Lily Jang, news anchor for KHOU 11 was a special guest speaker at Social Media and Your Career Nov. 13 at San Jacinto College North Campus.

Scylla Lopez, Social Media Coordinator for the College, connected with Jang via Twitter where she asked her to be part of the event.

Over 100 students attended and those who were not able to attend in person had the opportunity to view the live stream.

Dinorah Ramos, Career and Employment Coordinator, organized the presentation along with Lopez. Ramos said their goal was to promote and engage students and help them prepare to graduate on time. Lopez said this type of event is good for students to learn the value of social media when used effectively.

Furthermore, Ramos said traditional job hunting practices are no longer the way to find employment in today’s job market.

“Employers are utilizing social media to find prospective candidates,” Ramos said. “Social media is becoming our resume out there to the world, outside of the piece of paper.”

At the event, Jang shared informative tips about using social media productively adding, “it’s a great way to start building your brand and being your own ambassador.”

“If you are looking for a job and you want to be somebody, because we are all somebody,” Jang said, “you have to be on social media; and it’s also a great place for you just to build your identity because you can show the world who you want to be.”

Jang said whether jobseekers think they’re doing it or not, prospective employers are looking at candidates’ social media. If they are going to use it while job searching, she mentioned, it is crucial to clean it up.

“I think that potential employers want to know that you’re savvy …,” Jang said. “They want to see that you can be smart online, that you’re competitive, that you can show what you’re made of; and that you can sell yourself because if you can sell yourself, you can sell them.”

Jang said her job description made a 180-degree turn from when she first started her career 18 years ago.

“What I do now involves social media just as much as it involves television,” Jang said. “Social media is essential in how I do my job as a journalist.”

Furthermore, Stephanie Funderburg, Career and Employment Administrative Assistant, said social media can benefit students with their job searches and networking efforts. She said students view it as communication between friends, not realizing the power behind it can further their career. “Hopefully now they’ll take that and run with it,” Funderburg added.

Ramos said hosting events like this one is beneficial to students because it helps them build their social media presence in a professional matter.

Student Areli De Paz said Jang’s presentation taught her several important guidelines.

“I think it’s a really good experience that she came here personally to teach us about social media,” De Paz said, “I think it’s going to help me for the future on what to do and what not to do on the internet.”

Similarly, fellow student Devin Mallery said he learned a lot and was thankful Jang could find time in her schedule to come and talk to them.

Ramos said the event surpassed their expectations and considering it was the first event of its kind at San Jac, she added, “we were very successful.”

Meanwhile, Lopez stressed the point that students who know how to use social media effectively can use it to become more successful in the future.

“Social media is becoming more and more part of our lives,” Lopez said. “It can ruin you, or it can help you.”