Guest Speaker: Nick Stover

Today our class had the pleasure of meeting Nick Stover (@ULFlyingCard), the director of social media and engagement for UofL athletics. Stover provided a multitude of tips for social media influence and brought many aspects of the job market to our attention that I previously was not aware of. Nick has had an impressive educational career that has lead up to this fantastic job that he now holds. 

When Stover applied for this job with UofL he wanted to do something that would make him stand out from other applicants. Since he did not do college athletics at UofL he wanted to prove that he was willing to go above and beyond to prove his devotion to this job. As a man who describes himself as having a fear of heights, he took a major leap of faith and jumped out of an airplane (hence his Twitter handle) to make his dedication to going above and beyond known. For more info about Nick’s impressive career and accomplishments check out his personal blog http://www.nickstover.org/. With Stover’s extensive knowledge and experience in the field of social media, he was the perfect guest speaker for our social media class! 

As a senior scheduled to graduate this summer, the job search is on. Nick provided a multitude of tips, or really requirements, that you need to keep in mind before applying for a job. Employers are looking for people who have real, applicable experience to things, so as always, the importance of internships was stressed. Also, a major must-have for anyone who is looking to be taken seriously in the career world (which should be everyone), is a LinkedIn account. And don’t just make one and ignore it. Make sure you are utilizing it because it is a wonderful, and pretty much a required tool for future employers to take you seriously. So make sure you are connecting with as many people as possible on there, connect with businesses, keep your resume up to date and make sure to list all of your skills, as well as things that will separate you from other applicants. 

Stover was the most organized guest speaker that we have had to date with a professional and intriguing PowerPoint as well as tips that applied to our life, and he didn’t go too much into his personal accomplishments. At the end of the class Nick opened up the floor to suggestions on what he could do to improve or separate his team from other university athletic departments, in regards to social media. I loved hearing my classmate’s suggestions and how creative they got with it.

Nick Stover has been acclaimed for his utilization
of new communication technology that is on the forefront, Google Glass.
(Photo from Nick's Blog)