VACAS Conference 2019-Career Preparation Workshop

Dr. Angela Joyner Holds a Career Preparation Workshop at VACAS

By Nick Clark

With graduation around the corner, Dr. Angela Joyner gave students a treat at the recent Virginia Association of Communication Arts and Sciences conference by hosting a workshop on career preparation, brand building, reputation management and more.

Joyner is the Executive Director of the Center for Career and Talent Development at Radford University. She also founded The Wonder Loft, a positive leadership coaching practice for women. In addition to coaching, Joyner is a teacher and writer.

The workshop was loaded with information about social media and how to use it to better a brand or business. Joyner introduced and highlighted new social media mediums and tools for young people to utilize, such as Hootsuite and Google Alerts. She also spoke about how to more efficiently use sites and apps that are more common, like Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

“Determine what you want to keep private, and what you want to not keep private,” said Joyner, clarifying that her family and personal information won’t appear on her website. “If you want to see my family stuff, you’re most likely going to see it on my Facebook page, that’s going to help round out who I am.”

Joyner also emphasized the importance of networking and using skills and talents to barter, sharing multiple examples of her doing so.

“I did have a friend of mine, who was a graphic designer, create the logo for me. She created the logo for me and I gave her three sessions of free coaching. So think about whom you can leverage while you’re here,” said Joyner.

Joyner understands that most college students don’t have money to waste. She advised accordingly and encouraged listeners to think of ways they can get started without breaking the bank.

Listeners were also encouraged to Google their own names in order to balance and control content that appears as a result.

“For every negative thing that’s out there, you probably need anywhere from 10 to 15 good things out there,” said Joyner. “If you started Radford University and you had great parties, great weekends, great spring breaks and that’s all your pictures that are out there, you might want to snap some pictures of you doing volunteer work on campus, pictures with family…”

Additional advice was provided on purchasing domain names, posting successes and not believing Internet posts are gone because they’ve been deleted.

Joyner also posed a series of thought provoking questions for listeners to apply in their careers and general lives.

“Think about who you are. What are you good at? What are you passionate about? If you could leave something in the world, what would your contribution be?”

Joyner is passionate about helping students find their career interests and thrive professionally.