It’s no secret that college students are connecting and sharing more and more through social media. The typical rally points?  Music. Entertainment. Sports. Fashion. Friends…. And sometimes the sharing can be on the verge of inappropriate.  But what about the idea of college students being able to leverage their social media savvy to develop new career opportunities?

2 Essential Career Connections for College Students

Now savvy college students are connecting to valuable career resources online through all the various social media channels. These connections are increasingly transforming into real career and internship opportunities for students. There are two essential social media connections that college students need to make:

1.) College or University Career Centers:  Students need to be fully engaged with their college Career Center. This means in person and definitely online. In addition to using the Career Center website, students should be taking a new look at the relationship to find possibilities for “likes”  and “follows” and “pins”. More college and university Career Centers are using social media to:

• retweet job opportunities
• organizing career fairs with Facebook events and pages
• utilizing Pinterest or Google + hangouts to provide career education
• teaching LinkedIn profile creation and how to connect
• helping students to build social resumes
• networking alumni with students via guest blogs

2.) Potential Employers: Many companies are now tying their college recruitment with brand marketing initiatives. College students have many opportunities to professionally engage with potential target employers such as:

• attending virtual career fairs
• networking with recruiters on Facebook, Google+ or Twitter
• connecting and networking on LinkedIn
• sharing YouTube, Pinterest or Instagram

Employers now want to connect to university students through their preferred social channels and in the process become an “employer of choice”. Students that are able to make insightful commentary via social media are positioning themselves to be noticed by potential employers.

The environment has never been better for college students to engage with career professionals online. Universities and employers are teamed up to connect with students. The National Association of Colleges and Employers ( NACE) recently held a Social Media Mashup (#nacesocial) to share best practices related to social recruiting of college students. Recruiting and marketing are sharing the stage and students should take note.

What advice would you give to your favorite college student? Make sure you are searchable. Engage. Hangout. Be authentic and professional. Network.  And of course, be sure to share, like, connect, pin and follow your college’s Career Services and a targeted list of potentially awesome employers.