Elon Technology Blog

Five tech tips for graduating seniors

As May 25 rapidly approaches, our to-do lists as graduating seniors are quickly growing. We must remember to pick up our caps and gowns, order our graduation invitations, mail those invitations, perfect our résumés and cover letters, apply for jobs and graduate school programs, negotiate contracts, accept admissions offers, search for housing, and last but not least, finish (and pass) all of our spring classes.

With so many things to check off in less than two months, it’s hard to remember what technology issues we need to address before leaving Elon. To help you remember, I made a list of five tech tips you might want to check out before heading out on graduation day.

Backup any files you have on your personal Elon server space.

Though your documents, photos, audio files, and video clips won’t be erased from your personal network space on the morning of graduation, you won’t be able to access them forever. The tentative deadline to clear these files off of your U: drive is August 15. Make sure to load your items onto your laptop or onto an external storage device, so you’ll have them for safekeeping.

Also, campus technologies will send you a reminder email about this in the coming weeks, so if you’re worried you might forget to do this, you can relax in knowing you will receive a reminder message soon.

Backup any Moodle documents you would like to keep for future reference.

Once we graduate, our Moodle privileges are taken away. So, if your professors have posted any helpful tips, PowerPoints, or audio clips on Moodle that you would like to reference later while you’re working in the industry, be sure to pull them onto your laptop.

Rethink how you approach social media.

Though we’re students now, we will be working professionals soon. What was viewed as appropriate or forgivable in college might not be so acceptable in the workplace.

Remember to approach social media in a more professional manner. Revisit your security settings, and do some housekeeping to manage your online image if you need to. Our new bosses probably won’t think our pictures from Senior Week are as cute as we think they are.

MORE: Read our five tips on how to clean up your social media presence to impress future employers.

Ask for recommendations on LinkedIn.

Never again will so many professionals who know about our strengths, our work ethics, our personalities, our outside involvements, and our ambitions surround us. Take advantage of this opportunity.

Recommendations on your LinkedIn profile add immediate credibility, so ask your professors, your on-campus employers, or your mentors to attest to your academic and professional skills. Typically, three LinkedIn recommendations that highlight different strengths are helpful.

Link your Elon Gmail account to your other email addresses.

Though you may choose to only use your Elon Gmail account after graduation (It’s yours to keep forever!), some companies and graduate schools may require you to create or may assign you a new email address. Remember, individuals have used your @elon.edu account to contact you for the last four years, so it’s probably the email address they have on file for you. In order to avoid missing important messages, link your Elon Gmail address to your new account.

Good luck to all of you with your future endeavors! If you have any questions or need any additional help accomplishing these tasks, contact the Technology Help Desk at 336.278.5200 or helpdesk@elon.edu.

Image by Flickr user Courtney Dirks / Creative Commons licensed BY-CC 2.0

 

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