to control the
potential job seekers through our own web service â in
that way they would have immediately had all corporate
data sources available.
This being said, a degree of hesitation followed.
Visually, Monsterâs announcement was much more
beautiful and would pay court to our soon-to-become online expert with a page with a beautiful pink background
â and most importantly, a picture of nothing less than
our mouth-watering raspberry tartlet. What an appetite-arousing image! It occurred to us that a white-background, text-based, matter-of-fact job advertisement on
our own page would not have aroused equal emotional
reactions â all it did was give platonic information. Therefore, with regard to our social media posts, we redirected our applicants to the Monster recruitment portal. You
can be assured that the development of our own fazer.fi
recruitment section rose to the top of our to-do lists after
this experience.
I myself was the one to take care of the actual
message exchange in social media; in that way I was
able to handle all of the conversations from start to finish.
I wrote the first post on Sunday through my own Facebook profile, referring to the established role of the job
section on the daily newspaperâs Sunday supplement.
When writing on my timeline, I started a discussion on
whether Facebook could act as a virtual replacement of
the Sunday supplementâs job announcements. This post
aroused a brief discussion, and the end result was that I
had to promise a kilogram of âFazer Blueâ chocolate as a
reward for the tip that led to the recruitment.
The biggest torrent of conversation was on Twitter, where we posed the question if anyone was interested in a job in the world of tastes. The ones interested kept asking for more information, mostly considering
the offered option to do distance work. Chains of tweets
were born around both the @fazerfinland and the @kati_
sulin profiles. 14 15
With regard to direct messages (DM), I asked to
send them through my personal Twitter profile. One of
the job seekers had already been quick enough to advise
that DMs could only be sent if both parties followed each
other on Twitter. This was, however, already familiar to
us, leading to a policy that we started following everybody who in some way took part in the discussion about
the on-going recruitment.
Several endorsers and job candidates actually
contacted us via DM messages, and the topics varied
from questions to praise. The announcement was on for
a week, and phone hours for additional conversations
were offered on Monday and Friday. During these days I
informed our followers on Twitter and LinkedIn about the
possibility of personal telephone discussions. On Friday,
we even got a message that there were enough reminders of the recruitment process, probably suggesting that
people were starting to see these posts as unnecessary
spamming.
We also tried out launching the job advertisement on Facebook, that is, the âFazer Finlandâ Facebook
Community. The feedback was positive; there were up
to 185 likes and a couple dozen of comments. However,
the mandatory electronic application form had a question on how the applicant had been informed of the open
position, and it eventually came out that there were just
a few applicants who had found out about the job announcement through Facebook. Twitter was undoubtedly the strongest information channel in this campaign.
Finally, I will shortly mention Google Plus (Google+). All the companies that develop themselves do naturally have to be aware of the latest trends. This being
said, I used my own personal profile for discussions on
Google+. I shall follow with interest what the Business
Edition of Google+ brings with it.16 17
Tips:
⢠Do not hesitate to include social networks to
support job advertising, especially if the open
the position requires online expertise.
⢠If you announce an open position through
social networks, make sure you reserve
enough time for online conversations, as
people will be asking the same questions
about the open position as they would via
e-mail and telephone.
⢠Especially if you are using networks
established through communicating with your
own name and face, be sure to thank people
for sharing the information, commenting
and the rest of support provided for your
announcement.
⢠If applicants are given the opportunity to send
their CV, application, and work samples in
different formats (video, blog, pictures, flash),
make sure that the people processing these
applications have the necessary IT skills to go
through the material.
⢠If you start a recruitment campaign online,
make sure you do it with style from the
beginning to the end.
The Finnish version of this text was also published in the
guest blog of the Markkinointi&Mainonta magazine on
2.9.11 and my book Digimakupaloja â 100 päivää onlinedialogia (Digital Treats - 100 Days of Online Dialogue).18 19
Avoid Getting
Caught as a
Prisoner of
Human Resource
Information
Systems
RISTO SĂNTTI
Human Resource systems within organizations are broad,
extending from core strategy support to various minor
practical tasks and issues. HR information systems are
aimed at supporting many different tasks in this sphere. A major problem in HR ICT systems seems to be the
systemic complexity of related needs, as well as a continuous change in these. HR ICT systems need to be flexible, and capable of adapting. The system developers
should be able to comprehend the variety of user needs,
and react to them in a broad way. This seems to be a considerable challenge. When organizational realities change,
the HR system user needs to change in line with them.
The wishes and abilities of organizational actors evolve
constantly, and are different at different points in time.
When needs change, so do the demands made of the
systems.
Choices concerning the criteria for the properties of HR information systems often need to be taken
with only incomplete information available, in the midst
of specific cultures and mindsets or of partial optimization, and with limited resources available. Building HR
ICT systems within organizations is a time-consuming
and expensive endeavour. The adoption of some of the
existing HR ICT super-systems means having to accept
the logics and properties defined by the developers of
the system. Those parameters may have been set many 20 21
years previously, in a considerably different organizational context, as well as amidst a different understanding of
HR information needs.
If the system modification and renewal options
are built-in (a situation that seems to be the baseline reality) it is very probable that what is purchased will not
offer an ideal fit with the organizational needs. Of course
the buyers often have the option of modifying the system properties of what they acquire, but it is likely to be
a prohibitively expensive undertaking, at least to achieve
the desired performance level. As a result, the overall
functionality (and with it the value) of HR ICT super-systems is limited, and may even hinder sensible and effective utilization of the core HR processes.
In relation to competences, HR information systems contain both some very interesting opportunities
and some potentially damaging pitfalls. Starting with
the risk side, there has been a tendency towards massive competence recognition systems. The recognition
of a broad array of various competences fits well with
the logic of IT systems. Unfortunately, information about
everything that organizational actors can and should
master is something that is rarely needed as such, and is
also difficult to operationalize. The competences needed
in each and every work task vary enormously, and trying
to recognize, sort, and prioritize various skills and abilities
can absorb a great deal of time. There are various core,
strategic, and basic competences that may emerge on
organizational, group and individual levels. Some competences must be recognized, while knowledge of others
may be far less important. Compiling massive competence listings seems to be a time consuming and largely
fruitless activity.
A potentially fruitful role for HR information systems might be found in the definition of competence
needs and in the agreement of competence development activities. Individual competence development targets, agreed upon in development discussions, can be
gathered through fairly simple system solutions. From
these, a summary of the needs of organizational competence development can be defined in order to find, produce, or buy competence development solutions that 22 23
answer just these needs. A rotating competence followup system would make it possible to follow up developments in the competences needed. All this could, and
maybe should, be done with light and simple system
support. Overall, it makes sense to recognize which areas of organizational competence management would
benefit from system support, and which would not. It
may be a surprise to find out that many areas of competence management neither need system support nor
benefit from it.
The potential of HR ICT systems to assist recruitment and competence development in the post-selection phase offers interesting opportunities. The key is to
develop simple and flexible usability that emphasizes applicant needs. This is unfortunately not always the case.
A system-centred user interface probably informs the applicant about something relevant concerning the recruiting organization itself. Much ground is lost immediately if
the first contact with the potential new employer organization leaves the applicant with the impression that he or
she is dealing with a faceless bureaucracy.
The recruiting organization should be present and
visible in an easily accessible way on the social media
sites used by its employees; in other words, the employer
needs to operate in prevailing services. It is through those
prevailing services that potential applicants â who may
not yet have knowledge of or interest in the organization â
might be persuaded to familiarize themselves with it.
In the recruitment process itself, a recruiting organization should aim to distribute application forms that
are flexible and invite potential applicants to express
themselves in a personal way. Those applicants who are
in the initial stages of contact with the recruiting organization are probably only marginally interested in it and
may withdraw from the application process if it is too
onerous. Long application forms asking rigid questions
are not advisable. In order to a encourage possible applicants rather than deter them, an interim solution for an
organization in the process of developing a new set of application forms would be to waive the application formâs
currently prevailing requirements forcing applicants to fill
every single field on the form and to do it the âright way.â24 25
The first steps
towards
Target-oriented
Online Presence
JUSSI LINKOLA
I have been working in a project called Vyyhti, whose
goal has been to promote and develop networking, entrepreneurial activities and co-operation in the field of
culture and creative industries (Vyyhti 2012a). In order
to familiarize our target group with the ways of realizing
these objectives, we created the concept of electronic
exercise clubs. From a micro-entrepreneurâs perspective,
their purpose was to support the creative usage and application of web-based tools (Vyyhti 2012b; Linkola 2012,
6). From the point of view of students, we highlighted the
possibilities that an electronic portfolio could offer in presenting modern knowledge to interested parties.
When describing the basic tools and skills upon
which a target-oriented online presence can be built on,
I shall use the planning and realization of the e-portfolio
and electronic exercise clubs as examples. In addition, I
will present findings and recommendations that may be
useful to those starting to operate online.
Target-oriented Online Presence
What does target-oriented online presence actually
mean? The Internet and the range of applications it offers
provide an inexhaustible store of information and entertainment â texts, movies, music, games, and so on. Tons
of opportunities for communication, sharing ideas and
developing new individually or collectively implemented
content production are at hand. The utility and futility of 26 27
the content and services can be individually experienced,
but an awareness of how to channel oneâs own activities
can produce clear results as an alternative to ignoring the
web or working without a goal.
In my opinion, target-oriented online presence
equals active online participation and social media events.
This means that targets are set for each activity, results
are evaluated and measured, and finally, measures are
re-targeted on the basis of assessment.
A Blog Site â The Foundation
of Online Presence
The web is a changing environment. New services are
created and existing ones evolve; some of them remain
in the slow lane or run out of business. If you are operating in the field in a target-oriented manner, it is necessary to follow trends and react to the changing landscape.
Even more important is to create a stable foundation for
the actions that is not dependent on external changes.
The best tool for this kind of long-term development is a
blog-based website.
In terms of findability, the individual homepage
is critical to the company or the person in question. It
ensures that we are easily located and that the desired
message and image are transmitted to the visitor â a person who has succeeded in finding us on the web through
active search, a recommendation, or surfing the web.
A blog extends the possibilities of applying the
website for different purposes. It allows us to communicate, inform, comment or take stand on things, and
demonstrate expertise and know-how (Aalto & Uusisaari
2010, 93; Kalliala & Toikkanen 2009, 41; Kortesuo & Kurvinen 2011, 72â74; Wikipedia 2012C).
For example, professionally written blog entries
dealing with oneâs own field of business will remain as
âbaitsâ in the vast ocean of information. In order to examine if something is caught in the net, people will pay
visits to it in unexpected contexts and at unexpected
times. A well-sustained professional blog is a gripping
surface expanding from entry to entry, allowing us to
build and bring out our expert identity, generate interest
and stand out. Through a blog we can get anchored into 28 29
this surface and keep it under our own control, and use
third-party services in an agile manner according to our
own needs.
We can also create a portfolio through the means
of a blog-based site. When carefully designed, it can
serve professional life in various situations (Laasonen &
Linkola 2012). In the Vyyhti projectâs electronic exercise
clubs and e-portfolio workshops, the design and creation
of a blog site were practiced through the blog platforms
WordPress and Blogger.
Harnessing Information Flows
as a Means of Prioritization
In addition to building a website and blog-based online
visibility, the environment has to be monitored. We must
learn how to find useful and inspiring information than
can have an effect on oneâs professional development.
It can be found, for example, on competitorsâ and partnersâ websites, through inspiring influencers and thinkers,
newspapers and online magazines, as well experienced
hobbyistsâ blogs. Since following all of this is not possible,
one has to learn how to find necessary information when
needed. Moreover, this should be rationalized through
the use of a feed reader in order to follow constantly updating online sources.
Looking up information on search engines is
worth practicing because it shows the usability of web
content in practice: if you cannot find any information or
end up on a page difficult to use, make sure you do not
repeat the same mistakes on your own page! Observation is the best way of teaching how to reflect on our
content from a random visitorâs point of view. It helps us
think about how the message can be formatted in such
a way that the interested party can find the page, understand it, and, if choosing to do so, share it to others.
The use of a feed reader allows us to follow numerous frequently updated online sources efficiently and
effortlessly (Aalto & Uusisaari 2010, 103; Kalliala & Toikkanen 2009, 19). If you invest half a day to get introduced
to the feed reader, the effort will pay itself back in a few
weeks, as the wading through recent updates can stop
and the focus can be shifted to the content. 30 31
Starting a More Versatile
Communication and Co-operation
When your findability and search skills are in good condition, it becomes natural to more broadly identify the
opportunities of the web. It is thus the right time to participate and interact with others. At this point, it means
making good use of different networking equipment and
social media as tools for the exchange of ideas, a multilateral means of communication, and production tools for
co-operative content production. This field is in a restless
state of new, changing and ceasing operations, but it offers the potential to enhance work and cooperation.
A classic example of a network made possible
via co-operation is the online encyclopedia Wikipedia.
Started in 2001, it is a massive project based on voluntary content providers (Wikipedia 2012a). The use of a
similar centralized approach can be successfully used in
much smaller projects, where a suitable web platform
can be utilized for functions such as project management, collaborative writing or producing teaching material (Laasonen 2010, 19-25; Linkola 2011, 7-11). In the
same way, more advanced cloud services can be used
to transfer operations to the web that have traditionally
occurred on oneâs personal workstation.
In the Vyyhti projectâs electronic exercise clubs,
this kind of co-operation was practiced using the Google
Documents Office software and Google Drive, which together constitute a versatile service package. With the
help of Google Docs, it is possible to create, publish and
share content such as text documents, presentations
and spreadsheets through applications running in a web
browser (Google Docs Help 2012). The first step towards
the world of cloud services and online-transmittable collaboration can for example be an article, a plan, or notes
written simultaneously in a joint text document.
There are a number of different web services suitable for collaborative activities and communication addressing different themes and topics (Wikipedia 2012b).
It is good to be open towards new services and to explore the use and the logic of their operation. It is, for
example, worth assessing whether your target audience within the users is reachable through the service, 32 33
whether it includes useful content or whether it can otherwise be utilized, say, as a collaborative tool. The range
and quantity of these services is worth keeping under
control; resources should be given to the tools that benefit you most.
Additionally, one might be tempted to entirely
focus their web presence to Facebook because of the
large number of users and its becoming a part of peopleâs everyday. However, the continuous changes in
the serviceâs features and functions may also cause unwished surprises. An example of this is when the visibility of page updates to followers was made subject to a
charge (Copeland 2012). Since it is not possible to predict
such changes made by each individual service, it is good
not to focus too much on a single channel but to diversify oneâs online presence and use tools picked in accordance with individual objectives and resources.
A recommended course of action therefore is
long-term, blog-based website development. As a
complement, the utilization of various services for content publishing such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn,
Vimeo, and Flickr, are the best way to expand oneâs online presence through cross-linking and service-specific
communication.
Web Services Mentioned in the Article
⢠Blogger (http://blogger.com/)
⢠Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/)
⢠Flickr (http://www.flickr.com/)
⢠Google Docs (Drive) (https://drive.google.
com/)
⢠LinkedIn (http://www.linkedin.com/)
⢠Twitter (http://twitter.com/)
⢠Vimeo (http://vimeo.com/)
⢠Wikipedia (http://www.wikipedia.org/)
⢠WordPress (http://www.wordpress.org/ &
www.wordpress.com/)34 35
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vyyhti.metropolia.fi/koulutukset/sahkoiset-jumppakerhot- syk
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sy-2012/ (date of citation: 14.11.2012).
Wikipedia 2012a. Wikipedia: Tietoja. [online document]. fi.wikipedia.
org/wiki/Wikipedia:Tietoja (date of citation: 13.11.2012).
Wikipedia 2012b. List of social networking websites. [online document]
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_social_networking_websites
(date of ciatiton: 14.11.2012)
Wikipedia 2012c. Blogi. [online document i] fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Blogi (date of citation: 15.11.2012)36 37
Through
Portfolios into
the professional
community
LEENA BJĂRKQVIST
In this article, I will discuss the first steps of creating
online presence with an e-portfolio, especially amongst
students and young professionals. As a lecturer in Cultural Management, I teach students how to make their
achievements and abilities visible and compare them to
the competences needed in their own sector.
For each student, the learning process is unique,
and it is part of a teacherâs job to guide the students
towards an individually suitable goal. However, the
marketing of oneâs own skillset is not always easy. According to my own experience, the trickiest part is to
recognize and define oneâs professional competence
and goals. You can test this claim for yourself by trying
to answer the following questions: What are your most
important professional competences? How would you
describe your use of them in a professional situation? I
have posed these questions to both professionals and
students, which has shown that answering them is rarely
easy.
According to the PORTOLANO project (2007-
2009) , it is the lack of clear definitions and acknowledgement of existing skills in arts and culture that makes
it difficult for professionals in that field to evolve, to envisage a career change or to enjoy geographical mobility.
The project focused on working with competence portfolios, and the production of guides regarding the making of virtual portfolios. In my own work, I have applied
guidelines are available on the webpages of the Portolano project.38 39
Demonstration of Skills â the Heart
of Competence Portfolios
Originally, portfolios were a compilation of the best work
samples of photographers, models and architects, mostly made for marketing purposes.
In the visual branches, pictures speak for themselves. These kinds of portfolios are a clear of marketing your own skills and convincing others of your competence. Collecting your best work samples into a stylish
ensemble is a way of convincing both others and yourself about the quality of your skills. Little by little, the
usage of portfolios has spread out across other creative
industries and schools.
Portfolios can be divided into marketing portfolios and competence or skillset portfolios. Marketing portfolios are websites designed from the point of view of
a customer or a viewer. Competence portfolios, on the
other hand, highlight the journey during which the understanding of oneâs skills becomes clearer â in this way its
author can start defining his or her goals and competences from their own perspective and not according to the
expectations of others.
A central part of compiling a competence portfolio is collecting and organizing all documents exemplifying the authorâs skills and knowledge. These can be personal or belong to a collective work â such as written
documents, images, pictures, videos, and illustrations
demonstrating the participation in different projects. In
addition, official diplomas, references, job descriptions,
recommendation letters etc. are good to have at hand.
However convinced of your own professional
skills you may be, it is important to consider whether others deem your trustworthiness in the same way. When
compiling a portfolio, the most important issues are
ownership and the power to define oneâs own achievements and abilities â yet another reason to include official
diplomas and references. Having supervised a great deal
of portfolio compiling, I have yet never stumbled across
faked material or intentionally misleading information. In
future, such a thing might happen, but so far everybody
has only been sincerely excited, as one student put it,
âto the be centre of the universeâ. 40 41
From a studentâs point of view, a successful portfolio is a journey during which oneâs own skillset becomes more tangible and an interest towards compiling a portfolio remains a tool for lifelong learning. After
their second portfolio workshop, first-year students expressed an increased understanding of the contents of
their degree. The process of working their professional
history and philosophy into a form that others could understand also helped them to comprehend their professional choices more deeply and to look towards the future. When working with virtual portfolios, you do not
have to suffer from the âblank page syndromeâ since
you can, for example, work with the pictures and layout
if writing temporarily seems difficult.
The making of a competence portfolio is a part of
the final stages in the education in cultural production.
So far, many have expressed plans to convert their skillset portfolio into a showcase portfolio that can be used
to market oneâs skillset. Hereâs how one student put it in
the spring of 2012:
âThe course opened up the concept of a portfolio
in a new light. What exactly is a portfolio and how can
it be beneficial as a tool for a producer? Although the
portfolio I compiled during the course will still need
some fine-tuning to find its final form and content, I nevertheless put it online in the hopes of someone finding
it through Google and offering new professional opportunities. As soon as I will finish the portfolio, I will he
able to offer it to anybody requiring it, especially potential
employers. I also became interested in founding an own,
personal website using the Wordpress platform.â
Many want their portfolio to be a marketing tool
for their own skillset: âYou would want your portfolio
to be something you can link people to when you are
searching for a job â without ever having to think twice. â
The main goal is not so much to learn new professional skills, as to understand your own capability, knowledge and attitude as a whole with a past and a future. âI
went on the [e-porfolio] course in order to better understand what I want to do and what I have to give. I feel
like the knowledge already is there and that I just have to
re-structuralize it to make better sense of itâ.42 43
Websites mentioned in the article
⢠Portolano Project (http://www.itineraires.fr/
ePortolano/)
⢠Wordpress (http://www.wordpress.org/ &
www.wordpress.com/)
Metropolia Career
Services and
Social Media
TIINA NISKANEN
Old Service, New Tools
Since 1998, I have been working for the Career Services
at EVTEK University of Applied Sciences, and after the
2008 merger with Stadia University of Applied Sciences,
I continued in my position at the new Helsinki Metropolia
Goal for your
competence portfolio
Identify and define
your competences
Collect and organize the
documents that examplify
your skills and knowledge
Combine documents
with an analysis of
your competences
Combine documents
with an analysis of
your competences44 45
University of Applied Sciences. At some point, I noticed more and more discussions about social media in
recruiting and job search and was curious to see how
Metropolia Career Services could make use of various
applications.
Pioneering Experiments
I created platforms that were all meant to encourage
employers and job seekers â both students and alumni â
to participate and find each other. Being among the first
in Finland to test new tools, Metropolia Career Services
were promoting Metropolia as an organization that keeps
abreast with time.
Even though I developed and tested applications
independently, I got a lot of help from my networks in
and outside Metropolia University. I searched for recommendations and general guidelines even if I was not able
to fully follow them with the resources available. A good
tool can be used for many purposes â up to such that
were not all intended by the designer. Here it was not important to use tools in an orthodox way or like everyone
else did, but in a way that was useful for my customers
â students, employers, alumni, and staff.
On a general level, I loved the overall sharing spirit
of openness and helping around social media. Agile, iterative and experimental development styles were also accepted alongside traditional planning. This was also born
out of necessity, since this field and its applications are
undergoing a constant change.
Applications: Primarily in English and
From Personal to General
Because there usually is less information available for
our English-speaking students than for Finnish-speakers,
I decided to make the social media platforms primarily
in English. After all, 14 out of 65 of Metropoliaâs Degree
Programmes are in English.
Before starting to think how social media applications could help Metropolia Career Services, I always
first tested them on personal profiles. I wanted to pilot
as many applications as possible and see which of them
might interest people and stay alive. 46 47
In spring 2010, I got green light from my boss for
using some of my working hours to explore the possibilities of social media for Metropolia Career Services. Initiated by the Communications Department, there was
also a cross-disciplinary meeting among Metropoliaâs
social media enthusiasts, where we brainstormed and
discussed possibilities and guidelines. All kinds of staff
members, ranging from the IT Department to the library
and the student affairs office, took part in the meeting.
Little by little, when time permitted, I created an
online presence in the following services (launch time in
parentheses â first date signifying the launch of a personal profile, the second one for our Career Services):
All of these could be used for searching for information and jobs, but Paper.li doesnât help you in networking or personal branding (neither does a wiki, unless you
put your name on the pages as a contributor).
Twitter. Follow for visibility, headhunt or job
hunt actively! A Twitter account seemed easiest to set
up, so I started with it. I chose @metrocareer as the handle. I got tips from e.g. Ilse Skog from Metropoliaâs Communications Department and from Jussi Linkola from the
Degree Programme in Media. Metropoliaâs Media Centre Valo made the profile and background images, and
the Communications Department approved them.
However, I did not have something original to
say all the time (e.g. marketing our own events), so the
first idea was to gather example lists of employers (e.g.
according to area or industry) and career info providers
for students. If I would have found our students in the
service, I could have made list of them, but many students did not mention their school in their profile. Later I also auto forwarded posts from the Career Services
Facebook page and let the Paper.li magazines I created
⢠Twitter (3/2010, 6/2010)
⢠Facebook (12/2007, 9/2010)
⢠LinkedIn (7/2007, 10/2010)
⢠Wiki (-, 2010 2011)
⢠Paper.li (2011, 2011)
⢠Google+ (7/2011, 11/2011)48 49
generate automatic tweets for the account. To make the
account stream more alive and interactive, I also started
to retweet job offers.
In May 2014, @metrocareer was the most followed Twitter account of Metropolia with over 1 000
followers.
Facebook. âEmployers and Metropoliaâs job
seekers: participate, get visibility and find each
other! Job ads and CVs welcome!â
Because the length of the Facebook page name
wasnât as restricted as with Twitter, I named the page
bilingually as âMetropolia Career Services â Metropolian
rekrytointipalvelutâ. As with Twitter, I got images from
the communications department.
The concept was to offer a joint forum for employersâ job ads and job huntersâ links. The employers
embraced the idea, but no job seeker did actually post
a link to their portfolio, promotional video, homepage or
LinkedIn profile.
The changes the Facebook user interface has
undergone since the launch of the page in 2010 have
constantly made the page less useful: the Timeline put
the job ads in a separate box where they were harder to
find, and the visibility of the page posts for the followers
has become worse all the time.
LinkedIn.The IT lecturer Erik Pätynen, probably
the first to spot the new feature, originally made Metropoliaâs company profile on LinkedIn in 2010. I asked permission to be added as an admin and inserted, for example
our Degree Programmes and Career Services into the
profile. As an employee of the Career Services, I could
for example have posted reminders for graduates and
summer job seekers.
I then promoted the possibilities of LinkedIn to
Metropoliaâs HR and Communications departments and
Alumni Relations Coordinator. After this we got more admins, and additional image material from the Communications Department.
Wiki.At a certain point I did not have a good place
to save links for the use others and myself. However, I
attended a workshop by the VALOA project where we
were encouraged to try something new. This is when I 50 51
chose to explore a flexible, open and crowdsourced wiki.
It took me quite a while to figure out a bilingual structure,
but in the end, the crowdsourcing idea did not take off
and I also realized the links would soon be outdated.
Nevertheless, I had a great learning experience
with the help of colleagues such as Petri Silmälä from
the IT Department (wiki technique), Jussi Linkola from
the Degree Programme in Media and the Vyyhti project (wiki platform), Vesa Linja-aho from Automotive and
Transport Engineering (crowdsourcing, licencing) and Tarmo Toikkanen from Aalto University (licencing CC BY SA).
Paper.li Paper.li is a service turning the tweets
you follow into a digital paper that is visual and easy to
browse. I think I got the tip for using the application from
Päivi Ylitalo-Kallio at the Metropolia library. Later I ran
across another similar app called Tweeted Times.
I made two versions of digital papers for the Career Services.âThe Metropolia Career Dailyâ chooses
tweets from all accounts that @metrocareer follows,
âThe Jobs in Finland Dailyâ those tweets that contain at
least one job search related hashtag.
Google+. As soon as I received the news from my
colleague Petri Silmälä from the IT Department that the
business pages on Google+, were opened, I felt eager
to test them. Because the service was much less used
in Finland than Facebook, it was easy to gain visibility
for Metropoliaâs brand on for example CircleCount.comâs
ranking of the most followed Google+ pages in Finland.
For a joint forum for employers and job seekers, Google+ has not been as interactive as Facebook.
This can for example be seen in that the employer or
job seeker cannot post on the business page otherwise
than by commenting on posts by the page. However, for
job seekers looking for opportunities outside Finland, the
service is well worth exploring.
Wordpress. I have used a personal Worpress blog
for documenting some of my work with social media at
Metropolia Career Services.
Challenges and Possibilities
Even if I was enthusiastic myself and got reasonable organic success with my social media experiments, I did 52 53
not manage to inspire and convince Metropoliaâs Career
Services network so that it would actively have marketed the possibilities to students. After our supporting
team for the Career Services was terminated in October
2013, the future for the social media presence I have built
seems uncertain.
Resources and Team Effort
Since being something new which people did not have
the time for or the interest to explore, social media applications were easily pushed aside.
I did not have the same authority as our Communications Department to instruct the staff to do guerrilla
marketing with the help of e.g. slogans and social media
addresses in email signatures. A message to students
now and then from a distant supporting team member
like me could not have the same effect as a network of
20 staff members closer to students.
However, I did sometimes our intranet to post job
ads that had come via social media channels â simply
to promote the channels and show that there really is
valuable information available.
Developing service concepts and brisk customer service also requires time in social media. Because
the working time allocated for social media was never
specified and I was so enthusiastic, I did part of the experiments on my own time. Since I wanted to test applications relatively broadly, I did not have enough time
to update, develop and react to system changes âon the
contrary to e.g. Metropoliaâs main page on Facebook
which has several administrators running it.
A New Approach
Generally speaking, I see potential in recruiting and social
media, but not in the sense that all job seekers would in
future do a social media campaign when seeking for a job
or aggressively build their personal brand online.
The more interesting thing I learned with my Career Services experiments is the broader idea of openness and connectivity, reciprocal helping â even in the
spirit of paying it forward â and how these aspects aid all
parties in functioning more effectively and satisfactorily. 54 55
In addition, social media would fit nicely with the profile
Metropolia has chosen for itself as facilitator of networking between higher education institution experts and the
labour market in the metropolitan area, and activator of
social dialogue
Tips for the Job Seeker
Apart from the job ads on Metropoliaâs intranet and the
nationwide recruitment system for universities of applied
sciences Jobstep.net, it is good to remember the possibilities of social media. Here are some tips:
1. Follow Career Services, interesting employers or subjects (e.g. LinkedIn groups, Twitter hashtags #vacancies, #career, #jobsearch,
#jobhunt and #careersadvice).
2. Participate in discussions; share your knowhow, link to your own profiles.
3. Promote yourself as a job seeker, link to your
own info (homepage, portfolio, LinkedIn CV,
promotional video on YouTube etc.).
4. Act responsibly online â the web never forgets.
5. If you wish to be found, do not hide. If you
wish to be found as Metropoliaâs student or
graduate, mention Metropolia on your profile.
6. Building networks takes time both in real life
and in the virtual world: do not leave it to the
moment of graduation.
7. Think how you wish to present yourself to employers interested in you and to what kind of
employers you wish to appear interesting (an
ad agency and a tax office probably require a
different approach)
8. Think about what your user name (not always
for you to choose), writings (comments, discussions, posts, blog posts) or other online activity (Facebook page likes, Twitter accounts
you follow, your network size in different services) inform about you to a recruiter.56 57
9. NOTICE! In Finland a recruiter is allowed to search
for information about an applicant online, but it
should not affect the recruitment process in any
way. Since this is impossible to do in practice, you
often hear said that you should not google applicants.
Web services mentioned in the article
⢠Metropolia Career Services http://www.
metropolia.fi/en/services/career-services/
⢠Metropoliaâs Intranet tuubi.metropolia.fi/
⢠Wikihttp://wiki.metropolia.fi/display/
careerservices/
⢠Personal Blog
⢠tiinaniskanen.wordpress.com/
How to Apply
Social Media to
Job Search âCase
JobiJobi!
ANN-CHRISTINE WAHL
Using social media in job search does not appeal to everyone. Despite being a very social medium, many still
consider social media a private area. During the past 10
years, job search has been massively digitalized. Already,
93 % of employers are likely to use social media to screen the candidates.
When correctly used, social media can work as
leverage in job search. In addition, it can be a means of 58 59
communication, and establishing a professional online
profile. 78 % of recruiters have successfully hired a candidate who was identified or introduced through a social
network or social media.
The JobiJobi! service has been studying the
growth of social recruiting in Finland during the past
three years. The aim has especially been to improve
young peoplesâ job search skills in social media and collect useful information especially to the project blog.
Online Image
People are increasingly spending time on the Internet, which also reflects to the size of the userâs digital
footprint. In Finland, screening candidates on the Internet
is not against the law, but using the information to make
a recruiting decision is. This is practically impossible to
monitor. Many employers also see that it is their right to
search a potential employeeâs background before hiring.
This is why every job seeker should do a search
engine check on themselves and look at the results from
the employerâs point of view. In general, employers react
negatively to pictures of alcohol consumption, references to illegal drugs, profanity and spelling mistakes. Volunteering and membership in professional organizations
gather positive attention.
If the search results do not support the desired
professional image, it might be a good idea to clean up
some of the material from oneâs own channels and check
the privacy settings. The Internet has a long a memory and because of this, pre-moderation is always easier
than trying to fix the problem afterwards.
Networks
When looking at todayâs job market, good networks are
almost as if not as important as work experience. Social
media is a great place to establish your presence in professional circles. Great places to network are for example
Twitter and LinkedIn.
Twitter is a home to professionals from various
fields and also a good place for job hunting. On Twitter,
discussions are more factual and fast paced compared
to Facebook. One can gain followers by participating 60 61
actively in discussions and sharing interesting content.
Itâs also easier to get in contact with corporate HR representatives through Twitter than email.
LinkedIn is a social media channel purely intended
for job search and recruiting â already the userâs profile
page is formed of their CV. People usually connect with
past and present colleagues, but the LION tag after a userâs name indicates that a person is also open to network
with unfamiliar people. In addition, there are various active discussion groups on LinkedIn, which are great places to get introduced to other professionals from the field.
Expertise
Traditional job applications leave next to little space to
present your expertise. Social media gives concrete tools
to demonstrate your skills.
The best way to demonstrate your expertise is to
engage in conversations and being useful to other users.
Listening is also a skill worth bearing in mind. Expertise
is not about imposing your services and blocking everybodyâs stream with an endless amount of âinterestingâ
links. One should be wary about what to share and always be sure to comment them in some way.
Social media works like a grapevine; good as well
bad reputation spreads fast. In best cases, other users
recommend people with a good reputation through social media. In this way, social media connections can
prove very valuable.
Portfolios
Online presence rarely limits itself only to one social media channel. Although some people want to stick strictly
to the official online portfolio, it is becoming more and
more common to add social media channels to a job application. There are several services (e.g. about.me and
flavors.me), which allow you to gather all your links and a
little description of yourself, all under one page.
Why Social Job Seeking?
Social media add versatility and depth to job search. Firstly, this is because a job seeker using social media gives
the employer a more profound picture of him/herself. 62 63
Secondly, the employer does not have to go behind the
job seekerâs back to obtain more information.
If interested in social job seeking, it is only a
matter of finding the best-suited social media channels
for oneself and getting to know them profoundly. Furthermore, one should only be using social media in job
search for the right reasons. Using it only âbecause one
shouldâ rarely results in anything good.
References
Jobi blog (www.jobijobi.fi/jobi)
Jobvite Social Recruiting Survey 2013
Operating in the
Realm of Social
Media
RISTO SĂNTTI
This is a quite personal account of what operating in the
realm of social media can involve. I present some issues
that my professional experience suggests may be worth
considering.
My business experience was gained in the field
of human resource management in large multinational
organizations. The dominant focus of my work has been
on competence development, with major side tracks on
fields such as recruitment, personnel selection, talent
management. My present responsibilities at the University of Vaasa lie in the field of the networked university,
which is an area gathering momentum in a rapid pace.64 65
Social media is interlinked withâand caused
by the transformation ofâthe development of information technology, the Internet, and the networked world.
While we are in the midst of a great change, it is difficult
to objectively evaluate where exactly we are at a certain
moment. It would be a relief to know that the pace of
change is balancing and slowing. Nevertheless there is
little reason to believe that this is the case. An educated
guess is that we are now in the middle (or maybe even
still at the start) of this change process.
The concept of change contains an understanding
of generations as different operators in the social reality.
There is much on-going discussion about generations,
and unfortunately much of it is marked by a stereotypical mindset and limited content. Obviously several generations of people exist simultaneously. What we can
see are Traditionalists, Baby Boomers, and generations
X, Y and Z. Social media is a strong societal phenomenon that influences everyone. All generations therefore
need to find and to construct their own approach to and
relationship with social media. It may be worth noticing
that declining to do anything with it is also a relationship
choice.
Current discussions often present narratives on
the special and natural relationship between Generation
Y and social media. This is probably true when viewed
from a special narrow perspective. Generation Y has
grown up alongside the emergence of software and
hardware that follow a certain logic. There are, however,
two considerable handicaps facing this specifically social
media competent generation. First, the competences
seem great when seen from the viewpoint of the majority of Traditionalists or Baby Boomers, but recent research has revealed considerable competence gaps in
the social media competences of Generation Y too. Second, evolution is extremely rapid, and it will be demanding to keep up with it.
An example of the future state of affairs may be illustrated in a setting that is realistic in the light of currently emerging new technology where a child of Generation
Z would advise her mother: âMa, donât press it with your
finger. Think yourself inside.â Generations understand 66 67
best those phenomena that they have faced in the critical phases of their personal development. This natural
learning window also closes rapidly somewhere around
the age of 20 after which the human mind naturally solidifies itself into ârightâ concepts and truths about reality. Therefore, the demand for flexible thinking will be
one we all face.
What seems to be very relevant in the context of
social media in human resource management is its potential to facilitate dialogue. Human interaction, qualitative discussion, and, at the highest level, dialogue help to
foster good work and related well-being. The huge array
of social media tools still needs to be sorted and re-conceptualized from the angle of dialogue within and external to organizational networks.
From the dialogue angle, Massive Open Online
Courses, MOOCs, are a hot topic that both educational institutions and organizations will need to relate to.
These Internet courses are more or less open to interested students, and are aimed at very large participating
groups. A relevant question relates to interaction â that
between students, instructors and peers. Two development paths seem to be evolving. Traditionalist, previous
university course based, top-down and teacher-centered
xMOOCs are one line. The other is the cMOOC operating by connectivist principles, aiming at both scaling
the course but also supporting diverse viewpoints and
discussions within it. The xMOOC model is âeasierâ to
build and provide, but the cMOOC model seems to provide better local learning experiences and those based
on participant needs.68 69
Principles of cloud
services and
applications
PETRI SILMĂLĂ
Principles of Cloud Services
Cloud services are online utilities existing independent of
time and place. It is possible for an organization to rent a
cloud service in order to ensure that it can manage the
uploaded material itself.
The majority of cloud services are financed by
advertising and selling usersâ data to advertisers. In this
case, the information is stored in external servers, which
usually reserve the rights to the material. Typical ad-funded cloud services include the file storage service Google
Drive, the file-sharing service Dropbox and video sharing
site YouTube, as well as social networks such as Facebook, Google+ and LinkedIn.
A Tool for Recruitment
In the 2010âs, many organizations take full benefit of various cloud services. The introduction to these new tools
is also easy, and does generally not require any special
installation or modification. They can also help save on
costs.
In addition, employers find cloud services fascinating. The last decade has seen the introduction of
numerous social networks where organizations introduce their work opportunities or describe themselves
as a workplace. Respectively, job seekers can raise their
profile by reporting on their professional careers, skills,
hobbies and interests, and even submit concrete work
samples.70 71
The most effective online services, both from the
employersâ and the job seekersâ point of view, are Facebook with a billion users, LinkedIn for professional networking, and Google+ which is still searching for its markets. Many expand the range of self-impression by using
YouTube or Vimeo. Also, a creative use of new photosharing services such as Pinterest may lead to positive
results.
However, these third party services do not come
without problems. Social networks do for instance not
replace the traditional job interview as users can easily
manipulate and polish their profiles. Social networks also
convergence the civil side and working life to each other
in a way that our culture not yet is familiar with. If you regard this convergence a problem, you can always control
how your profile appears to the world.
Boundary Conditions of Cloud Services
Free of charge utilities provide no service commitment.
The service may close or become subject to charge without prior notice. In general, the use of cloud services is
suitable for short-term projects since this reduces the
risk of the cessation of the service or a sudden change
in the terms of use.
The data security in cloud services is based on
trust. In some cases, the stored data might be lost or the
staff behind the service may be able to see the data. You
should not upload confidential information or business
secrets onto cloud services, at least not without encrypting them first. Furthermore, you should always make a
backup copy of the data you upload on such third-party
service.
In cloud services, the provider usually partially or
completely reserves the rights for the uploaded material.
Copyright issues are always determined by the Terms of
Service. For example, the rights of images and videos
uploaded onto Facebook are transferred to the company
for as long as the person is registered with the service
provider. In general, the user should choose cloud services that do not reserve the rights of the material, at
least not exclusively. It is recommended to use services
located on the territory of the European Union because 72 73
the EU Data Protection Directive only allows the export
of personal data to reliable countries.
The United States are applying the so-called
Patriot Act. It allows American companies to disclose
user information to the authorities, even if the service is
located outside the USA, such as Europe.
Cloud services usually require registration. All users do not necessarily want to give information to a third
party, in which case the organization should consider
whether it is appropriate to use the cloud service.
Cloud services are usually closed systems. Their
potential application integrations are thus limited. This
means that the organizationâs own systems data usually
cannot be integrated with cloud services.
What are Cloud Services Most Suitable for?
⢠The use of cloud services is suitable for the
following types of activity:
⢠The operation is relatively short-lived.
⢠The uploaded data is financially relatively
insignificant.
⢠The project involves people who have already
registered as users of the cloud service.
⢠The activity spans over countries and
organizations.
Checklist before Using the Cloud Service
⢠Find out how many people in your organization
and your customers have already registered for
the cloud service you are going to use.
⢠Determine the financial value for the data that
you are going to upload onto the cloud service.
⢠Read the Terms of Service. The more valuable
the information is, the more precautious you
should be.74 75
10 Golden Rules
for Engaging
via Social Media
PAULIINA MĂKELĂ
1. Be Genuine and Kind in Social Media
When you are a genuine, mindful, friendly, polite, compassionate and kind person in social media, you get a
good start. When you act according to your values, you
are as good as your word.
Create your social media profile in a way that suits
you. Usually it contains your first name and your last
name written together. Add an identifiable profile photo
of you. It will distinguish you from others and is the visible part of your person in social media. Write a short
introduction of yourself so that others can get to know
you better and get information about what you are going
to do in the service. Be open while using social media
on a level you are comfortable with. Tell others online
and face to face in which online services they can find
you. Add information about your social media presence
in your email signature and business cards.
2. First Listen, Then Discuss
Start using a new social media service by watching and
following others. Before registration to the social media
service check how others have filled in their profile information. If you are not able to do it before registration, do
it afterwards by learning from others. When you adopt
an appropriate way of using the social media service, itâs
easier for you to start discussions.76 77
3. Acquire Good Media Literacy and
Remember Source Criticism
Media literacy describes the competencies that enable
a person to analyze and evaluate messages in a wide
variety of different media. Acquire good media literacy:
you need it whenever using the internet, television, networks and so on. Learn how to use appropriate equipment and how to filter and evaluate received information.
Learn how to create and forward messages. Use media
in an appropriate way and make use of media devices in
different interaction situations.
Remember source criticism! Evaluate the usefulness and reliability of the information source. Check information from various sources and consider whether or not
the information provider is well-known and trustworthy.
4. Set Your Own Limits and Be
Aware of What You Commit to
When you register to several social media services, you
will encounter an information flood at some point. Learn
how to control, eliminate and tackle the information flood.
Set your own limits for using social media. Also learn to
switch equipment off frequently.
Social media services have their own terms of
use which you approve when you register to the service.
The terms of use concern the use of the social media
service, safety and privacy, for example.
Think about what kind of role you take when using
social media. Are you using social media in a professional
way or is it for your personal usage? Or are you using social media for both at the same time?
5. Donât Bully, Donât Insult
Good and bad things happen both online and face to face.
Make sure that you behave well on the internet. Cyberbullying occurs in all age groups. Cyberbullying has criminal consequences and can lead to legal investigations
and prosecution. When you are in an outburst of emotion,
steer clear of the computer.78 79
6. Think Before You Share
Think about what you share about yourself and your family in social media services. Pictures, comments, status
updates and videos will spread out quickly on the internet and will potentially be available to the whole world.
Material that has been uploaded and shared once can
never be completely removed from the internet. Praise,
congratulate, thank, give positive feedback and allow in
others a positive change. Forward blog texts, materials,
invitations, job advertisements, videos and links which
can help your network.
7. Know and Respect Copyrights
The easiest way to respect copyrights is to use your own
texts, photos and videos. You cannot use anyone elseâs
material protected by copyrights without the authorâs
permission. Use Creative Commons licensed material if
you donât have your own photos, videos or music. Creative Commons license offers a large selection protection
and freedom to copyrights. Creative Commons is a noncommercial project.
8. Adapt into the online culture
Learn how to share and tell stories. Learn by combining
different sources of information and by forwarding material to others. Share your own know-how and learn new
things simultaneously. Create your own personal learning environment (PLE) from your social media services.
Bring your own know-how forward. Your presence in social media services is also a sign that you want to learn
something new. Learn how to network in order to get a
lot of professionals from different fields in your network.
Use crowdsourcing to solve difficult issues by requesting
information about the issue in your network. By using
crowdsourcing, you can get answers to your questions,
new ideas, examples of how to utilize social media, volunteers or workers to your project and a name to your
company, among other things.
9. Tolerate Incompleteness
An essential part of social media is being able to tolerate
incompleteness. You can share unfinished things in order
to bring more people from your network to participate in 80 81
it. It can be a new service, product, project, training, material or report under preparation. You should be brave
and make your projects visible already when you are in
the phase of coming up with ideas and planning. This way
you might get help from an unlikely source. Present your
plans â someone can help and/or join in with your plan.
10. Protect Your Information and Act Wisely
Protect your privacy with the right settings and think
about your openness. Create strong passwords in social media services and change them frequently. Donât
click strange or suspicious links. Never send your credit card information, online bank service credentials or
passwords via e-mail. If you think that you are a victim of
phishing or cyberbullying, donât hesitate to ask for help.
If your profile has been stolen in a social media service,
contact the administrators and ask them to remove the
wrong profile. File a report of an offence even if you only
suffered minor financial loss.
Links
⢠Finnish Society on Media Education
⢠en.mediakasvatus.fi/node/5568
⢠Save the Children - Media Education
⢠www.pelastakaalapset.fi/en/
how-we-work/media-education/
⢠The Finnish Police
⢠www.poliisi.fi/english
⢠Creative Commons
⢠creativecommons.org/
⢠Finnish Competition and Consumer Authority
- Scams
⢠www.kuluttajavirasto.fi/en-GB/scams/
⢠The Media Literacy School
⢠www.mediataitokoulu.fi/etusivu-3/
⢠Finnish Communications Regulatory Authority -
Information Security
⢠www.viestintavirasto.fi/en/index/
tietoturva.html
⢠Data Protection in Finland
⢠tietosuoja.fi/1560.htm 82 83
Authors
Leena BjĂśrkqvist Lecturer
Helsinki Metropolia University of Applied
Sciences
Degree Programme in Cultural Management
Tuomas Korkalainen Project Planner
Helsinki Metropolia University of Applied
Sciences
Film and Television
Jussi Linkola Project Planner/coordinator
Helsinki Metropolia University of Applied
Sciences
Pauliina Mäkelä Community Gardener, Social Media Trainer,
CEO of Kinda Ltd
Tiina Niskanen Coordinator
Helsinki Metropolia University of Applied
Sciences
Petri Silmälä Coordinator
Helsinki Metropolia University of Applied
Sciences
Information Management and Systems
Services
Kati Sulin Vice President,
Online and Media
Fazer
Risto Säntti Researcher
University of Vaasa
Ann-Christine Wahl Project Manager
Satakunta University of Appied Sciences,
TyĂśtä Meille Nyt ja Heti! (âWork for us now
and immediately!â) projectMETROPOLIA AMMATTIKORKEAKOULU 84
KULTTUURI JA LUOVA ALA
These micro books published by Helsinki
Metropolia University of Applied Sciences
consist of micro articles in which the writers
sum up the thoughts of ongoing development
work or start a discussion over a new topic