Career Connection: Defining your digital footprint

“Career Connection: Defining your digital footprint” is a weeklong series of hands-on workshops to help you create and maintain the journalism/writing identity you want to showcase to sources, employers, and publishers.

The class will meet from noon to 1 p.m. ET daily, from Monday, May 10 to Friday, May 14. Designed to focus on accomplishing practical tasks in short bursts, each daily program will highlight parts of your digital identity – social media channels and your portfolio site/blog. You’ll receive specific instruction and follow along by building and shaping your digital profiles in real time.

Whether you’re a longtime professional looking to invigorate your digital connections or a new writer hoping to establish a foothold in the industry, you’ll leave this series of daily workshops with a refreshed outlook on the tools and content strategies that will set you apart.

Register here for one or all programs, which are available at no cost. Registration includes access to the video recordings and resources referenced in all sessions.

The schedule:

Monday, May 10: What hiring managers want you to know

Finding a journalism job can be a full-time job in itself. So how do you move from being an applicant to a candidate to a colleague? Hear what makes someone a ‘great’ applicant at top news organizations, with insights directly from recruiters and hiring editors. Whether you’re a mid-career professional looking for a change in responsibility or an emerging talent looking for your first newsroom, “What hiring managers want you to know” will give you tools for a successful job search in today’s market.

Panelists will include:

• Priska Neely, Managing editor for Gulf States Newsroom (WBHM, MPB, WWNO, NPR)
• Traci Schweikert, Chief Talent Officer, POLITICO
• Mizell Stewart III, Vice President / News Performance, Talent and Partnerships for Gannett/USA Today Network

Tuesday, May 11: Tapping Twitter networks in your job search

When you’re searching for a job in today’s market, it’s not just who you know … it’s who knows you. During “Tapping Twitter networks in your job search,” you’ll learn how to harness the power of your Twitter network to increase your odds of matching with the career opportunity that’s right for you.

Join Rebecca Aguilar, a freelance journalist and president-elect of the Society of Professional Journalists, as she shares practical tips on improving your Twitter identity and content strategy during your job search. Ms. Aguilar will share tips on maximizing your bio and image spaces, as well as how to keep connection and relationship-building at the heart of your Twitter interactions.

Participants should plan to have their Twitter profile open and accessible during the workshop so that they can adjust it in real time. To create a Twitter account, please visit this link.

Wednesday, May 12: How to leverage LinkedIn in your journalism job search

Your LinkedIn profile plays an important part in finding your next career opportunity – whether or not you are on the market. With 740 million users, LinkedIn remains one of the fastest growing social networks — an ideal place to build your network and for recruiters to find you.

Level up your LinkedIn profile to maximize its algorithms in your favor during this hands-on virtual workshop. Instructor Yumi Wilson, journalism educator, personal brand expert and former corporate communications manager for LinkedIn, will guide participants through the key changes to their profiles that will yield high-impact results. Work on your profile alongside Ms. Wilson as she shares content strategies and conducts live improvements of participant profiles.

Participants will get the most out of this workshop if they have their LinkedIn profile open during this session.

Thursday, May 13: How to rev up your resume for today’s job market

A resume is more than your work history; it’s a window into your accomplishments, skills and path. How you frame your experiences can give a recruiter or potential employer a glimpse into how you’d fit with their organization – or send you to the “no” file.

Join “How to rev up your resume for today’s market” to learn how to catch a recruiter’s eye by reframing your experiences. Instructor Bailey O’Connell, lead recruiter for Creative Circle’s Washington, D.C., office, will share practical tips for writing and organizing resumes that make it easy for employers to see your unique attributes.

Follow along to edit your own resume as Ms. O’Connell covers:

• Framing your experiences for new opportunities
• Resume dos and don’ts for 2021
• Design and organization tips
• Examples of what works (and what doesn’t)

Friday, May 14: Office hours

The National Press Club Journalism Institute will host a virtual office hour, open to anyone who attended one of the week’s sessions. Plan to join if you’d like some one-on-one or small-group support, or to dedicate time to implementing what you learned this week.

Register here for one or all programs, which are available at no cost. Registration includes access to the video recordings and resources referenced in all sessions.

The National Press Club Journalism Institute promotes an engaged global citizenry through an independent and free press, and equips journalists with skills and standards to inform the public in ways that inspire civic engagement. As the non-profit of the National Press Club, the Institute serves as a beacon for journalism in the public interest.

For more information on the Career Connection series, please email Beth Francesco, the Journalism Institute’s senior director, at [email protected].