Entering the Chicago job market: The importance understanding social media for landing your dream job

My number one goal this year is to get a job in Chicago.  To help me on this quest I went to Depaul and Valparaiso's Taste of Chicago PR event on Friday in downtown Chicago.  The event through PRSSA  consisted of a keynote speaker, three workshops on interviewing, resumes and porfolio building and a PR job fair.  Throughout the day's activities all of the speakers and employers brought up the importance of social media as a new part of Chicago PR's landscape.  As one practitioner said, "It is no longer acceptable to just specialized in traditional PR.  New practitioners need to know it all, and this includes social media."   Future employers are looking for evidence of competence in social media through young professional's career strategies as well. One of the speakers stressed the importance of creating an online portfolio and adding your linkedin profile to your resume to show potential employers that you understand these technologies.  

Ning lending a helping hand in my job search

My dream since about two years ago has been to move to Chicago after graduation.  Now that graduation is quickly approaching I am more determined than ever to make it a reality.  In order to live my dream which includes a fab apartment and a budding social life, I will need a job... Preferably a job in PR.  I recently joined ning's PRopenmic site which was recommended to me by one of my professors.  At this same time I started searching for industry networking events and was not having much luck. On ning I decided to add someone as my 'friend' from the chicago area and asked her if she knew of any networking events in the area.  Two days later, I received a post from a student in Chicago who told me about a PR job fair through PRSA chicago at Depaul University. This was information I would have never been able to find on my own.  This single incident has completely changed my idea of social networking sites and I plan on using it during my job search.  

Social media habits of german and american women.

For my social media class our teacher had us go to the following website http://www.forrester.com/Groundswell/profile_tool.html and pick two different variations of groups and examine their use of social media.  Being a German-American, I chose German women ages 18-24 and compared them to American women in the same age group.  What I found was that American women are more involved when it comes to social media.   They have higher percentages in Groundswell's categories and had a lower number of inactives.  For example, only 10 percent of American women in this category were inactive, where as 29 percent of German women in this same category considered themselves inactive.  This makes me very curious about why there is such a difference media habits.  Having been to Germany five times and being raised in a household that frequently celebrates German heritage, I am still unable to account for these differences.  I smell a great research topic....