UGrowU Blog

Aug 28

Recent Article on MSN Highlights How to Capture a Hiring Manager’s Attention

By UGrowU Social Recruiting, Tips No Comments »

I was reading a little news this morning while sipping on a cup of coffee on my back porch. There was an interesting article that was titled, “4 Ways to Get a Hiring Manager’s Attention“. In summary, the 4 main tips were:

1) Become an Expert – “One way to gain the attention of potential employers is to make a name for yourself in your field.”

2) Optimize Your Social Networking Profile – “Many hiring managers search for potential hires through social networking forums.”

3) Go Old-School – “In an age of electronic communication, sometimes using pen and paper can help you stand out from a crowded field of job candidates.”

4) Work with a Recruiter – “A recruiter can be an excellent partner in a job search because these individuals work with hiring managers all day, every day.”

What better way to accomplish these than through UGrowU. 1) You can “Become an Expert” by connecting with professionals in your field through our mentor matching system and network with professionals. Becoming an expert extends way beyond networking with a professional alone but it is a great start to becoming one. 2) Your profile on UGrowU is already optimized for hiring managers. If you finish your profile to 100% you will definitely create a profile that is optimized to display your professional strengths. 3) You can still go old school on UGrowU by finding those managers who you like to send a note or a hard copy of your resume. 4) Finding a recruiter from a hiring company is the most effiicient way to get a job offer. Where are they finding you? Our system is optimized for recruiters and they will be able to find you through our advanced search tools. If you are apart of UGrowU than they will be able to locate you.

My coffee is starting to get cold so I’m going to get back to enjoying my morning. Hope to see you soon. Send me a message on my profile.

Aug 26

Writing A Resume For College Graduates

By UGrowU Tips 1 Comment »

For a college graduate, a resume is an important aspect for a successful career. It showcases your talent, relevant skills, and experience. You have to concentrate on various aspects such as highlighting your transferable skills rather than your work summary.

If you have not done this already, I suggest that you think about your career focus before writing a resume. Besides your work experience, employers are interested in knowing your skills that will make you suitable for a particular position.

The next step is to identify the skills and attributes that will be relevant to the positions you have applied for. You can easily judge this by taking a glance at the job description or the job specification. You will gather more insights of their expectations in terms of practical and professional abilities.

Now, I understand that college graduates are mostly inexperienced. Indeed, writing a resume becomes a big challenge because you do not have much to talk about. Right? Wrong. Even if you have little or no work experience, a college nurtures you and equips you with many skills that a company seeks:

Leadership skills
Time Management
Written and Verbal Communication
Problem-Solving
Analytical Skills
Computer Skills

The key of a resume is to talk about these traits so that you can showcase them during an interview. The same thumb rule applies to any job or internship that you may apply for during your college years. Add any transferrable skills in your resume even if it isn’t directly related to your job position.

Believe me everything counts! Do not forget to include your unpaid work experience. You may not realize its relevance but employers do. You can also include volunteer work, internships, fraternity, sorority, and campus club positions.

Education is your biggest selling point as a college graduate. You can include the extensive education section that will nurture your resume. Don’t forget to include your GPA (if it is high) because it adds value to your qualification. You can also include a summary of your completed courses.

Finally, choose a format for your resume. A hybrid format is most apt if you have limited or no work experience. It includes a combination of both chronological and functional formats. This gives you an opportunity to highlight your transferable skills and make it more significant than your limited professional experience.

The Internet has played a huge role in taking resume writing to a higher level. Instead of writing a generic resume, video resumes have revolutionized the way recruitment is done. Though it is still in its infancy, UGrowU is promoting a free service to assist college graduates so that they can cover every milestone of success in terms of their career.

Tagged with: Career Search • College Jobs • Resume

Aug 25

The Issues Entry Level Candidates Face In A Career Search

By UGrowU General 2 Comments »

Going to an interview is an emotionally draining experience, for both experienced and entry-level professionals. However, it can become tiring for entry-level students to get calls from good companies. With the majority of job portals built for both entry-level and experienced professionals, college graduates are left astray and simply ignored.

Recently, many companies have recognized the need to fill this gap. UGrowU, with a similar vision, provides a virtual platform that enables entry-level students to be acquainted with potential employers. Like me, I am sure you have a dream job. However, turning that dream into reality is often difficult. Even if you have the right skills, you may not get the right connections.

Companies realize the potential that a college graduate brings to their company. They are talented, creative, and bring in fresh perspectives to a company. However, they are sceptical about ensuring that the candidate will fit the culture and work environment.

That is where virtual platforms like UGrowU help. Students can connect with potential employers and it is a win-win situation for both the potential employer and the potential employee. As a student, you will be able to find a company that meets your interests. Whether you want to live in a specific city, work for a certain size firm, or in a specific industry, you will be able to search using the standards you set.

I have seen entry talent who get overwhelmed when going for an interview. However, giving an interview in a company that you are already acquainted with is always a plus. Just imagine the difference. How confident will you be in these two scenarios –

Giving an interview with an unknown interviewer and practically an unknown company.
Giving an interview with a known person and a company with which you can relate with.

The answer is obvious. This is the power of virtual platforms like UGrowU, which are dedicated to serve the needs of entry-level students.

Tagged with: Career Search • Entry-Level • Virtual Career Fair

Aug 24

Leveraging Companies To Determine Your College Major

By UGrowU Tips 2 Comments »

People often have an impression that the college major they choose determines their future. Determining your college major is simply a stepping-stone to the beginning of your career. However, choosing a major that follows your interest and discovering what you love to do is crucial.

I have seen students who get overwhelmed when it comes to choosing a major. So, I thought about giving my two cents about it to address the growing scepticism among students. Frankly, it is not difficult. I have found two aspects, practical and personal, to be associated with the decisions we generally make.

Practical Aspects

To make things simpler without wasting too much energy on thinking, trace your steps back. Think about the courses you have well done in previously. Now, combine your past knowledge with the present and think about the courses that you will benefit from while choosing a major.
Another important thing, which goes without saying, is the quality of education provided by your college. Generally, you have different professors and teachers for various subjects. Assess the quality of the teachers and professors for your prospective subjects. You may seek the help of an academic advisor. Talk, talk, and talk some more! Talk to other teachers, students with a similar subject, etc. This will provide you with a clear picture while being mentally prepared to face the challenges ahead.
Think about the internship you will be able to grab while choosing a particular major. How will this benefit you in the future?
Choosing a college major is an investment in terms of the two most valuable resources – time and money. Do your homework and check if the major of your choice has any specific requirements.
Look at the broad picture. Think about the applicability of your major in various field. Now assess the field where you would be most flexible in.
Keep a track of the “WHAT, WHERE, WHEN, HOW” of a particular field. It is important to assess what is going on in the industry. With that said, find out what the placement rates are of graduates for the field of your interest. What are the future prospects? Is the field expanding with new opportunities? Would you require any additional training in future?
Finally, contemplate the earning potential in a particular field. What will be your base salary? What will be the lifestyle and how will this affect you?

Now that you have thought about this practically, it is time to talk about your emotions that influence your decision. I call it the personal aspect. Obviously, this would vary for every individual.

Personal Aspect

Think about the subjects that sparked an interest in the past. Is it something that you love to do? Did you take any courses that you particularly enjoyed?
Ask yourself the most common question – “Do you have what it takes to succeed?”
Now think in terms of monetary benefits. Is it something that you’ll love to do with a little pay or do you expect a substantial amount? Think accordingly.
Be flexible with your approach. You have time to change your field.

With the advent of new ways to speed up the decision making process, you can even connect with companies and mentors on UGrowU’s web-based platform. Choosing the right mentor will help you to make sound career decisions and UGrowU will assist in an early determination of the correct career path, saving time and money. And the best part is that it’s free!

Aug 13

Scholarship Contest Begins September 1st

By UGrowU Scholarships No Comments »

Do you need some cash for college? Get ready to have an opportunity to win a $5000 dollar scholarship along with other prizes. If you are a student, you can start making your video now. The contest will officially start on September 1, 2010 but you can sign up on UGrowU starting today and begin building your video on your profile.

To find out more on how to enter simply visit: http://www.ugrowu.com/main_video

Good luck and start working on the videos ASAP!

~ UGrowU Team

Jul 22

Need Money for College? Honestly, What is the Catch?

By UGrowU Scholarships No Comments »

If you are a college student or a high school student entering into college UGrowU is offering a chance to win a $5000 scholarship along with other prizes.

So what’s the catch? There isn’t one. UGrowU is trying get the tools they’ve developed working for you. All you need to do is sign up and follow the rules for the “Dream Career” competition.

How do I sign up on UGrowU? Its easy. Go to UGrowU and click on Sign Up. Fill in the information that is requested and you’ve created a profile. Note: You must have a valid address and phone number in the United States.

How do I enter the scholarship competition? Once you’ve created a profile you can now enter the competition by doing the following.

1) Create a video.

2) This video should address the following question: “What Does Your Dream Career Include?” This video can be of whatever you think helps you to describe your dream career. It is suggested that you talk about your strengths, weaknesses, acomplishments, and aspirations.

3) Submit your video.

4) Vote on other videos that have been submitted

How do I win? It’s all based on what others think of your video. Professionals and peers from across the nation will have the opportunity to rate your video. The video with the most votes wins! You can upload multiple videos and have multiple chances to win. In addition to the grand prize, you can also win prizes every month for having the most votes in that specific month.

That is easy. Create a profile, make a video, and vote to win a scholarship. In addition, you may meet a few people representing some big name companies and potentially land a job.

Tagged with: College • Scholarship

May 01

Social Recruiting is Featured in Fortune Magazine

By UGrowU Social Recruiting 1 Comment »

As I was traveling through the airport in Boston a couple of weeks ago, I found a Fortune magazine (April 12, 2010 Magazine Date) that had a headline on the front that said, “FIRE UP YOUR CAREER! Right Now, Millions of Americans are Using LinkedIn to Find Jobs and Get Ahead. Do They Know Something You Don’t?” This caught my attention so I mustard up the hefty price of $4.99 plus tax and bought the magazine. When I got on my flight from Boston to Denver I began to read the article that captured my attention and wallet.

The article summarized the intent of LinkedIn and how the profile page works as well as the growth of the company. Some interesting statistics that were highlighted included:

- Accenture’s head of global recruiting plans on recruiting 40% of his hires in the next few years using “social media” (i.e. social recruiting)

- Visitors to LinkedIn have jumped 31% from last year to 17.6 million

- The average user is a college-educated, 43 years old, making $107,000

- Cost savings is a major motivation for companies looking to bypass the big headhunting firms

- Belhaven University in Houston is now teaching students to tap into their network from social media to get exposure.

All of these interesting discussions got me thinking about college students and the drawbacks of LinkedIn. For starters the average user is 43 years old making $107,000. As a guess, I would say that the average age of undergraduates is probably somewhere between 19-22 and they are making somewhere less than $20,000 a year and most likely unemployed. While I don’t have actual numbers and studies to back up those numbers, I can draw from my experiences with my peers when I was in college 5 years ago. Nevertheless, the target audience with LinkedIn is a broad user group and isn’t refined for college students looking for career advice or connecting with a professional for informal advice. I equate the comparison of LinkedIn to UGrowU with the comparison of Monster and The Ladders. LinkedIn and Monster are broad solutions that cover a wide range of users where as UGrowU and The Ladders have a solution that is more refined to a specific targeted audience. It should be noted that Monster and The Ladders are “job boards” where basically a job is posted and people apply for jobs which is similar to looking in the classifieds section of the newspaper for job postings. LinkedIn and UGrowU are in a different growing market which termed social recruiting and contains features far more advanced than a job board.

In summary, the article was both educational and interesting. The current success of LinkedIn is proving that the market for social media/social recruiting is growing and being used more now than ever before. The fascinating thing about LinkedIn is the fact that they’ve been pulling in cash since 2005 and have been profitable since 2007. With the combination of a growing market and money being made, this market looks to be very successful and doesn’t appear to be disappearing anytime soon.

Mar 17

If We Build It …

By UGrowU Tips No Comments »

Hello! Hope everyone is having a great week. Just wanted to stop by and let everyone know that we are actively improving the site every day! You may notice there are not a lot of companies/students/universities in the system yet. That is simply due to the fact that we just launched a few days ago. The user base will grow throughout the year and the UGrowU experience will continue to be enhanced. We are taking the approach that “If you build it, they will come” (Field of Dreams). So all of you students start making your profile unique by adding videos and tell everyone a bit about yourself. Here are some things you should do:

Upload a video
Change your profile picture
Fill in your profile so we can match you with a correct fit when the perfect company comes along
If you have friends on the site add them as your peers
Keep it professional but make sure you show who you really are

Some things to come:

Video Scholarship contest (Get your video uploaded)
Enhanced navigation
Friend Invite tool
Suggestion area

Tell us what you want and we will build this site for you! Have a great week and talk to you soon.

The UGrowU team.

Tagged with: Student Interaction

Writing A Resume For College Graduates

The Issues Entry Level Candidates Face In A Career Search

Leveraging Companies To Determine Your College Major

Scholarship Contest Begins September 1st

Need Money for College? Honestly, What is the Catch?

If We Build It …

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