About seven years after graduation, one UF alumna is mastering the art of professional social networking.
The National Society of Collegiate Scholars named Jamie Nacht Farrell as the society’s most active alumna on Brazen Careerist, a social networking tool.
Brazen Careerist is based on a feed of top ideas, similar to Facebook’s news feed, that employers peruse before hiring, said Janine Deegan, a communications coordinator for Brazen Careerist.
The award is a $1,500 scholarship that Farrell said she will use to become certified in Six Sigma, a management tool designed to increase corporate efficiency.
Farrell is an executive marketer for higher education companies, and she receives two to three six-figure-salary job offers a week, she said.
Farrell, who graduated from UF in 2003 with degrees in psychology and education, attributes the job offers to social networking. In particular, she said her presence on LinkedIn, another professional social networking tool that focuses on sharing job experiences and online resumes, has been helpful.
“Probably the best thing I did was that I got heavily involved in LinkedIn right after I graduated,” said Farrell, who owns a home in Palm Beach and lives in Dallas. “For anyone in college, LinkedIn has by far been the most helpful in networking and social media.”
Brazen Careerist is a good tool for people between the ages of 25 and 40, Farrell said.
She won the award on Brazen Careerist because she used a number of different social media tools to connect with people on the website.
“She was the most active person, using the most tools to connect with people,” said Deegan. “She got a lot of people into the group. She used a blog, Twitter and other social media. She did a lot to get people buzzing.”
The award was created to encourage graduates of the National Society of Collegiate Scholars program to connect with each other and create professional relationships, said Deegan.
“Brazen Careerist allows people to be more than a resume,” Deegan said. “It lets employers hire them for their ideas more than work experience.”
