First and foremost- Merry Christmas one and all!

Now, back to the meaty stuff…

I have been advised recently that one of the shrewdest moves I can make in order to further my career prospects is to join this mystifying website known as “Twitter”. I wasn’t sure if this was some kind a multi-player game, a website for the “twits” of the world to congregate, or just another Facebook-esque social networking site. Apparently it is a “free social messaging utility for staying connected in real-time” (Whatever that means?)

Despite all my doubts, I went ahead and created my profile. I only knew one other person who had Twitter so I clicked on his face and decided to “follow” him. A matter of moments later I was informed that he was following me too. Great. Now what?

Unlike Facebook, apparently Twitter is not just for keeping up to date with gossip about your friends, acquaintances, and people you went to primary school with and never spoke to. Twitter allows you to create a network of like-minded people who continually update their answer that ever insightful question- “what are you doing?” Or they may link you to their blogs which you can then comment on, thus adding your voice to a potentially global conversation. (And I’m pretty sure I’m yet to discover all the other wonderful things it can do.)

If you decide to jump on the Twitter bandwagon, you may find that you are suddenly bombarded with jargon that makes absolutely no sense, such as “tweet” and “re-tweet” and “tinyurl”. And although I still don’t really understand what any of these terms mean, even I can still just about navigate my way round the major functions.

So maybe you’re thinking this sounds like a total and utter waste of time, and I must admit that thought has crossed my mind too. The other thought that crosses my mind however is the enormous potential of the beast that is Twitter to help me be involved in a global network of movers and shakers. Even Stephen Fry is getting in on the action (I should know as I am one of his many thousands of followers.)

Please feel free to follow me and my insightful updates, and join in the conversation!

http://twitter.com/JHardacre1

I bet I’m not the only one who has asked themselves the question; why the hell am I actually at University?

Now that I have a specific career goal in mind (PR,) I do sometimes wonder if my degree is really equipping me with skills for the big wide world. Or could I have just started at the bottom and worked my way up in the industry? I mean, last semester for example, I had 6 hours worth of lectures a week. That works out as something ridiculous like £50 a lecture. Is it really worth it?

Some argue that to be successful in industries like PR it’s all about personality. So the chances are, you could just have the qualification, just the personality, or both. Does one really mean better chance of success than the other?

In my opinion, my degree alone may not be my key to my dream job, but going to University has opened so many doors for me and has given me access to opportunities that I never would have had otherwise. I think PR seems like a pretty perfect job for me, but before I came to Uni I didn’t even know what it was! My degree is equipping me with the obvious skills, like time management, communication, team-work etc, but there are other ways that you can really get your money’s worth out of University! You can be involved in sports and societies, student newspapers, get free careers and business guidance, network, you can get help finding a part-time job, you get involved in events and the list goes on.

As for that ideal personality, when I think of my former just turned 18 self beginning uni, and look at myself just a year and a half on there is a huge difference. I kind of felt like I was being thrown in at the deep end, moving away from home, making new friends, getting used to a new way of learning and all the rest- but it’s definitely done wonders for my confidence. Uni has made me realise that stuff doesn’t just happen; you have to make it happen.

So okay, maybe not everyone who is studying for a degree will make use of it in future, or will need it to get into their prospective sector, but I know I would be at a complete loss without mine!