Some of Fort Lewis College students' most rewarding experiences and achievements don't make it onto their resumes or applications for graduate school or jobs -- studying abroad, completing an internship or volunteer experience, making the dean’s list, or winning a departmental award or scholarship -- even though these may be the most meaningful, educational, and career-preparing accomplishments on the way to earning their degrees.
To solve that problem, enter readabout.me, a web-based program that records and promotes students' educational status, awards, and achievements.
Achievements listed on students' readabout.me profiles are selected and backed by the college, giving the profile pages the credibility of a resume. And since, according to a study by readMedia, producers of readabout.me software, 75 percent of employers research prospective employees online, strong and positive online profiles boost students' and graduates' marketability for internships, graduate programs, and professional positions.
An overview of readabout.me and Hometown Newsmaker.
“We believe that one of the best ways to raise awareness of Fort Lewis College student achievement is through word-of-mouth by the students themselves," says Lindsay Nyquist, Social Media Coordinator and manager of FLC’s readabout.me program. "Readabout.me allows us to highlight some of the things our students are accomplishing, and encourages them to share their achievements on the social media platforms that they are already using.”
Here's how it works: The college uses readabout.me software to publish online stories about specific student achievements to individual students' profiles at readabout.me. Students can then easily share profiles and achievement stories on their social networks via sharing functions on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Tumblr, and LinkedIn. Readabout.me also then sends press releases based on the stories to students' hometown newspapers and media outlets.
"Readabout.me is an important resource to support and validate student contributions, a confluence of social media and student involvement in co-curricular activities," says Leadership Center Director Mark Mastalski. "Students will appreciate the ability to share their involvement through a social media, but readabout.me will also help students track their involvement and promote their experiences in a way that employers and graduate schools will find useful.”
Learn more at Fort Lewis College's readabout.me (now called Merit) page or contact Lindsay Nyquist at nyquist_l@fortlewis.edu.