Getting Caught Up

It’s been week since I have written a blog post.  Once again, breaking the blogging golden rule but I’m giving myself some latitude because we have been in the middle of officially launching WhyHire.me.  Although in theory, I should have been writing more.  But moving on…

Over the last month, we have launched the second version of our WhyHire.me portal, finished up a 70 page eBook which is embedded in the portal and produced 7 interactive presentations which will be used by teachers and students either in the classroom or as stand alone interactive learning modules.  It’s been a lot of work but rewarding on so many levels.  I really feel that what we have developed a product and program that will has tremendous value for those preparing for their professional lives.  I wish someone had pushed me and asked me the questions we are asking of our students when I was 20ish.  We are giving them a leg up on their careers and a perspective which all knowledge workers need in this economy.

WhyHire.me is being used in 12 classrooms this term.  We are getting the professors up to speed on the technology (social networks) but they will all be ready to fly with the content by the end of the week.  Everyone involved in the program has been very positive, and like ourselves, believe that this program has great value to our students.
Over the next couple of weeks, we will share feedback from our users here.  I will be team teaching at Carleton in the Sprott School of Business alongside Leighann Neilson, so I will have first hand input from the ‘trenches’.

I want to once again thank all our partners who have taken the next steps with us.

At Algonquin College, we would like to thank Wendy Threader, Jim Kyte, Dave Donaldson, Wayne McIntyre, Terry Frederick, Marc Johnstone and Noni Stukel.  Algonquin piloted our program last year and showed great leadership and a real understanding and interest in helping their students.  The Algonquin students in the School of Business are lucky to have people like this behind them.
At Centennial, our thanks go out to Liz Smith, David Johnson, Michael Vourakes and Linda Donville. These faculty members saw the potential associated with the curriculum and the associated outcomes. Their students get to learn how to use social media tools for research, collaboration and online communications – plus the added bonus of each student being able to fire up a comprehensive portfolio of experiences gained at Centennial College.

Canadian Olympic Team Warehouse Sale at Algonquin

Guest Blogger: Emma Van Steen, Student Algonquin Sport Business Management Program

The Algonquin College Sports Business Management Program is proud to be hosting the Official Canadian Olympic Team Warehouse sale.  This retail event is the result of a graduate studies project that worked in partnership with the COC.  The sale is a clear out process for the COC, in preparation for the Vancouver 2010 games.

We are selling everything from Official Team jackets, t-shirts, boots, flop-flips, hats and luggage from these 3 major international sporting events – with items starting as low as $5.  Hundreds of products in all different sizes. One sale only!

This event will run Friday, July 17th from 9am to 9pm, Saturday July 18th, from 9am to 5pm and Sunday July 19th from 9am to 4pm.  The sale will be Algonquin College, T building, room T102.  Payment options are cash, credit card, and cheque with proper Id only.

This blow-out sale has super deals featuring beautiful clothing items from Beijing (2008), Torino (2006) and Rio Pan Am (2007).  Team Canada Athlete gear are available at discounted prices (50% to 75% Off) that are not available anyplace else – ever!!

For more information, clothing pictures and other updates you can visit our Facebook page or take a look on YouTube.

Summer Classes & Experiences

We’re over 1/2 way finished our pilot with the Algonquin Sport Business Management program. I have to admit there is a very different vibe on campus in the summer time.  I have been told by students that absenteeism is extremely high which is what I am finding in my class.  I don’t blame these students.  They started the program in September and are in their final term of a 12 month program and we live in a city where winter never ends.  It’s not easy to sit in the classroom for 4-6 hours but…….

Last class, the few of us that were there, talked around transparency issues (putting yourself out there), Facebook privacy, and the basic text elements that are required in a profile.  The focus was on defining ‘experiences’ which includes jobs, internships, projects, and volunteer work.  Many students forget about the project experiences they have pick up while in college. These projects are what make up the ‘Applied’ nature of a college diploma.  And there are often co-op placements, internships or client projects that provide our students with real life experiences that need to be documented in their profiles.

For the students that missed the class, I have added audio to the slides and it’s now available in our Group on WhyHire.me.

Meeting the Sports Business Mgmt Students

It was my turn in class this week with the SBM students at Algonquin. I was thrilled to see a few students whom I had taught 3 years ago in a Business Skills class when they were in the 2 year Marketing program. Andrea Hutchinson, Warren Hovius, Andy Lancefield, and Graham Pelletier were a few of my very first students at Algonquin. They were stunned to listen to the few stories that I remembered about them from our first class together. I explained that marketing is all about stories and as a marketer I love stories.

We started the class with an overview of the personal branding process will be following over the next few weeks. My first goal was to get them clearly committed and engaged in the process of branding themselves. I had the class stand up.  When these students are asked to stand their ‘engagement’ with me changes completely (especially since it’s a laptop class).  Their senses intensify, they are engaged on a higher level, and they don’t quite know what I am going to make them do which makes them more vulnerable. My point was that these students need to stand up when it comes to their careers.  They need to make a commitment and be engaged. It’s not going to be easy out there and they need to do their homework in order to stand out in a changing market place.

We then started the process of ’self discovery’ or the research phase of our personal branding process.  You would never launch a product without research to understand how you are going to position the product.  When we are looking at branding a person, it’s important to ‘Dig Deep’ and ask the big questions in order to define their brand.  We started by diving into personal values and personality traits; the cornerstones of many personal brands.

Next week, we will continue the process of self discovery and move into the process of crafting their positioning pitches in WhyHire.me.

We Got Game!

This week, I had the opportunity to kick-off our second pilot project with a group of Sport Management students in their final semester at Algonquin College. We talked at length about personal branding and why people in sports, general business and everyday life are starting to take advantage of how Web 2.0 can dramatically impact their job prospects. Personal branding is much like exercising – if you join in on the process a few times a week, your future prospects will be much brighter. One need only look at Ashley Ferguson, one of our early users of WhyHire.me.

She sent us some fantastic feedback about being found by a Toronto firm that ended up hiring her for that first job! WhyHire.Me got her in front of that opportunity via Google!

After presenting the case for WhyHire.me, I asked for a show of hands as to who in the class “Got Game” – who was keen to jump on WhyHire.Me. The quick poll looked close to 100% interested. Over the coming weeks, we will be offering a few hours of coaching, teaching and mentoring another batch of upcoming graduates that I know will burst onto the scene and see similar results with WhyHire.Me!

Follow our blog and learn as we go!

Getting into the Game with Sport Business Management Students

The winter term at Algonquin is over, marks are in, and next week we launch into the spring term with a group of 27 Sport Business Management students.

These students will be graduating this August after completing a 12 month intensive program which is preparing them for careers in the Sport Industry. They have finished 2 terms and next week will be entering their final term.  We will be teaching them about personal branding and how to use social media tools and methods that are built into WhyHire.me.

We are really looking forward to working with this group of mature students – they all have a degree behind them. We expect them to be motivated after making a considerable investment in an intensive program. Our goal is to help them develop a professional digital presence which will act as a catalyst for their new careers. This digital presence is all about helping them demonstrate they are “tuned-in” to their chosen field of study. By integrating project experience and engagement with online subject matter and external stakeholders, we know WhyHire.Me users will stand out, and be recognized by potential employers.

We will coach them towards developing a powerful personal brand and walk them through select social media tools that are integrated into WhyHire.me (Flickr, Vimeo, blogging, linking, Twitter and more). The integration of  their story and the tools within WhyHire.me nets great ‘Google’ juice. Remember – the goal is to be found and to stand out.

These students need to put some skin in the game to make an impact and see the results.  They need to create a powerful story about themselves and make the commitment to use the media to help convey it on a sustained basis. Much like exercise, personal branding needs a regular commitment that takes little time, but produces great long term results. Without making the commitment, their profile will be nothing more than a two page resume…

The reality is that these students will be Googled by potential employers.  I read today on Twitter that 86% of employers now Google new recruits.  We want to help these grads stack the ‘net’ in their favor.  But they have to commit to getting in the game, interacting with people and industry specific news and launch their professional digital presence.

We’re looking forward to creating some great personal brands with this next set of students!

A special thanks to Dave Best, Sport Business Management Program Coordinator, and Jim Kyte, Acting-Chair, School of Business, along with Dave Donaldson, Executive Dean, School of Business and Hospitality & Tourism, and Wayne McIntryre, Director of Student Services, for allowing us to continue to work with these Algonquin Students on this pilot project.

Fresh Meet 2009 – Algonquin Business Marketing Grads

The Algonquin College Business Administration Marketing Graduates (soon to be) are hosting a local networking event, Fresh Meet, on April 2nd.

Interview with Sarah Ormon – Switched On!

I interviewed Sarah Ormon, a student from our Transition to Marketing Professional course last Friday.

Blogging, Twitter & More

Last week in class,

Version 2.0 is LIVE!!!!

Version 2.0 of WhyHire.me is live for our 47 students at Algonquin College and they can actually do some fun things with it!