So you don't think you need to have a LinkedIn page? Wrong.

LinkedIn is close to becoming the top recruiting website. As the largest professional social medium makes large changes and updates to their IPO, you should be taking advantage of what they have to offer. 

Why LinkedIn is Crucial for Job Seekers:

LinkedIn reported ninety-three percent of their recruiters are using LinkedIn pages to recruit potential candidates. My internship requires me to help out with recruiting efforts. The main social media network we have worked with is LinkedIn. Not only do we use LinkedIn Recruiter, we have branded our career page and when a resume comes in, the first thing I do is find track down their LinkedIn page.

Virtual Resume- Key Features

A person’s resume and cover letter shows off all of their achievements and reasons why they belong in that position, however; having a LinkedIn page, and actively using LinkedIn, let’s you brand and brag about yourself.Best features on LinkedIn:

Ability to have a virtual resume

Endorsements and recommendations

Having a virtual resume online is great, but having coworkers, bosses, and friends recommend or endorse a position you held builds your credibility. Recommendations and endorsements give potential recruiters a better idea of who you are as a person and employee.

Stay Active

If you are already on LinkedIn, you are on the right track. If you are not actively making connections, chatting with groups or searching LinkedIn Today articles, you are falling behind. Sharing interesting articles that relate to your profession and interests will help you get noticed, not only by your network, but by potential recruiters. Recruiters are mainly on LinkedIn to search for passive candidates: candidates who would be great for the position, but may not think to apply. When you like an article you found through LinkedIn, comment on connections or group posts it proves you are active and help builds your online credibility.

Dos and Don’ts:

DO upload a photo to your profile. It lets the recruiter put a face to the name.

DON’T add your company information without writing a description of your responsibilities and duties.

DO display past projects you have worked on.

DON’T skip showing off your skills.

DO ask coworkers and employers to endorse/recommend you.

DON’T forget to get involved with groups.

DO allow your connections, groups, hobbies and extracurricular activities to show.

DON’T have spelling or grammar errors. Remember your page is a professional representation of yourself.

Tips for Finding Overseas Airline Tickets

Booking a flight overseas isn't as easy as booking a flight home for the weekend. Airline prices are usually between $1,000-$1,600, that quadruples my ticket home for Thanksgiving weekend. During my quest to find the best airline tickets for the best price I learned some time, and sanity, saving tips.

Flying Dates
This small detail can save you over $200. Research has shown Tuesday through Thursday and Saturday are the cheapest days to fly. Monday, Sunday and Friday were the most expensive since most prefer to leave on a Friday and return Sunday before their week starts. I changed my schedule to leave on a Wednesday and return on a Saturday and it saved me nearly $300. Your travel days may not seem to important, but when you are traveling overseas I'd suggest saving as much money as you can.

Your Budget
Airline ticket costs depend on a few different factors: when they are bought, what dates you are traveling, what time you want to depart and return, and where your seat is. Wanting to save as much money as possible, I will be flying economy. Flying economy on a 10 hour flight isn't ideal, however; most airlines know this and accommodate, yes, even the economy passengers. Finding out what your ideal budget is for airline tickets is key. Most of the tickets will be in the same range, but you will find some tickets will be higher than others. For example, booking my flight to London-Heathrow Airport I found leaving a day early after I got out of work at 5 p.m. cost nearly $500 to $1,000 more. Clearly the later flights are the most attractive since you will be flying during the night, but it is NOT worth the extra money. Save those funds for an exciting adventure, delicious meal, or authentic Italian wine.

Airline Websites
I started searching main airline's websites for flight ideas then decided to switch over to Expedia and Priceline to see if there was much difference in pricing. What did I find? The difference in pricing wasn't to much to worry about, but the convenience of seeing other airlines offering side by side made my life easier. I used Kayak.com to do all of my flight searches. Kayak is very user-friendly and performed better than its competitors. One key feature Kayak has that comforted me was their price trend forecast alert. Every time I got online to check for flights they let me know what their confidence was in that price. If they thought the price was too high they advised me to wait a few more days and check back because the price would most likely lower. This feature is something everyone looking to buy overseas flights should look into. Airline tickets are always fluctuating, it was great knowing Kayak wanted me to find the best ticket at the best price possible.

10 Great Things to Do This Fall

Fall semester starts this Monday and I think we are all thinking the same thing: where did time go? Fall in Reno is really one of the most beautiful times of year. The weather is not too hot, not too cold. Leaves turn red, yellow, then slowly fall to the ground. There are plenty of fantastic things to do in Reno to make the most out your Fall. In no particular order, I give you my top 10 things to do this Fall!

10. Football games. There is no better way to see Wolf Pack spirit than to attend a Nevada football game!

9. Stargaze during the day at the Fleischmann Planetarium and Science Center. There are shows for as little as 7 dollars and it is worth the time.

8. Walk through the University's quad. The leaves colors are breathtaking.

7. Go hiking. There are hiking trails throughout Caughlin Ranch and each trail shows you the true beauty of Reno. Plus, most trails go along the Truckee River and look out on all of Reno.

6. Head downtown to the Truckee River, pick out a spot and have a picnic. Pop open a bottle of wine or champagne if it is a special occasion!

5. Eat dinner at Campo, Wild River Grill or any restaurant on the river. Starting November you won't be able to stand the cold weather and will be eating inside enjoying the view. 

4. Offer a homeless man/woman warm weather clothing. They may not have scarves, gloves or cold weather gear. Even though the weather will still be beautiful to us, for those less fortunate it will turn ugly quick.

3. Take advantage of festivals downtown and in Tahoe. Festivals include: Oktoberfest, Eldorado Great Italian Festival, Street Vibrations, and the Reno Celtic Festival.

2. Go on a wine walk. I have been on at least 7 and each wine walk is as good or even better than the last. Going through the walk, you get to go to places that you may not normally venture to on your average night out. 

1. Take a deep breath and breathe in the fresh air. Each day is a new day and there are so many opportunities that will present themselves!

Save the Pinterest DIY Projects for the Artists

When you click the "DIY Projects" tab on Pinterest, you are engulfed into a world full of possibilities. A table made out of plywood or crates, no sew t-shirts and scarves or easy, designer style jewelry.

What Pinterest fails to tell you: only attempt if you have some artist in you. 

There have been multiple DIY Projects I attempted that failed, miserably. From the damaged pearl necklace to the ruined refurbished dresser; I failed. Either it is me or it is the websites page fault for not giving me exact directions of how to make the "easy" DIY projects. If you have ever attempted a failed Pinterest attempt, then you know where I am coming from. Seeing a person do it flawlessly on your computer/iPhone screen then taking a look at your pathetic, ugly project, takes down a person's self esteem.

I have come to realize it is okay to fail at these projects. Others can do them perfectly, I cannot. However, it isn't important to do the projects perfectly. It is important that I, and you, tried. Without trial and error we wouldn't learn anything in life. 

If you have ever failed at a Pinterest DIY Project, please comment below and share the lovely, failure. We could all use an ego boost.