Social Media Savvy - SMS "Facebook, Twitter? I use that everyday. Who needs to be trained in it?" Young Employee sentiment like this has quickly become the stuff of nightmares for companies and employers today. Why? Well, because somebody who grows up being a social media native, doesn’t make them an expert in using social media at work or getting a job. While businesses are racing head-on into the social media arena, the contemporary young workforce is still seriously ill-equipped to help unlock its value. And that value is simply enormous. An estimated three-quarters of consumers now say social media influences their buying decisions. Nearly 90% of companies are currently using Twitter, Facebook, and other networks. So while social media races ahead, formal training and education programs for young people are lagging seriously behind or are completely lacking. ‘Finding a Job by Being Socially Media Fabulous (Brand Savvy)’, would be an exciting opportunity to build and upgrade your personal brand and your social media skills and experience. SMS will take young people on a interactive and challenging journey of social media creativity; enhance their digital skills, personal branding and presentation skills. The idea is that this partnership will make it easier to progress into work. They will create a workshop targeted on young people still in school (potentially to graduate within 2 years) and/or or recent graduates (age 14-24). The idea is that all those young people have a lack of work experience, but have a lot of smartphone experience. So the only thing they do have is their own personal brand. A professional digital identity is the first step to gain any kind of formal work experience which will lead to a substantial improvement of career development. In this workshop to be developed SMS will help them to apply their smart phone experience on Facebook, Twitter, etc. in connection with the world of work. So, smartphones allowed! We believe that opening up this method to synergies of SMS partners will lead to a attractive Social Media Savvy Programme, developing a transnational social media savvy identification and support programme targeted at young people aged 14-24 & possibly their teachers & trainers: -We wil go for the following Workpackage Outputs; * Country Reports on yong people being social media savvy digital professional identity , including expert views * Official developed and updated Dedicated SMS Website/Portal and social media Platforms (Twitter, Facebook), social media skills, key steps to build them & success stories, etc. * To deliver framework to brand your professional social media savvy identity: A comprehensive set of social media guidance to get employed, (including self-employment) and keep the job * SMS Days will be arranged to pilot experiments of social media guidance * Social Media Savvy Guidance Workshop: The idea is that we will take young people on a interactive and challenging enterprise journey of social media creativity; enhance their digital skills, personal branding and presentation skills. This workshop must make it easier to start up, brand yourself, follow up your business and /or progress into work. Target groups: Young People, aged 14-24 & Teachers and Trainers This project addresses their experiences and their needs & provides early intervention starting at secondary schools, incl. dropouts & works with all appropriate agencies and will answer the following questions: How to spot, identify and support a Young Person (aged 14-24 and NEET 16-24) social media savvy? How can we identify & support the professional social media ’mindset? How can we provide all the support materials to young people, teachers & trainers? To provide young people, teachers and trainers support in their "Social Media Savvy Journey" is complex & requires discipline & motivation from all actors involved. Successful practices have emerged from different places & examples. We will run, test and fine tune a Social Media Savvy Programme with young people & for young people during the project period 1/3/2018 – 1/3/2020. This will show that progresses is being made every day on the field. SMS aims at acting at different levels upon young people, educators, processes and tools that mediate support, in order to give leverage, propose sustainable innovations, and promote the sharing and appropriation of innovative entrepreneurial practices across Europe. This will be achieved through: A) Support the building of local networks among Field acompaniment Actors, assoiates and stakeholders B) By gaining abilities in the SMS network for a better understanding of key SMS issues C) Help Young People and Young Entrepreneurs through specific actions; In their Job Search and 'Social Media Savvy professional Identity (C1)
Social Media Savvy (SMS) Because somebody grows up being a social media native, that doesn’t make them an expert in using social media at work or getting a job, this partnership has made it easier to find ways to progress into work. The project Social Media Savvy has taken young people on a interactive and challenging journey of social media creativity, enhancing their digital skills, personal branding and presentation skills through SMS Days and pilot actions with workshops and discussions. Almost all ‘SMS Products’ have been developed by young people, with young people and for young people. We started our project with producing our Social Media Study analysis. Prior to preparing the Country Reports we created a template. This template was formally agreed by the partnership. We then collected the answers using the template and provided information regarding the use of social media for the young jobseeker. The SMS Partnership has created, with young people for young people, the following deliverables: 1.Beautiful SMS logo: We experimented with different logos and tested one in the initial stages of the project. We reviewed and revised the logo (following advice from young people), in agreement with all partners at the beginning of January 2019. The updated logo is fresher and more relevant to the information and guidance we will provide in relationship to the social media platforms -Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube. The old logo was more relevant for Snapchat and Reddit (which we have not really used in the project to date): Our study analysis made clear that these were not the platforms we would focus on. So, therefore, we had to change the initial logo and use the new one. We have produced extensive Social Media Country Reports with all the data we need for a global picture of the size of social media, the social media services of the labour market institutions, statistics regarding youth unemployment, early school leavers, NEETs, labour market and youth employment approaches in the United Kingdom, Netherlands and Spain: 2.Social Media Savvy Country Report United Kingdom 3.Social Media Savvy Country Report Netherlands 4.Social Media Savvy Country Report Spain 5.Created and produced an SMS Workshop on “ How to use your mobile phone for presenting yourself professionally and social media savvy for your job search. This was targeted at young people still in school (potentially graduating within 2 years) and/or or recent graduates (age 14-25) and provided for teachers / trainers / youthworkers as a support tool. The following topics are covered: - What is Social Media Savvy? - Understanding your SMS skills - How to use social media in your job search; - What SMS Skills do you need for job search? - SMS Goal Setting – Personal Branding - SMS Job Search Methods & Techniques - Selling your self on social media - Guidance and support for use social media skills - Key steps to build your SMS skills and Success Stories 6.The Social Media Savvy Portal/Website is a one stop shop to help you, as a young person, harness the power of social media platforms and kick start your career. The developed and updated Dedicated SMS Website/Portal, which will continue to be updated weekly with blogs and content, after completion of the project. The website www.socialmediasavvy.info delivers tips and tricks and a framework to brand your professional social media savvy identity: It provides a comprehensive set of social media guidance how to act on social media on each different platform and how to get employment, (including self-employment) and keep the job using social media in a savvy and profesional way. 7.Official Social Media Savvy Twitter @SocialMediaSavvy.Info (SocialmediaSav3) which will be updated with posts daily for more then 10 years after completion of the SMS project 8.Official Facebook Page @Socialmediasavvy.info which will be updated with posts and content weekly, for more then 10 years after completion of the project 9.Official Social Media Savvy Instagram Account @socialmediasavvy.info which will be updated and refreshed with posts weekly 10.Official Social Media Savvy LinkedIn Page Social Media Savvy Info which will be updated and refreshed with posts weekly 11.We have held four successful Transnational Project Meetings (TPM’s) ( in Glasgow, Scotland/UK (2x), Papendrecht, Holland and Seville, Spain) 12.We have published 12 SMS Newsletters: 4 e-Newsletters in 3 languages (Spanish, Dutch and English) 13.Five SMS Days have been arranged to successfully pilot and test social media guidance through the website, Social Media Savvy accounts and the SMS workshop The above mentioned deliverables are mainly focused on Young People, aged 14-25 and Youth workers, teachers and trainers guiding and supporting achieving a professional social media savvy mindset. The Website is currently attracting more and more followers and attention, even by the biggest social media influencers !