Elise Paramore

As a young person, I find myself using social media on a daily basis. Whether it's scrolling through Instagram while waiting for a bus or using Facebook to connect with my family whilst I'm at university, it surrounds me constantly. It often crosses my mind about how it's being utilised in business whether it be to assist in recruitment, marketing or to maintain balance between work and home. Social media is increasingly used to screen for potential candidates in the recruitment process and I think it is really interesting the amount of data that we share on social media. A simple search of my name brought up all my social medias in the top 5 results.  Research conducted in 2009 showed that 45% of over 2600 hiring managers used social media in their screening of potential candidates (Grasz as cited by Brown and Vaughn, 2011). Considering that this figure is a decade old, it's fair to assume that it is even more prevalent in recruitment today. I find this baz...

As a part of my studies at university I am required to create a series of blog posts in which I discuss a number of contemporary ideas that have an impact on organisations and individuals in business. These posts will appear here, and I hope that what I am discussing is of some interest. As a student I find myself wanting to read about business topics, however struggle to digest some of the information that is presented to me, so I am hoping that these posts will be both easy to read and relatable for all. Let me know what you think.

I am writing this follow on post around two years after I published my last. I find it strange to re-read my thoughts after going through a set of A-Level exams. Whilst my thoughts on the pressure put on young people to achieve 5 GCSEs is the same, I now understand that GCSE results do not make or break you. You can still achieve great things even if exams are not your thing.  A Levels opened my eyes to a new kind of pressure, made up of both the environment I was in as well as the newfound pressure of my own expectations. One of the biggest difference between GCSEs and A-Levels is that you are your own motivator. You are expected to want to do well and that you will put in the work needed to get the grades you require for your next stage of life. This new desire caused me to become increasingly stressed and disappointed when I wasn't making progress during A levels.  As much as I got the grades I needed to progress onto the University of Southampton (the dock pictured ...

As of today, I officially have only 1 GCSE exam left to sit. I can't believe I am actually able to say (type) that. Just over a month ago, I sat my first exam. One of twenty (although I technically have twenty-one in total, as I had a practical drama exam), and now I have completed nineteen out of those twenty. That is an unbelievable thought. And if you had asked me a month ago, how was I feeling, I would have told you that I was so nervous and stressed. Ask me now, I still feel like it isn't real. The whole exam process is bazaar. You spend two years learning content, exam technique and how to apply that knowledge. Then you spend weeks revising that content. And then you have a half an hour pep-talk, recapping two years of content. And then you sit an exam. And that's it. Totally finished. All in the space of a few hours. I personally find this whole process so crazy. It's an unfair reflection of ones abilities and mental capacity. For some people, including me, exa...