VESTAL, N.Y. – Like almost all college students, life after graduation can be a daunting topic for the nearly 400 student-athletes student-athletes at Binghamton University. There are so many things to consider in preparing for their next step after college.
Within the last decade, one of the biggest areas in preparing for life after graduation is social media accounts. It has become nearly as important for all job and grad school applicants as a standard resume or college transcript.
Walter Osterman is the President of Social Mavens, an integrative marketing agency who works with student-athletes, coaches and college athletic departments around the country. One of the areas that means a lot to him is helping student-athletes manage their social media accounts in a positive way that will help them after graduation.
"I really want to help student-athletes," he said. "The lives we lead online don't always measure up to what is real. It's important that student-athlete post appropriate material on their social media accounts but it's just as important to be real in letting people know who they are. Authenticity wins over something fancy every time."
This past Monday night, Osterman spoke to the Binghamton student-athletes at the Anderson Center. Nearly all the student-athletes are thinking about what they want to do after they graduate from college. On that note, Osterman emphasized how social media accounts can be both a positive and negative tool that employers will look at.
"Over 70 percent of employers will check over an applicant's social media accounts," he said during the presentation. "For some of you, your accounts are good and can help you. But for others, the stuff you post can wind up hurting you. Even if you set your accounts to private, people are still going to be able to google their way on to your accounts."
Osterman showed both positive and negative examples of social media accounts. While he warned against posts with foul language or excessive drinking, he also showed positive posts illustrating such things as respect for opponents and love of one's family.
To the student-athletes in attendance, Osterman's presentation was both profound and encouraging.
"Walter's presentation was a good reminder for us student-athletes to be conscious of what we are posting on social media," sophomore cross country and track runner Dan Schaffer said. "Your social media accounts are a reflection of your characteristics and personality. Building a profile that emphasizes traits businesses are looking for increases your chances of being hired."
"He had a lot of good insights and a lot of good tips for us regarding things not to post that employers could look at," junior softball player Kassidy Seary said. "Sometimes we think something we post is okay but others could take it to mean something completely different. This was a very good presentation."
