As the digital world continues to expand, more businesses and individuals than ever are on social media. Some companies run their own social media while other businesses hire individuals or agencies to handle their social media. In either case, this opens up the opportunity for several social media jobs. I mean, why not work on the same platform you spend the majority of your life pouring over anyway? The problem is, you are not the only person with that thought. In fact, there are more people in social media than there are jobs available. So how do you get your foot in the door and land the job you want?
You have several options when it comes to choosing where to begin your career. You can either begin as a social media consultant, work for a social media agency, or work ‘in-house’ doing social media for a specific company.
Social Media Consultant
If you have enough knowledge of how social media works, you can skip the corporate route and pave your own path as a social media consultant or freelancer. While you won’t be able to run social media for large corporations, you will have plenty of opportunities to work with small and medium-size businesses. Because you will be working as your own boss and company, you will need to find your clients, communicate with them directly and manage them so that they will stay with you. You may even be able to work your way up from there and open your own agency.
Social Media Agency
Some businesses do not have the know-how and/or the budget to hire a specific person to run their social media. In this case, they may prefer to outsource to an agency. These agencies are a great place to start your social media career as an employee. Not only will you be surrounded by other social media specialists who you can learn from, but agencies often work for several businesses allowing you to learn a variety of aspects in the social media world based on the industry each company falls into.
In-House
Unlike the companies who outsource to an agency, there are also many companies who will hire somebody or a few people to work within the company promoting their social media. This is a tougher job to secure if you do not have previous experience in social media.
No matter if you are searching for clients as a freelancer or applying for an ‘in-house’ or outsourced job, there are a few simple steps you can take to differentiate yourself from your competitors.
The first would be to make sure you have accounts for all the popular social media and maybe even some lesser known platforms. If you are really into social media, you will already have a Twitter, Google+, Facebook and LinkedIn. Secondly, check that these have been well maintained. Companies will look at how you present yourself through your social media and decide if you are a good candidate or not. If you apply for a job and don’t have any social media accounts or have not updated them in over a month or more, chances are you will be skipped over. It should also be noted here that is isn’t just about when you are posting on social media, but also how you are posting. What do you share with others? What language do you use? Are you offensive and negative? And lastly, when you apply for a job or are attempting to acquire clients, include the links to your accounts so that they can see your previous work. You also want to mention any other previous experience you have had. Both of these are key no matter how you have presented yourself on Facebook. They will never know if they can’t find your accounts or previous work.
