Facebook. Twitter. Instagram. LinkedIn. Snapchat. Can you imagine a time when these words didn't exist? I can! In fact, when I started my career as a Recruiter -none of these platforms were even a twinkle in the tech world's eye. Now, they're some of the platforms I use daily to share why I love living the Cisco life, and to challenge my audience by asking one very big question, "Do you#LoveWhereYouWork?"

In the beginning of my career, building a network consisted of business cards, face to face meetings and telephone calls.  My venture into social media started around the time my girls became teenagers.  MySpace was all the rage and the girls gravitated to their cell phones and computers, rather than socializing with us in the living room.  In an effort to connect, I started my own MySpace account.

While I enjoyed the convenience of checking in on the girls and a new way to connect with them, there was also a concern for what was appropriate for them to be sharing on social media.  I remember how fragile a reputation could be in high school without words and actions being immortalized on the Internet forever.  Would their posts impact their ability to join a club, gain entrance into college and potentially get a job?

And what about me? I was now amongst the many on social media following my daughters, friends and family -sharing, interacting and leaving comments.  Could social media and what I post effectmycareer?

The answer is, yes -of course it could. I just had no idea that social media wouldpositivelyimpact my career.

Enter Cisco.

From the beginning, Cisco has invested in social media trainings to encourage employees to engage in ways they feel most comfortable sharing. From social ambassador groups to the work our Talent Brand team has focused on, we've been empowered to share our stories on social. With that nagging concern of overexposure, however, I didn't jump on the social media bandwagon right away. It took time for me to learn about and grow into using social media to tell the world why I love working at Cisco.

Last year, I decided to start posting about my career and retweeting articles on Twitter.  I followed other Cisco employees, people in tech, companies similar to Cisco and yes, much like the rest of the free world, I started following Kim Kardashian.  Here's the thing though, people started following me back! Then, they started tweeting me and we'd have conversations and suddenly I found myself realizing how much fun I was having!

Is this really work?  It is now.

I now love using social media to connect with people.  I interact with the business Leaders I support and consider myself an extension of their voice.  I can drive their messages to my audience by sharing and commenting on their posts and do this on a regular basis.  Social has also connected me to people I wouldn't have met otherwise.  In addition to building a network of potential Cisco employees, I've been able to connect with existing employees around the globe.  There are no limitations to who you can connect with when using social media!

I have little to no professional training in marketing or social media, but now here I am! Using the power of social to connect. I post about my experiences at work, share what my leaders are working on and talk to people about why I love where I work and the work I do for Public Sector.

I'm still concerned with oversharing my personal life and sometimes struggle with creating content but I've learned that people want to know who I am and are interested in connecting on a deeper level.  Through sharing my story on these channels, they get to know Cisco and the people that work here too. My hope is that they can see themselves loving where they work -and applying to Cisco!

There's no better way of attracting talent than sharing our Cisco story.Here are a few things I've learned that may help you along your journey:

Just start-Finding your voice and building an audience takes time.  Start connecting with people who you're interested in, who have similar jobs and who you're curious about.  Speak to them; directly and indirectly.  Use hashtags to find communities where you can build relationships too -some of my favorites are#WeAreCisco#LoveWhereYouWork#LifeIsGood #PublicSector and#ProtectServeEducate.

Be yourself-People are interested in seeing and hearing from you.  Your opinion matters and is valuable.  Authenticity goes much further on social media than you think. I receive more "likes" and "comments" of pictures and video of myself than any other content I share.

Respect the power-Social media can be a powerful tool and should be respected as such.  You have the ability, with a few taps of the keyboard to create an online persona that transcends the internet.  You can use that power to connect, empower, inspire and create or the opposite.  Choose wisely.

Give it away-Follow, like, love, share, and comment.  Much like everything else in life, what you give away comes back to you.  Connect with people, comment, like and love their posts.  You'll be surprised how many people you meet in the process.  I've connected with and forged some great relationships with Cisconians all over the world.

Want to join our Cisco teams?You can! Apply now.

If you're interested in building yourbrand and network via social media the Talent Brand team has trainings to help you get started!  You can view everything from how to use hashtags to setting up an Instagram account, participate with#WeAreCisco and share why you#LoveWhereYouWork.

I'm here to help as well!  Let's connect on social and start building your audience.  Find me on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram.