Taking an extra step can lead you farther and farther down the path to the right job. But sometimes students don’t know what that extra step might be. However, Kate Simon knew exactly what she was doing when she decided to open a professional Twitter account.

Websites like LinkedIn advertise on their site that they can help you manage your professional identity and help you to engage with others in your professional network.

Simon decided to use one of the top social media networks to her advantage and due to her professional Twitter account landed a job at In The Bag Cleaners the same month she graduated from Wichita State, May 2011.

“I got hired at In The Bag Cleaners via Twitter,” Simon, an alumna who graduated with a bachelor’s in business administration with marketing management and entrepreneurship, said.

Simon said she had stated in her Twitter that she was a student looking for a career in marketing and had listed both the internships she did her senior year.

“The owner of In the Bag Cleaners messaged me on Twitter and we had an interview and he hired me,” Simon said.

Twitter, which tends to be used as a constant update on one’s life, allowed Kate to inform the people that followed her to see what she would be doing as a student.

“I had 300 followers at the time before I was hired by In the Bag Cleaners,” Simon said. “I was always pretty professional, nothing too personal, like social media tips, marketing tips or events to attend.”

Simon also said that she would post good pointers her professors had.

Simon got hired as the marketing manager and in less than two years working there, Simon got hired as part of the marketing team at Kennedy Coe and Marketing.

“I love it. I love my degree and I love my job,” Simon said.

Simon, nonetheless, credits her internships on how she was able to realize where she wanted to work after graduating.

“Internships helped me realize what kind of industry I wanted to go into, small business or big business, private or public,” said Simon, who had three internships as part of the Cooperative Education program.

The two Co-op internships were at Firm Bureau Financial Services and Arthritis Foundation. Simon also had an internship at the Kansas Children’s Service League.

 “Thinking about what kind of position do I want and what do I have to offer a potential employer and it is really the second one that trips most people up,” said the Director of WSU’s Career Services Jill Pletcher.

Pletcher states that having good grades is great but having experience on your resume such as Co-op internships can really make the difference.

One thing Simon said can help you get the job you want is by asking someone who already works there how they got the job and what the student needs to get there.

Simon agrees that with internships one can not only figure out where they want to work but it also helps with networking.

“[Internships] were everything because if you don’t have experience then why would someone want to hire you? Meet as many people as you can and learn about them and their connections. Wichita is all about who you know. Always be nice to everybody because you never know if you will be working for them or with them.”