1. OPEN
Online Presence, Employability, Network
Zachary Hickman, University of Aberdeen
OPEN is a resource that aims to ensure tomorrow’s graduates are
keeping up to date with ‘digital employability’ methods. Through
OPEN’s toolkit, students will become practitioners of online
networking, marketing and effective job searching, whilst
understanding employer’s online recruitment methods, and social
media legal issues.

2. The changing landscape
• Increasing requests for careers
adviser input to novel application processes
• A move away from ‘traditional’ CVs
• Requests for input to developing personal
branding and self promotion via social media
• Recruiters vetting of applicants
• Researching companies
• Understanding how employers use social media in
recruitment

3. http://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=4478

4. Rationale of OPEN
• Students are all internet and social media users, but not necessarily
effective users of social media for professional purposes
• Professional use is not fully appreciated, and universities also need
to understand and utilise
• Recruiters increasingly use social media for recruitment, the
landscape is changing
• Not just students but academics and careers services need to adapt
and change
• This project is developed on the basis of being an adaptable toolkit
used by careers staff, academics or self-taught
• Developed as a support mechanism, not a set of rules

5. Project development
• A generic toolkit/package that is adaptable and transferable across
requirements and subject areas
• Need to ensure that material can be adapted to lectures, seminars,
workshops.
• Need to ensure it is relevant, accessible, and is engaging
• Key: Engage students, practitioners, academics and recruiters in the
development of this package via focus groups, direct input, events
and pilot runs, this directs content and need.

6. Outcomes
• Raise professional profile and reputation
• Enhance employment opportunities
• Encourage ingenuity
• Network with potential recruiters and organisations
• Understand the digital recruitment landscape and prepare for it
• An understanding of how to use social media platforms
• Professional use, avoiding negative or disastrous profiles
• Privacy issues
• How employers use social media
• How to network effectively
• Do’s and don’ts, and what to avoid
• Case studies, examples of use (good and bad)

7. Content
• Introduction and rationale
• Teaching notes
• Case studies/stories
• Relevant published material
• Personal branding
• Social media platforms
• Recruitment strategies
• Employer insights
• Legal and privacy
• Protecting yourself
• Do’s & Don'ts/hints & tips
• Signposting
• Networking

8. Content: Teaching notes
• Teaching notes for each section, informing how to adapt each to
use for taught session, workshop, seminar etc. Details questions to
be asked, tasks to be achieved.
• Suggestions for use and how to adapt for specific subject areas
• View teaching notes as an intro to how to use, and the framework
of that section
• Highlights where you would ideally bring in external speakers

9. Content: Common Sense/Do’s and
Don’ts, and why
• Because recruiters are looking at your profile
• Because you will be judged on your profile
• Keep it professional, clean, and up to date
• This topic forms a hub for all others:
– Privacy
– Online presence
– Awareness

10. Content: Platforms
• Facebook
• Twitter
• LinkedIn
• Blogs
• Infographics
• Google+
• Pinterest
• About.me
• Vizify

11. Content: Online Presence

12. Content: Recruitment strategies and
how recruiters are using social media
• Digital/visual/infographic/video CVs
• Associated interview techniques
• Vetting of applicants
• Advertising, networking, and using
LinkedIn as assessment

14. Project use

15. Feedback and the future
• Students ask for LinkedIn sessions, privacy issue information, and
electronic/novel CV information
• Recruiters suggest privacy, common sense, and professional profiles
• Focus groups to run, trialling within taught sessions, and adapting
to subject areas
• Staff – need to be trained and able to run themselves
• Still have material to insert and that is being developed
• On behalf of the sector: upload to online repository with access for
relevant end-users. Use as required and adapt for own use, use as
template or framework, but also upload material to also be freely
available for others.

16. Toolkit use
Introduction: Teaching notes
Facebook
(examples of use,
case studies, how
to use effectively)
Twitter (examples of use, case
studies, how to use effectively)
Interactive
LinkedIn session
Employer case studies
Relevant references and online
resources
Workshop: understanding online profile

17. Challenges
• Getting students to engage
• Getting academics to engage
• Lack of perceived confidence and ability to deliver
• Lack of availability of external speakers
• Therefore used pointers, signposting where possible, not
ideal…
• Employers not using effectively, properly

18. Conclusion
• Social media can be a real benefit if used properly
• Universities and careers services need to be engaged
and use this within taught sessions, and offered as
sessions
• Must be aware of do’s and don’ts, etiquette and
privacy
• At UoA, a variety of uses
• OPEN simply represents another resource

19. Employer Case Study
• We have found individuals we need with very specific skills via social media. For example, 3D builders were
recruited through the virtual world / social networking site Second Life. Seeing who was actively building
already within the social platform gave us a far better and faster picture of their ability than if we had
assessed their skills via a traditional recruitment process. Recruitment through Second Life also helps us to
find individuals with other specialised skills sets such as machinima.
• We have also recruited individuals via twitter, e.g. connecting with individuals with shared connections to
work as part of our IT team. Again, seeing what individuals are actually doing and making online is a great
opportunity for us to assess their abilities before we offer them an interview for a technical role.
• We also plan to use social media in the future to recruit English teachers. For example, we own an active
Linkedin group called 'English language in the aviation industry‘., where we have over 200 members so far,
many of whom are freelance Aviation English teachers. When we need to recruit more Aviation English
teachers in the future it is likely that we will advertise the role in the group.
• Recruitment through non-traditional media allows us to connect directly with individuals with the right
expertise. The benefit of using Linkedin is being able to see individual's CVs immediately, so we can
contact them directly about a job if their skills are relevant. Therefore I would recommend that students
add the key points of their CV to their Linkedin profiles, particularly skills relevant to the industry they
would like to work in.