Hello Readers!

My name is Persis Pohowalla and I am 1 of 2 Summer Interns for Monar Consulting, Inc.  Today is my second day and the ball is already rolling!  A little background about myself, I was born in California, raised in Lake Oswego, Oregon, a suburb outside of Portland.  My family originated from India, I have two older brothers and we used to have a miniature dachshund named Buddy.  I played tennis all throughout my life and then picked up volleyball in junior high and played throughout high school as well.  I attended University of Oregon studying Economics, minor in Business.  I later worked in the accounting and tax field for five years, realized it was not for me and started to explore the field of Industrial Organizational Psychology.  I took some courses related to the field, applied to graduate programs across the nation and now attending The Chicago School of Professional Psychology studying M.A. in Industrial Organizational Psychology.  I have just completed my first year and excited for my summer with Monar.

A few fun facts:

1.     What was your childhood nickname and why?

My friends would call me Pers because it was easier to say than Persis.

I would also (and still do today, explain my name as multiple hand bags – purse(s) when people cannot pronounce it).

2.     What do you like to munch on at the movie theater?

I love eating popcorn and hot tamales together when at the movies, YUM!

3.     What did you want to be when you grew up?

I always wanted to be a teacher when I was younger.

4.     Who has inspired you the most in your life, and why?

My family has inspired me because they are incredibly hard working, intelligent and their success has followed.  I hope to be as successful and more as I continue to grow in my professional career.

5.     If you were an animal, what would you be?

I would want to be a Cheetah because they are tough and fast runners.

6.     Random fact about yourself.

I practiced ballet from 1^st grade to 5^th grade and I played the flute in high school.

I’m a Millennial. Social media and networking is in my blood. But, I have to be honest – I’m a little tired of it eeking into every aspect of everyday life. With the invention and implementation of Klout, I question how large the snowball effect of social media can really grow.

I read an article about a well-educated and experienced guy who went in for a job interview and was hitting it out of the park – until the fateful moment they asked him for his Klout score. And from there the interview flew south and in the end, he didn’t get the job. It’s somewhat unfortunate that social media influence can make or break your next career move. It’s especially alarming to me because I don’t see the immediate benefit besides a few niche markets and industries – i.e., marketing, journalism, etc.

I think it is amazing that many people have built sustainable, innovative careers and businesses from the Internet and social media. My hat is off to them. However, they have set the bar very high for internet influence. People who are not making a career from the world wide web shouldn’t be penalized because of the success a few people have had with the resource.

I believe this craze for social networking fame will eventually be burdensome and backfire on some hiring managers. For instance, if I know that to have a Klout score above 75, I need to tweet, update my Facebook and LinkedIn, and respond to all the feedback, then the majority of my day will undoubtedly be spent online. Therefore, how productive could I really be to an employer? Here are a few other constructive criticisms of Klout:

• The current Klout algorithm takes little to no account of a person’s offline influence.
• Klout only taps into the Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn portions of the entire online ecosystem.
• Klout can be manipulated.
• Klout provides a single number to rank all users, not a number within an industry.
• The volume and frequency of tweets and status updates is weighted heavily in comparison to the quality of content.
• Social analytics experts have warned about premature use of Klout (and other metrics) as a basis of hiring employees.

To any hiring manager considering utilizing Klout as a selection measure, I encourage you to truly consider what the score may be telling you and how useful it really is. It would truly be a shame to miss out on a good employee because he/she forgot to tweet for a couple of days.

“Too many rules just get in the way of leadership. They just put you in a box, and, sooner or later, a rule-happy leader will wind up in a situation where he wants to use some discretion but is forced to go along with some decree that he himself concocted…. The truth is that many people set rules to keep from making decisions.”

- Mike Krzyzewski

Some interesting statistics on how social media comes into play during a job search:

Further Reading:

Employers Use of Facebook in Recruiting

5 Ways Social Media Could Be Hurting You in Your Job Search

How to Clean up Your Facebook Before You Apply for a Job or Internship

Komo News reported yesterday that 1 in 2 new college grads are jobless or underemployed. To say that I can identify with this report is an understatement. When I graduated from a prestigious school in 2010, I was shocked to see my brilliant peers moving back home. With a decorated $200,000 degree I couldn’t believe so many people couldn’t find jobs.

The report explains, “About 1.5 million, or 53.6%, of bachelor’s degree-holders under the age of 25 last year were jobless or underemployed.” This is such an overwhelming reality for any recent or upcoming grad.  Young people are promised that with higher education, come better opportunity. But after taking on thousands of dollars in debt, the country is following through with their end of the bargain. “According to government projections released last month, only three of the 30 occupations with the largest projected number of job openings by 2020 will require a bachelor’s degree or higher to fill the position – teachers, college professors and accountants.”

Adding insult to injury, graduates are consistently rejected for the same reason – a lack of experience. Every company wants their applicants to have experience and yet no one will give them experience!  It’s such a reoccurring scene that even the most optimistic youth could become depressed over the situation. However, this is exactly where businesses are missing out on a big opportunity. Organizations should pick up where our economy has failed. Simply put, give a kid a chance!

I, of course, understand that one cannot completely expect an inexperienced twenty-something-year-old to handle difficult, intricate projects. The solution is creating intern positions (paid or unpaid) that allow them to be apart of the business atmosphere. Exposure to real world business situations can bring both your company and the intern success in the end. Now, I’ve seen some organizations be great about hiring summer interns – especially at the graduate level (MA, MBA, JD, etc.). But those not looking to receive further training shouldn’t be penalized.

Interns – just like new hires – bring a new perspective. Moreover, because they are eager to learn they tend to ask many questions, allowing tenured employees to analyze their own decision-making and strategies. It’s this fundamental thinking that many organizations lose.  Here are a few more benefits to hiring interns:

• Interns can do the work that the full-time staff haven’t had time to accomplish or even start.
• Interns can help evaluate current company practices and offer suggestions of alternate options.
• Companies can train potential future employees, serves as a pipeline for candidates.
• Interns provide new energy to the office.
• Interns provide new ideas and technology into the office.

Furthermore, a study by ERE.net found that companies can significantly boost workplace productivity by putting students or recent grads to work in internships. For example, a single, qualified manager can gain 225 full 8-hour workdays in a calendar year.

What businesses should realize is that that they are truly missing out by not giving kids a chance and giving them intern opportunities. Students and recent grads are highly capable of contributing all types of business value. And, when well managed, the amount of time that interns contribute leads to overall business productivity. All employers need to do is make an organization commitment to an internship system and have supervisors reprioritize some of their time to oversee students and get projects off the backburner. Once this step is taken, perhaps young professionals will not have to feel the economy’s fluctuation so intensely.

http://www.komonews.com/news/national/1-in-2-new-college-grads-are-jobless-or-underemployed–148433045.html