Amanda Alvarado

Yes, what you post on the internet can have an impact on your career.

College can be a stressful time. Between maintaining your grades, enjoying a healthy social life and keeping up with extra-curriculars, it can be easy to feel guilty when mindlessly scrolling on your favorite social media site. However, with 70% of employers admitting to checking up on candidates social media as part of their job screening, and more than 50% of employers deciding not to hire an applicant based on what they've found on their profiles, it seems that as you prepare to enter the workforce, it's never too early to start curating your personal branding and online presence.

Define Your Current Online Brand

Had an amazing time a fancy-dress party last weekend? Great! However, it may be time to consider what your social media says about you. Place yourself in a future employers shoes, could anything you post be considered distasteful, provocative or just not show you in the best light? Take some time to prune your social profiles and edit or delete any content that no longer aligns with your personal branding.

Determine Your Goals

Political Science major who dreams of working for an NGO? Are you studying Finance but would much rather be designing shoes? Your social media is a great starting point for you to be honest with yourself and really dig deep to determine your after college goals and get those sentiments out there. When it comes ramping to up your online activity, ensure that your content management strategy, as broken down by the experts here: https://www.templafy.com/blog/cmo-vs-cto-vs-cio-whos-job-to-create-content-management-strategy/ is up to scratch as how you're posting can be just as important as what you're posting.

Stand Out From The Crowd

Today’s graduates are entering a job market more competitive than ever before. Use your social media to showcase your unique talents or experiences and as a way to put you above the crowd. Focus on things like...

The apprenticeships or internships you’ve done while studying.
Your most interesting travel experiences and destinations.
The volunteering or charity projects you’ve been involved in.
Speaking out about causes and beliefs that you’re honestly passionate about.
Your relevant interests and pursuits outside of college.

All of these things help paint a picture of a well-rounded individual who has a wide array of hobbies, talents, a varied skill set, and an interesting personality. All of which look great to a prospective employer and help to create a solid online identity.

Take It Offline

Don’t neglect another key component of building your online reputation - building relationships. University is a fantastic opportunity to network, form genuine friendships and build those key contacts that could one day land you your dream job. Get out there and talk to your classmates and colleagues IRL, not only are you all in a similar situation, but they also may have connections or insider information that you wouldn’t get to find out otherwise. Too shy to attend a networking event on your own? Look into getting a mentor or a career coach, to ensure that you are confident and assured and can hit the ground running straight after graduation.

Social media can impact your career, so just be smart! You can always showcase the best moments of your life without jeopardizing your job.

xx,

Amanda

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Let's face it, we just want to feel beautiful.

I talked a little about my own struggle to feel loved and beautiful on Instagram. We're constantly bombarded with images of what "beautiful" is supposed to look like. We scroll through perfectly edited Instagram photos and magazine covers at the checkout lanes (most likely been photoshopped or modified in some way!) But it's important to know that there's so much more than that. It isn't about how white your smile is or how shiny your hair is - sure, that's great, but there's more to you than that, so don't let anyone ever take that away from you.

It's one thing to be pretty on the outside, but the inside is what ensures you're fit, well, and overall healthy.

If you’re wondering how to do that, then here are a couple of essentials to doing just that.

Get the right amount of sleep

It's a well-known fact that everyone needs a decent amount of sleep in order for their bodies to function properly and their minds to work, but there are a lot of preconceived ideas on just how many hours you need. Seven or eight should ideally be the minimum, but what you need to know is that you can't catch up on hours - once they've been missed, they're gone forever. This is why it's so important you ensure you put your head down at the right time and recharge your batteries. It's all about getting into that form of deep sleep meditation by setting yourself the right environment to begin with. If it's noisy and distracting and uncomfortable in your bedroom, then you'll be lucky to fall asleep at all. I'm all about a good night routine.

Keep yourself hydrated

Believe it or not, but 60% percent of your body is made up of water, and every single time you go to the bathroom, or start to sweat - you're actually losing some of that, which is why it's important to keep hydrating yourself. You want to be drink half your weight in ounces of water each day. For example, if you've been out the night before and have had quite a bit too much alcohol to drink, then it's pretty doubtful you'll be feeling too good in the morning. This is actually because your body is ironically dehydrated from the alcohol you've been drinking. So be sure to drink plenty of water the next day to replace what you've lost.

While these two examples seem pretty standard to follow, so many people tend to overlook them and focus so much more on what foundation to apply and what mascara to use. And while there's nothing wrong with making an effort in your appearance and expressing yourself through what you wear on your face and body - remember that there are so many other factors that are there to keep you healthy - and that's a beautiful thing.

Get some rest, drink some water, and stay beautiful!

Amanda

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Yes, you can go out to eat and not break the bank.

It’s always nice to treat yourself to a meal out every now and then. It’s a chance to catch up with friends and relatives as well as you enjoy delicious food in a relaxed environment. I love food and I love good company, so honestly meeting up with people for food is like the best thing ever in my book.

Unfortunately, though, there is just one issue with dining out in restaurants and diners - it can end up extremely expensive. But that’s no reason to never step foot in a restaurant again. There are actually quite a few ways you might be able to bring down the cost of your food bill if you use these tips.

Enjoy Takeouts

You don’t always have to enjoy your favorite restaurant meal actually in their dining room. You could take it home with you as this could help you save quite a bit. That’s because most restaurants won’t charge as much on takeout orders. You will also find that eateries that only offer a takeout option will be a lot cheaper than traditional restaurants. If you take a look on fastfoodmenuprice.com you will be able to see the takeout prices. That should show you how much of a saving you can make by taking your food back to yours!

Look For Happy Hour Offers

It makes sense to head out for your meal earlier rather than later as you might be able to take advantage of a restaurant’s happy hour offers and deals. Quite a few eateries will have special offers during a set time early in the evening. These could be two-for-one offers or great deals on their drinks. No matter what the deal is, I’m sure you’ll be able to make some killer savings.

Go For Lunch Instead Of Dinner

Another great strategy to help you save a bit of cash while eating out is to go for lunch rather than dinner. The majority of eateries will offer different lunch and dinner menus, and the lunch ones will often be quite a bit cheaper than ones for the evening. Not only that, though, but some restaurants will have special deals to try and get as many people through their door as possible.

Stick To Tap Water

Did you know that restaurants make a huge profit on their drinks sales? It’s true, as you can see at respondi.com - there’s a huge profit margin for them to be had. That means that you’ll have to dig deep to find the money for drinks as well as your meal. So, it’s best to stick to drinking tap water. Restaurants won’t charge for plain old tap water, so you will only have to pay for what you eat. I made the switch years ago just because I wanted to drink water more than anything else.

Don’t Eat On During Holidays

It can be really tempting to go out for a meal on a public holiday. However, these are very busy times for restaurants so you might find that some put their prices up ever so slightly. It’s also best to think twice about holiday deals as well, as most of them won’t actually save you much cash.

So, there you have it - it is in fact easy to dine out on a budget!

xx,

Amanda

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I don't have any regrets about college, but I do wish I had the opportunity to travel abroad or do a program like that.

If both being able to go on your travels and also maintaining a great GPA score are big parts of your life, there’s a good chance you’re going to balance the two as best you can, at exactly the same time. And that’s actually quite a hard balance to try and achieve! You deserve a medal for all you’ve done so far!

Which is why there’s a lot of debate out there about whether or not studying while you’re traveling is impossible to do or not. Of course, there’s all kinds of programs that take you halfway round the world on a scholarship or volunteering program, but how do you keep up with both parts of your life whilst attending one of these courses?

Let’s think about it below. Don’t worry, you’re always going to be learning something while you’re off in another country!

You’ll Need to Know the Dates

If you’re planning to study while you're off gallivanting around the world, going to exotic and new locations and meeting all kinds of new and interesting people, then you’re going to have to have a good diary in your pocket at the same time. After all, your studies are still going to take precedence whilst you’re away, and you’ve got deadlines to reach!

So make sure you know when your papers and assignments are due, and if you’re in your last year of a degree program, make sure you know when your thesis milestones need to be submitted. Similarly, if there’s any conferences you’d like to attend, or any lessons you know you need to be somewhat present for, be sure you know when the recordings are posted online, usually in places like Blackboard.

This’ll make life a lot easier, let’s face it! Keeping up with key dates like these will guarantee you can plan the rest of your travel plans accordingly. You won't have that ever hanging doubt over your head about how your grades are doing, and whether you’ve got any spare time to get back to the nearest town to find an internet cafe to submit test answers you should’ve done days ago…

Make Sure You’re Flexible

Being flexible is the name of the game when it comes to studying whilst traveling. You need to always be close to a WIFI signal, or to at least have some kind of portable connection to take with you - and those can be a little pricey when you’re a student! So you need to be able to ping back and forth from remote to connected locations, and be able to do so fluently.

The program you choose to sign onto needs to be flexible as well. It needs to be a program that grants you plenty of time because it expects its students to be travelers, or have other responsibilities in their lives. It needs to have tutors that are available mostly 24/7, and have open office hours via either an email connection or through Skype calls.

Remember, being flexible grants you a better chance of getting the education you want whilst living out the life you want. After all, being flexible works both ways; if you’ve got a schedule you keep mostly free, and you know how to get around an area with these interests in mind, it means you can use flexible learning tools to help you out. Say you need to start focusing on the next module in your modern history unit - you can easily look up both your and local University websites, like OnlineLLM, to get some quick revision in!

Take Your Study Materials in Your Carry On

After all, when are you going to be more stationary than when you’re on the plane to your destination? It’s going to make sure you have no option but to sit and study for a couple of hours! And that’s an opportunity you should grasp by the horns and not let go off.

So make sure you’ve got some of your most crucial study materials in your carry on, to break out when the plane takes off and you’ve still got 3 hours of nothing but the sky to look out of the window at. You won’t have a phone signal up there, and there’s a good chance you won’t have any WIFI to connect to either, so you can very much force yourself to get on with a bit of work. It’s a situation that’ll work well in your favor; when you touch down, you can go off and do whatever you want for the rest of the day without feeling guilty about it.

Find Ways to Make Up Time

You want to get as much studying time as possible whilst you’re on your trip, experiencing new cultures and people, and often getting sidetracked by them. So you’re going to need to make minutes, and hopefully a few hours, back on the time you lose doing so. The success of your studies (and definitely how recent the info in your head is!) may depend on it.

Pre book your tickets for the airport, or for the train you’re taking across country, and make it so you can go through check in quicker, or leave later from your accommodation to get to the station. Make sure you know which cafes or bars in the local town allow you to log onto WIFI, and access the day’s teachings specifically for traveling students like you - even just using the map option on your phone before you fly is useful for this. This means you don’t have to spend wasteful time ambling around foreign streets, trying to find a place to settle down in with the day’s work.

Studying whilst traveling doesn’t have to be impossible - you’ve just got to find ways around the usual obstacles! Make sure you use tips like these to make your time abroad easier.

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I'm not in college anymore, but I'm a recent grad with so much advice.

I had the best time in college. My grades were good, I was really involved, I met my closest friends, and I really just had a great time. Maybe your college experience has been the same or maybe you're struggling a bit. When choosing a college or even deciding to stay, lots of factors come into play. Here's a few things to consider!

A Safe Space

Not just physically, that goes without saying, but college should be somewhere you can learn and explore ideas but also to make mistakes. One of the very best ways to learn a valuable lesson is to get it wrong the first time. So, if you’re in a class where you’re afraid of getting things wrong for fear of ridicule, you might well be in the wrong college or class. You’re not a young kid any more, how you’re treated as a young adult will pave the way for how you treat and expect to be treated in the workplace.

The focus on creating these safe spaces falls, not just on the mindsets of the students but with the teachers themselves. If the senior management is setting the examples, then this culture or security will cascade down into the classrooms.

Equality Is Important

Colleges looking at how to create a positive learning environment, will pay special attention to creating a level playing field for students. Students should step into the classroom knowing they are among equals not better or worse than anyone else and not more or less entitled to be there.

The college’s policy on racism, homophobia and so on should be made explicitly clear and reinforced by all the staff from teachers through to the office receptionist. While there will be differences of opinion and matters that are up for debate, you should never feel you’re going to be verbally attacked or dismissed based on your family income or the color of your skin.

Reach Out To Alumni

If you’re in a position where you need to choose a college and are looking around try and have a conversation with students who have recently finished to get a sense of what it was like to study there. Did they have access to all the equipment they needed? Were the teaching staff supportive and helpful? Did they feel they were pushed to reach their potential and not just to achieve a qualification? You’ll want to know about what it was like from a personal perspective and not just through a brochure or website.

It’s hard to choose a college and even harder to change college once you’re there but if you are studying in an environment which really isn’t right for you, then the sooner the change, the sooner you can get to where you should be. The issues stem from not really knowing what you’re getting into until you arrive in class on the very first day, so it’s well worth reading and researching before you make a decision. Take your time and don’t rush into making a decision, instead make sure you visit the campus and talk to alumni about the realities of life at that particular college.

While many colleges have specialities that appeal to a student studying in that field, there are so many other factors to take into account. Don’t be blinded by the pure academic achievements, look to make a decision based on the whole.

Look at what’s on offer in the area immediately around the college and if there’s anything there that supports your existing hobbies and interests, consider how far you’d be prepared to commute from home or whether you’d live on campus. Consider what extra-curricular activities there are for students on site.

All of this is important but the right, supportive learning environment is the most important of all so make this a priority when you go and visit colleges. If you’re not experiencing this where you are, look into making a change as soon as you can. You’re not at school anymore and you don’t have to put up with unsupportive or even bullying behaviour. Your college years should be a positive stepping stones towards your future goals so get those qualifications, make those mistakes and use your positive experiences to launch your future career. You’ll never regret choosing a college that puts you on the path to achieving your dreams.

xx,

Amanda

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Woo-hoo! A BONUS post for the week!

I have never been out of the country. Well, actually I have, but I was like two and I don't remember it. My parents and I went to Mexico to visit my dad's family. I'm 23-years-old now, so I am itching to get outside of the U.S. for a vacation!

If you are taking a trip overseas, the chances are you want to see plenty of bang for your buck. My budget is also super tight, so I get it. Venturing abroad is never cheap, so you want to see your money stretch. How you measure the success of a trip depends on what is most important to you. Do you want to cover as much ground as possible? Do you want to immerse yourself in culture and meet new people? Or do you simply want to switch off and relax in the sun? Take a look at this simple guide detailing the best ways you can make the most out of any trip.

Covering Ground
If you want to squeeze as much as you can into your travels and you love a multi-stop tour, you have a variety of options. Self guided tours are often the cheapest and most flexible way to cover ground. You don’t have to feel tied into a group, you can hot foot it to wherever you want rather than having to stick to a strict itinerary. It’s easy to complete a tour without the extortionate cost of a physical guide.

Be wary when trying to cover so much ground, that you don’t do too much of a whistle stop tour. Going too fast means that you will never spend long enough in any destination. You won’t have time to experience the culture, the people, the cuisine or soak up the atmosphere of a place. Traveling isn't a tick box exercise and should be enjoyed at a slower pace. However, if you are keen to cover a lot of ground, why not consider a cheap cruise. This is a novel way to travel, and you’ll hit many different countries on your trip.

Go Off Season
Depending on where you are planning on visiting, it’s always a good idea to plan to visit off season. You’d be amazed at how busy the most amazing tourist hotspots get during peak times. Screaming kids, school groups and long queues can really take away from the awe and wonder of a historical site or monument. Going when it’s quieter will always be cheaper and it will be more enjoyable. You’ll be able to explore at your own pace, with a bit more peace and quiet, and without fear of taking too long or having to move on.

The only downside to traveling off season is that some sites may not be open or accessible. However, those that are will be all the more impressive.

Meet People
There’s nothing better when you are traveling than meeting the people who live in a destination. If you can brush up a little on your language skills and learn a bit of the lingo, you’d be surprised just how appreciative people are if you can converse with them on a more meaningful level. They’ll value the effort you have made and will be more inclined to reveal the authentic vibe of a place. Talk to people, spend some time immersing yourself in a culture and follow the locals.

Heading overseas for a trip of a lifetime, an annual vacation or a sabbatical abroad should be life affirming, so it’s crucial that you are able to make the most of your trip.

xx,
Amanda

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