Social Media for Effective Communication Before, During and After your EMBA

By Hanniffa Patterson

An EMBA is a big commitment, both financially and emotionally. Top business schools require you to work, attend intense, all day classes and complete detailed and challenging group assignments. All this, while possibly maintaining a family and other commitments. As if there wasn't enough to do, you are now faced with social media. No longer used by just millennials, this medium is becoming an integral part of every business and at all levels of the management hierarchy.

Social media has evolved to become an effective communication tool in the world of business. Companies of all sizes are now on social media, scoping out and recruiting potential staff, and building brands and communities online. But how is this relevant to you? As an EMBA participant you will find that you can make use of social media before, during and after your program to make your experience that much more rewarding.

Before your EMBA

1.    Check out your top business schools. Social media is a great way to research your top business schools and other options. Using channels such as Facebook and Twitter, find out what alums are saying. Look at photos to see what the campus is like. What kind of activities are being highlighted? Does the school spirit portrayed seem in line with your values? Yes, the school may have an official website; however, their accounts will be alive with activity from past students, current students and staff, thus offering even more in terms of valid and authentic information.

2.    Ask questions. Reach out to top business schools that interest you through their social media presence. Many school offices are swamped with phone calls and requests for inquiries, especially at certain times of the year. However, professional accounts are created with the intention to provide customer service, so emphasis is made on speed and quality. As a result, this can be an excellent way to get your questions answered in a timely manner. A good social media team will get back to you within a reasonable time (maximum 48 hours), if even with just a brief message and an offer to forward you to the appropriate department.

3.    Update your social media profiles. Your social media profile is also important and can be a critical tool in your application. A recent mediabistro.com study found that 92% of recruiters use social media to search for talent, with LinkedIn leading the way for most consulted at 93%, (66% use Facebook and 54% check on Twitter). Schools also look at students’ accounts as a way to get a first look on who you are professionally and personally. They may also use these networks as a way to verify that what you say on your application is congruent with who you are.

4.    Make sure to clean up your public social media profiles, removing or restricting access to questionable or private photos or content you may have posted. Go through your Facebook photos and verify that the content you don't want to be shared publicly is set to 'friends only'. Alternatively, endeavor to properly fill in your accounts. Have an accurate, professional photograph on Linked In, with up-to-date employment information. Encourage those who have worked with you to write a review of your work. If you are not very active on some networks but have an account, update it as well. For instance, replace the photo of the Twitter egg with one of yourself and fill in the bio with what you do.

During your EMBA

1.    Refresh your social media profile periodically. Share what you are doing on your EMBA. Show family, friends and colleagues why you are not available so much at the moment and let them see what you are up to. Social media is about effective communication and also connecting and sharing, so a little fun on Facebook and a nice picture of classmates posted on Instagram, won't hurt. Your friends and family care about you and it will be encouraging to get their congratulations and support through 'likes' and kind comments.

2.    Connect with classmates. Add your classmates to your social media networks to stay connected outside of classes and even get work done. Platforms such as Facebook offer a great group feature  which is an effective communication tool for keeping in contact with members, discussing topics, or posting and sharing class assignments.

3.    Adjust your privacy settings. If you are concerned about your social media profile privacy, there are Facebook features that can be adjusted to keep your various posts separate. On the other hand, over the course of the year, your classmates may just become lifelong friends, so you may come to enjoy sharing your posts with them and seeing theirs.

After your EMBA

1.    Stay in touch. Your social media experience does not need to end when you hand in that last assignment and say your final goodbyes. Be sure to stay in touch with the people you met during your program. Use your networks to say a quick hello, drop the occasional line and check up on your classmates’ advancement. Read, share and like their posts and contributions on social media as well. It is one thing to build a network, but it's equally important to maintain it through genuine relationships.

2.    Start that blog. Now that the program is finished, you may have a bit of extra time to start the blog you kept meaning to write. You can easily begin by writing about life after the EMBA. Are you working on an interesting project at work? Write about it too and then share on your social media accounts. Keep the momentum of your online contributions going; they may later sprout serendipitous opportunities.

3.    Get involved with your school and give back. Offer to do updates for your school's alumni network. This not only aids incoming students by giving them much needed, quality information. It will also place you right in front of both incoming and outgoing participants and can serve to set you apart as an expert in your field and school.

4.    Social media is an excellent tool that can be used throughout your EMBA journey. Proper communication is a core principle of any higher education program and using social media is simply part and parcel of effective communication online.

About our contributing expert: Hanniffa Patterson has a keen understanding of social media. She sees it as a dynamic tool for businesses and people to market themselves and to better connect with their customers. Hanniffa is passionate about helping companies and individuals to leverage the strength of social media and to better understand how these platforms can help them to do more for their businesses and clients. You can connect with her at: https://hanniffapatterson.com