Robert Pearl Starks

Robert Pearl Starks

Location: phoenix, arizona

About me

As Vice President of Product Development, I lead cross-functional teams of designers, developers, QA testers and product stakeholders to develop, launch, and improve products customers need and love. 

Previously, I've worked in a variety of leadership roles in education / learning & professional development. Through my experience, I've become accustomed to working across departmental silos and with various stakeholders (executives, end-users, faculty, staff, students / learners, alumni, parents, regulatory agencies, partners and employers) to facilitate collaboration and advance common goals. In my previous roles, I've advocated for student needs and driven organizational change that helped educators do their best work, students thrive in their careers, and employers connect with quality talent.

Despite different contexts, a common theme in my career journey has been to do work that contributes to a mission which improves people's lives. It's also always been important for me to work with an organization whose values align with my own. I'm a listener, empathizer, customer advocate, servant leader, and lifelong learner. I'm never satisfied with status quo, I constantly strive for "better," and I'm driven by genuine curiosity to solve complex problems.

“Work to become; not to acquire.” -Elbert Hubbard

Interests

social media, career development, training, higher education, web 2.0/3.0, career services, leadership, marketing

Skills

social media, marketing, training, consulting, management, strategic planning

Activity

You've learned about the importance of purposefully constructing your own personal learning networks (PLNs) for professional development and you know the concept of influencers. Who influences you on social media? If you aren't currently a heavy user of social media, explain how you will now go about constructing your personalized PLN. I'll provide you a short list of some of my favorite people to follow on Twitter from who I learn a great deal: @heatherhuhman - Career expert who focuses on advice for Gen Y and for those seeking entry-level jobs @JohnSumser - Editor of HR Examiner who is always… >>>

Some people think social media is merely a fad merely representing a new tool for communicating. Just 10 years ago, the idea of collaboratively created directories of people that mapped their achievements, relationships, experience, skills, and interests sounded a little crazy but today we call it social media. So, if someone told you social media is just a fad or is not as important as everyone is claiming, what would you tell them?

Social media isn't simply technology that facilitates human interaction. The technology has changed human interaction and relationship-building. Consider social networks for dating and group activities and that people are now getting married after having met online. If social networks influence how we build rapport, trust, and form strong relationships, social media has a great impact on career advising. It doesn't stop at relationship-building however. Career Advisors have much more data at their disposal to identify behavior patterns, circles of influence, and common interests from the information constituents disclose on social media platforms. This information offers insight that can be transformed… >>>

Discussion Comment
Paul, This phase one strategy makes perfect sense. You will find the PDF document in the last section of the course very helpful which specifically addresses how to launch a Facebook strategy and market it to your students. Once you create your Facebook fan page, you will also be able to use Facebook Insights for measurement and don't forget bitly.com to create tracked URLs if you wish to measure click-through rates for promotions. Robert Starks Jr.

John, 

You give some very practical advice here and I particularly liked your mentioning of the global student which I haven't seen talked about often.  The variables you indicate that impact retention are extensive and a good reminder why retention can be so challenging.  Thank you for contributing this excellent blog.  It provides excellent insight.

Discussion Comment
Paul, When you create your Facebook page, what will be your strategy behind using it? Do you plan on measuring your strategy's impact? Robert Starks Jr.

Hello Rheashaun,

 

I'm glad to hear you give the advice of not waiting until the last minute to look for a job.  Many view job search as an activity one does when one is unemployed or seeking to change positions.  Job search is simply one aspect of career development and one is always in development working toward their future career goals, thus, they should always be mindful of this and should be continually preparing themselves.  Monitoring the job market and understanding opportunity that is out there allows people to maintain knowledge of current job trends, shifts in trends, and… >>>

Paul, You're so right. Many individuals still don't understand how to use such tools. They think using them equates to building a profile and simply having a presence so you are correct. Some basic guidelines to help you with LinkedIn are as follows: 1. Build a 100% complete profile and create a vanity URL for your profile. To create a vanity URL, instructions are in my blog post: http://bit.ly/u7iH0k 2. Use a professional-looking head shot photo consistent across all social media platforms you use (This is brand consistency) 3. Optimize key words in your profile that align with target industry/job… >>>

alexander, I think you have already identified ways to establish the boundaries that you feel comfortable with that are no different than how you would establish boundaries in your interactions through social media. Another way to establish the boundaries that you feel comfortable with (since everyone will be different) is to simply establish expectations by educating your students on the use of social media for career development. If you guide your students and educate them on how to manage their personal online brands, how to present professionally via social media channels, how to appropriately use social media tools, and how… >>>

Discussion Comment

alexander, How do you currently track employment rates relative to your social media strategy? Do you track job leads sourced from social media? Can you please share with the forum how you are specifically able to identify the effectiveness of your social media strategy correlated to employment rates? The number of followers on Facebook measures the size of an audience, but it does not measure effectiveness of a strategy. If your overall goal, for instance, was to use Facebook as a means of improving the marketing of your events, I don't recommend using the metric of followers but rather, have… >>>

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