In our December 2021 newsletter the SMS2 Partnership updates you on the Social Media Savvy state of the art and what kind of partnership activities we have done so far.

SMS Newsletter Number 2

Two weeks ago, on June 29^th 2021 : The Dutch Foundation Welfare 2 Work had their SMS 2 Days organised, in collabouration with Comon, on a location in Leiden at PLNT with Leidse Hogeschool students. During the SMS 2 Days students presented their views about the possible strenghts and weaknesses of the Social Media Savvy 2 Project. On top of that students gave some feedback and advice as well: Like to give tips and tricks in short videos…

A short Video: Job Application / ‘Solliciteren’ – What to do ?

We got a lot of feedback and recommendations from the students at PLNT. One of the most important feedbacks was that most of the students wanted to have tips and tricks through short videos,. as an example they made a suggestion of a short ‘Solliciteren’ (Dutch for Job Application’) video which works good and gives quality tips in just about 15 seconds:

Tips and Tricks from the Dutch Students

The feedback from the Dutch remarkeable students gave us a lot of insights and were very valuable. They confirmed that there is a need for tips and tricks on a personal digital level, as reagrds to branding and job search. It’s good that the information and services are free. Young people want information by watching short videos and movies. A group of students also presented a Communication Plan for targetting the target groups. The one social media channel that would suit best for the Social Media Savvy 2 services are:

1. Instagram: This platform was mentioned the most…

2. Facebook: Because Instagrann and Facebook are much connected, but also because Facebook is been in the past but also still very much integrated in other apps and services on the internet

3. LinkedIn: Social media Savvy 2 should start up a page on LinkedIn, because this platform is the ‘job search platform for each young jobseeker’

It’s very important that Social Media Savvy has a lot of interaction with the target groups. And a content calendar would be very helpfull, next to a helpline. Posters at bus stops would be also a very good strategy. Feedback in general was that the Fixed concept as a basis is really good. The concept emphasizes that Social Media Savvy is unique and ensures customer connection.

Soon more news through our Social Media Savvy 2 Newsletter !

We are approaching the final stages of the EAER project. On February 17th 2021, the Dutch Foundation of Innovation Welfare 2 Work organised ‘Digital EAER Day 2021’ to showcase all the work we have done. The EAER days were designed to connect the EAER programme with the local and regional Social Networks for people in recovery. The digital event turned out to be ‘lovely’.

EAER Final Stages

The first Dutch EAER days were on October 10th, 2019. The second Dutch EAER days were held on Wednesday February 17th, 2021. It was very important to organize this 2nd event in the final stages of the EAER project. The European Action for Employment in Recovery (EAER) project is a partnership of four European organisations with the aim to use collective knowledge to create resources that would help people in recovery access employment and to share knowledge and practice with other organisations working in employability projects with people who have a history of problem drug use. The partners have produced some amazing intelectual outputs which were showcased during the 90 minutes of the Zoom meeting.

EAER Day Highlights

The Dutch EAER Day digital zoom event of February 17th 2021 highlighted the resources created for the .@EAERpartnership project and presentations including:

• An Overview and Examples of good practice in Employability and Recovery
• DPI SocialMe Supportpackages
• SocialMe Workshop(s)

Feedback

The feedback at the end of the Dutch digital EAER Day event was very positive. On a scale from 1 tot 5 stars, 27 participants rated the presentations on 4,5 stars. We expect that the local and regional Dutch organisations will use the guides, tools and instruments developed by the EAER partnership.

‘I expect to make a lot of use of the Social Me support packages’

‘It was a lovely EAER day. I thought it was very interesting and learnt a lot of being more professional on social media’.

In 40 milliseconds, we’re able to draw conclusions about people based on a photo… That’s less than one-half of one-tenth of a second. Wow! People do not realize that they need to be their own brand, how being the brand impacts the way you get a job, keep a job and do business’. Online personal branding: social media profiles creation is absolutely essential. The Social Me workshops cover the digital professional branding of People in Recovery entering the labour market and is one of the intellectual outputs of the EAER project developed during 2020 – 2021 and you only have to know all about yourself to create your own professional Social Me(dia) Profile.   

People usually do not realize that they need to be their own brand, how being the brand impacts the way you get a job, keep a job and do business’. Today is the age of the individual: ‘I’. So it becomes more important to create and shape your personal profile and #Brand ‘#SocialMe’.

What is a Social Me(dia) Profile?

Social Media Profiles are a description of individuals’ social characteristics that identify them on social media sites such as LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. It’s very important that you consider that your Social Me(dia) Profile Says something about You to employers. If you maintain your social media profile, it’s worth considering what your profile conveys to a potential employer as well as to potential colleagues.

Why is your Social Me(dia) profile so important?

Your Social Me(dia) profile is the first thing people see when they surf on the internet. Your Social Me(dia) profile contains a profile picture and a bio.

What is a Social Me(dia) Profile Picture?

A profile picture is the image that represents a social media account in all its interactions across a platform. Profile pictures are displayed as an avatar next to the account name on posts, comments and mentions (depending on the platform).

What is a Social Me(dia) Bio?

Think of your Social Me(dia) bio as a business card. In order to raise interest among your target audience, you’ll need to promote yourself much like your own brand.  Your ‘Social Me’  bio is an essential component to include to promote your professional reputation. It serves as an introduction to who you are, and allows you to showcase your area of expertise and what you want people to associate with your name.

Present a Positive Picture of yourself

Portray yourself in the most positive and professional light possible. Use your LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram and even Facebook Social Media profiles to create a convincing image of you as a very likeable— and hire able —person!  When you already have social media accounts, go over them to make sure they are employer-appropriate. Delete or hide any old posts or photos that are questionable. Or go one step further and create separate profiles that represent your professional interests. Consider everything you add to these accounts with an employer’s perspective in mind. The more thoughtful, knowledgeable, interesting, and above-board your Internet image is, the better…

Social Me

The above blog is an extract from the Social Me workshop, ‘The First Impression’ part of the EAER Workshops, developed and delivered during the EAER Project. Below a great video of Peter Hurley, material we use during our workshop sessions: It’s all about the Jaw !

Watch the video below:

For more information about the EAER project, click here: The Digital Final Multiplier Event will take place January 28th.

Click here for the EAER Website and regsiter at the EAER Platform

Social Media is a powerful tool. One of the aims of the EAER project is to raise awareness of appropriate social media use and it’s value in developing a digital professional social identity and branding one’s self (‘Social Me’), particularly regarding job searching among people in recovery and their professionals / trainers. The Social Me Train the Trainer Package is a guide for trainers, trainers and care workers who are training people in recovery  to boost their ‘Social Me’: Their personal Digital Professional Identity (DPI).

The EAER Project is realised by four partners organisations from the United Kingdom (Scottish Drugs Forum), Italy (La Tenda), Portugal (APDES) and the Netherlands (Dutch Foundation of Innovation Welfare 2 Work).

Three Social Media Bottlenecks

The EAER partnership have found three bottlenecks regarding social media expertise:

1. The importance of being a professional social media user as regards to job seeking and entrepreneurship is insufficiently understood and recognised in the education, care and welfare to work culture and among the people in recovery (usually social media is only used for fun).

2. Trainers and staff i.e. support workers and case managers, are insufficiently trained in Professional Social Media Use. An important note: When a Care worker is very good in his / her job, that does not mean the care worker is also good in job coaching, job search and social media guidance. It’s important as a trainer that you know your strengths and are also willing to put in hours to learn as a ‘Social Me’ trainer.

3. There is not enough available training material for Social Media Use as regards to job search and people in recovery.

The Social Me workshops, the DPI Social Media Support Package for Professionals and the Trainer The Trainer Package are developed to battle these three bottlenecks.

Social Me Trainer the Trainer Package

The Social Me Train the Trainer Package is a guide for trainers, trainers and care workers who are training people in recovery  to boost their ‘Social Me’: Their personal Digital Professional Identity (DPI). The aim of this guide is to provide trainers and trainers and care workers with a framework to support professional social media use and help them setting up a professional social (me)dia profile. It will optimise learning of people in recovery students in the classroom or online through focused on the ‘Social Me’ workshop training method.

The aim is to supply trainers and care workers offering a comprehensive set of measures created with various specialists across Europe and is easily followed to implement and to replicate it in any other EU country. We discovered during the digital blended mobility on November 26th 2020. The workshop training approach (Social Me) should not be to much in an educational framework to reflect the vision of people in recovery. Currently the Train the Trainer Package is ready in concept. We will publish as soon as possible and speak about it on our digital EAER Mulitplier Event January 28th 2021.

Digital EAER Miltiplier Event