Digital Bookworms

If you’ve applied for any job that requires a lot of writing, then you’ve probably been asked to submit a writing portfolio as part of your job application. I know that when I began applying for writing jobs as an overeager undergraduate student, I had no clue what recruiters were even looking for when they asked for a writing portfolio. Reading blog posts and articles about how to create a writing portfolio helped, but even then they seemed pretty vague. Never fear: here, we’ll detail the steps to creating the perfect writing portfolio for your job search. Know your audience The first thing you’ll want to do is figure out who your audience is. When you’re using a writing portfolio to apply for a job, the audience is usually a group of professionals who want to see your abilities shine through your writing. This is important because it will shape your tone and voice, two elements of writing that are incredibly important to recruiters. However, the articles you write or compile...

Did you know that social media matters in the workplace? Generally, colleges do not emphasize social media skills as part of their curriculum, but maybe they should! Most companies nowadays have a social media presence and this means your social media presence matters. As Liberal Arts students, your communication and arts skills have easy translation to the social media world. Take advantage! This blog post will tell you a few things to do and a few things to avoid when it comes to your online presence! There are 3.5  billion people in the world that use social media , about 45% of the population.    On average, people spend approximately 3 hours per day on social media.    Between 2018 and 2019,  social media grew by 328 million  which roughly translates to 10 new users  every second.    These statistics mean that having a strong social media presence can be powerful.  Social media can be  an important litera...

This blog is not the first place to voice the connection between the liberal arts and the digital world. I want to give some background to the academic treatment of the intersection between the liberal arts and the digital. Hopefully students and professors alike can recognize the need for such an intersection and the fact that it is already happening!  You might have heard the term “ Digital humanities ” thrown around before. It’s a term growing more common with each new school year as universities and faculty across the country offer innovative courses combining the digital with the human. Digital humanities specifically refers to the intersection between the humanities and computation, frequently in terms of research. Yet this narrow point of intersection has been insufficient for scholars like William Pannapacker and Rafael Alvarado who argue that “ it seems more inclusive to call it digital liberal arts” (Pannapacker) because the name Digital Humanities “is perceived t...

Little freshman me, coordinating a virtual / in-person meeting in my dorm hall. I graduate this upcomi ng August. Maybe it's because m y looming graduation has made me  sentimental or reality is hitting me that I am entering a new phase--either way, I am feeling nostalgic, reflecting on my liberal arts education and how it has prepared me for the "real world".  I am an English major. When I first began my university education, I applied for the English program because: I love reading novels  I love writing poetry I love talking philosophy My reasons look an awful lot like hobbies, and for the most part, they are. The professional world does not give you a job because you like to read books or you can write a sonnet.  So what can an English degree offer someone looking to enter the professional world?  *cue me questioning the past 3 years of my life* I contemplated switching majors plenty of times, but I stuck with my English major beca...