The internet has created a paradigm shift in human activity. It has become a tool for personal growth and development. In fact, live today is on the internet such as on Facebook, LinkedIn, WhatsApp, Twitter, Instagram, Skype, etc. This new trend is not unconnected to what university admission boards and scholarship committees make of students when assessing their applications nowadays.
In order to project a professional outlook, it should not only be in the interest of the student to write a good curriculum vitae or personal statement. With the advent of the internet, It equally has to do with a student’s cyberspace activity and social media profiles. That way, the student is able to increase their chances of winning a scholarship or getting admission into a prestigious university. Some of the ways to do this include the following:
Ensuring a professional online presence. Universities and scholarship providers now pay close attention to social media handles of students. In April, 2019, I happened to have been shortlisted as a semifinalist for the Economic Policy of Globalization Scholarship (EPOG). At this stage, I was supposed to undergo a Skype interview for the scholarship committee to get to know me more about me and my reasons as to why I needed a scholarship and was the best candidate for it. Before the interview, the interviewer had already visited my Facebook Profile and also checked my LinkedIn? I figured this out when they asked me if they could quickly go through my Facebook Profile. It is certain that majority of universities admission boards and scholarship committees actually do all of these to know students better. Mind you, they are also looking for red flags about students.
Our Team at NPGS recommend that you Google yourself, clean yourself up on social media handles and delete any posts, pictures that contain inappropriate or immature material. We will leave you with this question, are your social media handles sending out positive or negative signals about you? This is what is expected of you. Who are those friends that tag you and what kind of post do they tag you to? Pay attention to your cover photo, profile pictures, personal information details, featured pictures, wall control, because your social media handles is a major part of your digital footprint.
Be conscious of how you write your email addresses. Universities and scholarship committees will tell you to always write your name as written on all your official documents. Your email address is also important in this regard. Make sure your email address is written with your first and last names included. For example, “first name. Last name@gmail.com” For someone answering David Jitzi, it should be written in the following order; davidjitzi@yahoo.com. Avoid irresponsible email addresses or email addresses using nicknames and wrong order of names. This gives the impression that you are not a serious and responsible student.
For more information on this leave a comment in the comment section or contact the NPGS Team directly.
