Four attributes that will land you a job in social media. | Guest post by Sonny Gill
Today, The Social Path is pleased to welcome guest blogger Sonny Gill, who was recently named social media manager for DeVry University. We asked Sonny to help share some of the lessons from his hard-fought journey as a social media job seeker.
What can we say about the monster that is the job market? It’s overwhelming, jam-packed with job seekers, and, for most, has gone on long enough. I personally don’t remember a time where I’ve had so many friends on the hunt. It’s unfortunate, but it also provides others and myself an avenue to help those going through these trying times.
There have been a slew of posts talking about how to leverage social media in your job search, but I’m sharing something even deeper than the actual tools — attributes. Attributes are things that come from within, and though they can be related to job seekers of all industries, I’m sharing four that are super important in the digital job-seeking world:
Hustle
We’ve all heard it from Gary Vaynerchuk — who is inspiring a new generation of entrepreneurs with his book, Crush It! — but it’s something that we need constant reminding of.
Hustle used to have a negative connotation, but today the word has taken on new meaning within the hyper-connected digital world. Your competition is out networking, creating content and staying plugged-in more than ever. The job search was always time-consuming, but now it is a full-time job.
Guts
Are you sending your résumés off and then following-up a week later with an e-mail? Stop. Right now.
OK, well don’t stop with the résumés, but take your “next steps” to a whole new level. The openness of the social Web and how companies are embracing it is evolving every day. Leverage that to venture outside of the box and reach out to prospective companies in new ways.
Find their HR managers on LinkedIn and connect with them there. Make a page on your blog dedicated not only to your résumé but also to the prospective company and create content that shows them you have what it takes to make a difference for their organization. Have some guts, go against the grain, and get noticed.
Vision
With any goal (personal or professional) there’s a vision in our mind that gives us a peek at what success looks like. There are questions we must ask ourselves” Where do I want to take my career? Who do I want to do great work for?
But it’s easy to find yourself wondering, “What do I do with this vision?” Map out a plan that helps you identify the necessary steps to get you to that goal.
Is your goal to be a Social Media Manager for an NBA team? Your plan of action better include producing quality content/media on an NBA-focused blog, attending games (as many as you’re able to go to), networking with fellow SM basketball fanatics, plus, a number of other steps that builds your authority in the space and gets you seen as someone who would make a great addition to a team’s social media effort.
Patience
I close out this list with patience for a reason. Above all, through the ups and downs of the job search (there will be both), you have to be patient. I understand everybody’s situation is different and we each have our own responsibilities to handle. But the key to patience is having faith, continuing to bust tail, truly believing that the right opportunity is out there, and persevering through the obstacles that present themselves during this time.
The combination of these attributes and the capabilities of social truly allow us to build a solid framework not only for the job hunt but also a for community, which in turn offers us continued support and affirmation on the work we do today and the opportunities in our future.
These are my four main attributes, but what others would you add that any job seeker could benefit from? I’d love to hear about your experiences in the comments.
Sonny Gill is Social Media Manager at DeVry University. You can read his thoughts on social media at SonnyGill.com or on follow @SonnyGill on Twitter.
