Creating a Website

Building a website is a great idea for people who have something they want to share with the masses.  It's great for business, personal use, or anything in between!  I have wanted to create a website for a long time now, but I wasn't sure what topic I would cover.  While websites that go over a lot of topics CAN be fun to look at, often-times they are just overwhelming for me and leave me unsatisfied.  I am glad creating a website was an assignment, so I could think about what something that I would potentially do in the future.  I made a website on the topic I would use if I were to ever have my own business...career counseling!  While this is a VERY broad topic, I tried to make the website in a way that would not be overwhelming.  It is called Career and Education Services.  Instead of including tons of topics (which both career and education can have), I just put one or two things, and included links to some additional helpful websites.  If I ever expanded the site as a business, I would take the time to organize it well, so I could more information.  The website is careerandeducationservices.weebly.com -- check it out! While this was a relatively simple endeavor for someone who has never created a website before, there are things about Weebly that I did find challenging or frustrating (like the fact that I can't make a unique design on each page).  Luckily most of it went very smoothly.  Weebly is definitely a site I would recommend to a non tech-savvy person.

Microsoft Form

This week I created a form using Microsoft Word.  I wasn't even aware of how these types of forms were made.  Now that I know, I hope I don't have to create them very often in the future.  If I had used the help button or a tutorial I am sure it would have been much faster, but I chose to do it through trial and error.  I finally realized I had to right-click properties to add in items for drop-down menus, AND that I couldn't test it out unless I took it out of design mode.  I found this to be much more difficult than the Survey Monkey form, which creates everything easily. I hope to have a nice tutorial to use if I have to create them again in the future.  Whew! Glad that is over!

effective presentations

This week we had an "ugly slide" and were told to transform it into something better.  I used Microsoft PowerPoint for the purpose of time-I am already very familiar with it.  Eventually I want to learn to use Prezi; I heard about it by someone who works in the media industry.  I tend to not put a lot of extras into my presentations using PowerPoint because I find them distracting when I am trying to present.  I know they make a nice unique presentation though.  I thought it was interesting in the lecture that one should use no more than 30 slides for an hour long presentation.  I don't like too many slides because it is hard to keep up; however, I also don't like to have many words on a slide (just key words really), so I think there is a fine line.  Readability is definitely the most important consideration for me when making a PowerPoint.  It is frustrating to be in an audience and not be able to see the presentation because there are too many words and the background and word colors are too close together.

Technology and Social Media

This week I was inspired by the class speaker, who gave us great information on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.  I decided to make it a goal to tweet interesting career-related articles I read, and also spend some time learning more about Twitter.  I ended up tweeting three articles and following a lot more people.  I also connected my LinkedIn with my Twitter, which means my tweets should show up on my LinkedIn page.  I was really proud of myself for that one-usually I have to get help with things like that! It is fun to think of the places that social media have taken people and how it has changed the sharing of information.  I am glad to finally be getting more into it!

Top Ten Twitter Groups for Career Counseling

I chose ten great Twitter groups that would be beneficial for individuals who are seeking career-related information or counseling.  This can range from resume writing help, to looking for jobs or internships.  They are listed below in rank order.

1.@glassdoordotcom

Glassdoor is a twitter group that constantly tweets articles and gives information pertaining to jobs, companies, internships, etc.  This is a great group for clients who want to learn more about certain companies, internships, salaries, and other current information.

5 stars

2. @naceorg

Nace is a group run by a professional organization that has information about employers and employment of people who are college-educated.  This is great for clients who are in college or who have been to college and are seeking information related to employment and trends, such as salary.

5 stars

3. @careerproject

Career Project is a group consisting of a mentor database which helps job seekers and students in their careers, and it has information and articles about many things career-related.  This is great for clients who need a mentor in the career process.

4 stars

4. @payscale

Payscale is a group that provides information about salaries and provides compensation data and analysis for individuals and employers.  This is a great group for clients who want to negotiate job offers, figure out what they are worth or can expect to make, or decide on jobs/careers using salary as a factor.

4 stars

5. @resumebear

ResumeBear is a group that has information about making winning resumes.  This is great for clients who need resumes for any reason, including internships, volunteer opportunities, scholarships, or jobs.

4 stars

6. @wetfeet_career

WetFeet is a group with career information and advice about employers, market trends, and other things that are important for job seekers and career professionals.  This is great for clients who are becoming career professionals and need information or for people who are looking for jobs.

4 stars

7. @jobcircle

JobCircle is a group that has interview and job search advice, as well as job openings and educational information.  This is good for clients who are getting ready for the job search process.

4 stars

8. @careerealism

Careerealism has internships, job openings, and tips for career success.  This is great for clients who are looking for experience, professional jobs, professional lifestyles.

4 stars

9. @careerscolleges

Careers and Colleges is a group that has information about scholarships and grants for colleges, as well as articles about all things pertaining to college, such as choosing a major.  It is good for clients who are current or future college students, who need money, or who just want to get information related to college.

3 stars

10. @internqueen

InternQueen is a group that has constant information about internships.  This would be great for career counseling clients, particularly students, who are looking to gain hands-on experience through internships.

3 stars

technology tools-Survey

The technology tool I created was a survey designed for potential members of career counseling groups.  I had never created a survey before, but Survey Monkey was very simple and easy to use.  I was disappointed that I couldn't customize it more personally without buying the premium package, but there were some nice options.  this could be really helpful to reach a lot of members of the group quickly.

The link to the survey is below:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/5ZRC8XD

Best Websites for Career Counseling

 There are a lot of great websites aimed at helping people at different stages in their career development and planning.  The following are some of my favorites.  They are not ordered because many of them are unique to the type of career development (i.e. some help with choosing a college, some help with  job searching).

 

 

1.       Careeronestop.com

This is a comprehensive website that shows state job banks, as well as salary, education, and resume information.  People can also learn more about careers using  this website.  This is a great website for clients in many stages of career development, from those who want to learn about career options to those who are looking for specific jobs to apply for.

5 stars

 

2.       Salary.com

This website shows salaries of many types of positions.  This is great for clients who consider salary to be a large factor in their future position and for clients who want to negotiate salary within a company.

4 stars

 

3.       Forbes.com

This site has career opportunities listed, as well as gives a wealth of information and articles on all things related to business, leadership, and entrepreneurship.  This is a great site for people who want to be entrepreneurs or get into the corporate world.

4 stars

 

4.       Hoovers.com

This website contains a directory of companies with information and names of people employed within those companies.  It is great for clients who want to research specific companies or get into contact with certain people within an organization.

4 stars

 

5.       Indeed.com

This is a website with job listings in many categories and cities/states.  It pulls from other websites to get a huge list of job postings.  It is great for clients who are job searching.

4 stars

 

 

6.       Onetonline.org

 This website contains a wealth of information about occupations, and it also links to state websites to provide state-specific information.  It is good for clients who want to learn about occupations and check out similar occupations.

4 stars

 

7.       Collegenavigator.com

This website has information about colleges, and allows people to search by location, degree type, and type of institution among other things.  This is great for clients who have specific requirements about schools of interest.

5 stars 

8.       chamberofcommerce.com

    This site allows people to find business listings in specific locations.  This is great for clients who are moving to a new location and want to job search or see what types of businesses are in that city.

        4 stars

 

9.       idealist.org

This site shows job listings, internships, and volunteer opportunities for non-profits across the country.  This is good for clients who want to get experience with non-profits organizations.

4 stars

10.   employflorida.com

    This website has job listings for various places in Florida.  It is good for clients who want to job search only in Florida.

        4 stars